Business & Tech

Benjamin Restaurant to Reopen as Tapas Place

Downtown Highland Park's Benjamin Restaurant closed this month, and will reopen in May as something very different.

On April 4, Benjamin Brittsan wrote an email to Patch to announce the closing of his Benjamin Restaurant, after almost two years in downtown Highland Park.

Ten days later, he wrote back with some promising news: instead of closing altogether, Brittsan has decided to re-conceptualize his restaurant.

Beginning the first week of May, Benjamin Restaurant will open as Benjamin Tapas.

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"I want to give the local community something I feel like it has been missing," Brittsan said on Monday. "Some place that's fun and relaxing and not pretentious."

The restaurateur spoke with Patch in January about learning from his customers. At that time, he hoped that small tweaks to the restaurant's ambience and menu would make up for what he said was a bumpy beginning.

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"You never want to make a customer leave unhappy, and I think we did in the beginning," Brittsan said.

Brittsan says customers saw his restaurant as pretentious. He hopes his new restaurant will be more fun and relaxing.

"Eating should be fun," Brittsan said. "Benjamin Restaurant was not fun."

The chef, who says his "heart is in Mediterranean food," is excited to create a menu around Spanish cuisine. He says cold plates will range from four to eight bucks, while hot plates will go for $6 to $15, the higher price point reserved for bigger dishes like seafood paella.

The new space will be more colorful than the old one, "more vibrant," according to Brittsan. The restaurant will start out being open for dinner five nights a week.

Brittsan is not the first restaurateur to reinvent himself in Highland Park. Bobby Dubin attempted something similar, turning Stashs into an Italian restaurant last year. That didn't pan out well for him. John des Rosiers recently re-opened what was once Moderno, an adventurous Italian restaurant, as Royce, a more conventional, more affordable burger place.

"I don't want to feel like I pulled the plug and gave up," Brittsan explained.

Though he admits he's nervous about trying again in Highland Park, the chef sounds excited at what he hopes will be a successful second shot.

"I feel, with this concept, I'm going to bring something Highland Park hasn't had before in terms of flavors."

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