St. Charles restaurateur likes to 'work the room'
Marwan Taib gets pretty busy “working the room” at his new restaurant in St. Charles.
But he's found it quite pleasant to visit with patrons at the Charleston on the River restaurant at 1 W. Illinois St. It's pleasant because Taib has a winner on his hands with this new eatery, which opened a few weeks ago.
The location has had many other suitors, dating back to Erik and Me in the 1980s, then Sage Bistro and most recently, Top Table.
Patrons who have been to this location before may not recognize it now, other than the square footage hasn't changed and there is still an outdoor deck that Taib plans to open with new features in another month. Otherwise, it's a whole new world.
Taib is hoping the neon-lit bar area and dining room with plenty of overhead TV screens can attract patrons to what he considers a bit more upscale than his sports bar on the east side of St. Charles — The Spotted Fox Ale House. But it's not so upscale that people will be scared off by the prices.
“The feedback has been great and everyone is raving about its potential,” Taib said. “We added the TVs and a sound system to make it upscale casual and shy away from the fine dining vibe.”
The extensive wine and cocktail list also helps Charleston have a little more ambience than a typical bar and grill. He'll also have live entertainment, with piano music every Saturday night.
Taib and his staff have operated the Spotted Fox Ale House for four years and used some of the trained staff to help new hires at Charleston get a feel for the company's standards.
From what we experienced, the service is really solid right out of the gate. And everyone at our table agreed the food was excellent.
On the other side of town, Taib admits Spotted Fox had a rough start with Main Street under construction, and the Charlestowne Mall being pretty much empty. Thus, not as many people are shopping or dining in that region.
But it has attracted customers from other areas as far away as Bartlett, and things are going better, Taib said.
After a career centered mostly on the Lincoln Park area of Chicago, Taib is now looking to St. Charles to embrace his restaurants. If his start is any indication, he's got a great chance of that happening.
Excellent dance setup
If Arcada Theatre frontman Ron Onesti is ever promoting any sort of dance event at his venue, don't be afraid to try it out. The recent St. Charles History Museum fundraiser, a 1940s swing dance night, showed that this downtown theater gem can be turned into a cool dance hall quite nicely.
In cutting a rug during this event, it was like checking off a bucket list item. I have now danced at both the Arcada Theatre and the Rainbow Room at Hotel Baker, two of St. Charles' most historic places to do so.
It was especially enjoyable when instructors from Vargo's Dance Studio provided impromptu lessons during the event. Owner Jamie Vargo let me spin her around the dance floor a bit, and anybody who knows even a little bit about swing and ballroom dancing realizes that such an opportunity can put you in another stratosphere and makes for an extremely enjoyable time.
A worthy workshop
Sue Lusted gave an excellent presentation at the recent PechaKucha night in Batavia about the workshop she supervises.
She's been overseeing the Valley Sheltered Workshop in Batavia long enough to know how important this agency has been in providing meaningful work tasks for disabled individuals for 50 years.
It helps the workers and their families, as well as the businesses or organizations in which the workshop is completing projects or making needed supplies and materials.
Lusted calls the workshop one of Batavia's best-kept secrets, as even many who have lived in this area for a long time don't realize it exists.
The workshop will host its 50th annual pancake breakfast from 7:30 a.m. to noon May 1 at its 325 Main St. location. Businesses interested in making donations for the silent auction and basket raffle can contact Lusted at (630) 879-2359.
It's all wheels
The St. Charles Park District's “Anything on Wheels” sale scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 9, is exactly what it says it is.
Anyone looking to get rid of unwanted bikes, trikes, strollers, scooters or skateboards can drop off those items at the Pottawatomie Community Center between 7:30 and 8:45 a.m. with an asking price listed on each item.
After that, it's just a matter of seeing what sells and waiting for 80 percent of the asking price to come your way. Any item that does not sell will be donated to a local organization, if the owner does not retrieve it by 12:45 a.m.
dheun@sbcglobal.net