Want to enjoy the whole dining experience? The Riviera Supper Club and Piano Bar will provide patrons with a multifaceted combination of cuisines, libations and entertainment all in one setting.<\/p>\n
“The unique thing about this place is that in 1947 it began as a supper club; we are still following the model as a supper club today,” co-owner Jonathan Gorst said.<\/p>\n
Open seven nights a week, the Riviera provides free entertainment from piano players to a Broadway show every three months.<\/p>\n
Gorst and co-owner and chef Travis Owen focus on the on the whole dining experience.<\/p>\n
“Jonathan and I have put everything we are into this restaurant,” Owen said. “The Riviera has become the culmination of our paired visions of exquisite cuisine alongside incomparable musical talent.”<\/p>\n
Having traveled throughout the country and the world, Gorst, a former “Phantom of the Opera” musical director, brings his flair for entertainment and showmanship to the supper club.<\/p>\n
“I love having people take in an evening at the restaurant,” Gorst said.<\/p>\n
Owen and Gorst’s mission since taking over the Riviera in 2016 had been to locally source food.<\/p>\n
“We’ve been building partnerships with different companies, farms and suppliers that are local,” Gorst said.<\/p>\n
“You’ll find that our kitchen is a very complex blend of artistry and local ingredients.”<\/p>\n
Owen’s path to the Riviera began 28 years ago next door in what is now CO. Ranch House and was then Tony Rosa’s Peppo Nino Italian restaurant.<\/p>\n
“I fell in love with the bustle, the noise, the havoc, and the magic of the kitchen,” Owen said.<\/p>\n
For Owen the science of food and flavor is an intriguing combination.<\/p>\n
“I get excited how odd flavor combinations that don’t sound like they should be complementary are because of the molecular makeup of the ingredients,” Owen said. “I love that a seaweed extract can be used to create pearls of different liquids that look like caviar; that a special tapioca maltodextrin can absorb oil to the point it becomes powder but returns to a liquid once it touches one’s tongue.”<\/p>\n
The Riviera menu is always evolving as chef Owen brainstorms new ideas to bring to the restaurant’s patrons.<\/p>\n
“I have a notebook on me at all times where I can jot down ideas,” Owen said. “Our Boozy Burger was the byproduct of a four-in-the-morning dream I awoke from and wrote out what I was eating in the dream.”<\/p>\n
With the fall menu they are doing a beef wellington, a very traditional dish that you don’t find at many places in the valley.<\/p>\n
“We like to kind of dabble between moving forward in the American cuisine and holding onto some of the traditions,” Gorst said.<\/p>\n
Along with the nightly live piano, the restaurant is also known for hosting murder-mystery dinners, and their quarterly Broadway-inspired meals.<\/p>\n
The Broadway series is the marquee event at the Riviera, including a seven-course dinner inspired by the show, or from the region it is set in.<\/p>\n
Gorst plans to reprise a production of “Les Miserables” in January.<\/p>\n
Prices:<\/strong> Mid-range.<\/em> Ambience:<\/strong> This iconic restaurant, originally established in 1947, features a refined, relaxed dining experience with live entertainment seven nights a week.<\/em> Signature dishes:<\/strong> Avocado toast, gravlax and bagel and mussels with Thai red curry broth.<\/em><\/p>\n