The Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay Licensing and Building Use Committee learned details of an incoming French Mediterranean restaurant proposed for the Four Seasons Hotel One Dalton Street during the commission’s monthly public meeting held virtually on Monday, March 2.
LPM Restaurant & Bar, which was launched in London in 2007, and now has 10 locations worldwide, intends to open its first location in Massachusetts in an approximately 2,900 square-foot, second-floor corner space in the hotel facing Christian Science Plaza, said Attorney Ryan Gazda.
LPM’s Back Bay outpost, which would accommodate around 70 patrons inside and offer no outside seating, would have a 2 a.m., closing time per the terms of its proposed all-alcohol license, but Gazda said they don’t expect the restaurant would be open past 11 p.m. most nights. Pending the city’s approval, LPM will obtain an all-alcohol license previously held by Lucca restaurant, added Gazda.
Trash management and disposal would be handled internally by the building, said Gazda.
Roberto Mena, the restaurant’s manager of record, said, “We’re really excited to show you what we do and become one with the community.”
Conrad Armstrong, committee chair, told the applicant he would inform them of NABB’s position on their application with the city (i.e. to oppose or not oppose them) “by the end of next week.”
In another matter, the committee was apprised of plans for an as-of-yet unnamed restaurant proposed for the location of the erstwhile Bristol Lounge in the Four Season hotel’s other outpost at 200 Boylston St.
Attorney Andrew Upton said the “new, full-service, high-end” establishment would occupy the same floorplan as the former Bristol Longe, which operated from 1985 until about five years ago. (The proposed future restaurant would have a new entrance on Boylston Street to be managed by the hotel.)
The now-undetermined concept is being developed by Eric Papachristos, co-founder and chief executive officer of A Street Hospitality Group, which includes, among other establishments, La Padrona in Raffles Hotel in the Back Bay, together with Jody Adams, another group co-founder and its chief commercial officer. Both Papachristos and Adams were both on hand for the virtual meeting.
The new restaurant would be open until only for dinner to start “to feel out the neighborhood and see how things go over time,” said Papachristos, a 35-year resident of Downtown Crossing.
Keeping in line with the rest of the hotel, the new restaurant will seek a 2 a.m. closing time, said Attorney Upton, who added its liquor license would be transferred from Basile Fine Italian Kitchen in Bay Village, pending the outcome of an as-of-yet unscheduled hearing with the city on the matter.
In a third matter, the committee again heard details of a proposal from The ‘Quin House, a private social club located at 217 Commonwealth Ave., to relocate its gym and workout areas into a commercial condo space at The Vendome, with its entrance at 170 Commonwealth Ave.
The proposed gym space, which previously served mostly as medical offices, would span 7,344 square feet across the garden level and first floor, said Attorney Mike Ross when the matter first came before the committee at its monthly meeting held virtually on Nov. 3 of last year.
The gym, which would only be accessible to club members (as well as to Vendome via special enrollment), will comprise a wellness center, yoga area, guest lounges, sauna, and smoothie bar, along with male and female locker rooms at the garden level.
The gym’s proposed hours of operation are 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends, said Ross, although its license would allow the facility to operate from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, so ownership would have the ability to expand their hours, if so desired.
Regarding the gym’s potential impact on neighbors, Ross said, “No one should be able to hear or feel anything happening in the facility anywhere else in the building, especially in the units that are abutting us.”
Since first coming before the committee last November, the applicant has come to an agreement with the Vendome’s trustees, said Ross, and created with them “essentially a good neighbor agreement” – a document which won’t be made public that address potential issues, including hours of operations, as well as how to interdependently verify and mitigate any noise impacts that might arise from the gym’s operations.
“That’s what helped push us over the finish line, if you will, to get this thing supported,” said Ross.