When SLU and The Lawrence Group announced on Wednesday their joint plans to develop the Ignacio Hotel, a 51-room boutique hotel in the former Interiors Unlimited Building on Olive Street, we wondered whether food-service plans were more involved than simply creating an interior connection to Triumph Grill on the hotel’s west side. SLU’s director of real estate, Peter Pierotti, responded in the affirmative, stating that there would be space for a café on the south side of the building and that food service would be handled by Triumph Grill. That restaurant is owned by Lawrence Group president Steve Smith.
A call to Lori Dolan of restaurant development and management company Culinarchgroup (formerly known as Culinary Architects) confirmed that she and company president Chris LaRocca would also be involved in this project. LaRocca and Dolan were responsible for the launch of Triumph Grill and Smith’s other restaurant, the recently opened Kota Wood Fire Grill on Grand Boulevard across the street from the Fox Theatre.
“By March of 2011 it should be up and running,” stated Dolan of the new development that adds another dimension to the Grand Center arts district and the eastward expansion of Midtown Alley. “We’re excited about it and it should be a plus for everyone.”
– Ligaya Figueras
This article appears in Apr 1-30, 2010.