While we wish them well and hope this change will put them on the right path as this is a kind way of saying that their concept failed and that financially they need a new direction to survive. It is fortunate that they have good financial backing or we would be writing about another closing.

I responded enthusiatically to Ed Brill's article as I am a big fan of Inovasi in Lake Bluff. I tried it with high expectations, unfortuately I left very disappointed with both the service and the food. Recently, I went for lunch and was surprised to see a small stand up order table with a very limited menu that was then brought to your table like a fast food resturant. I ordered a Panini and unfortunatly it was the worst Panini I have ever had with no taste at all. How do you screw up a Panini? Both of us who went to lunch that day commented that they obviously were going out of business.

So, I wish them well and hope they get it right this time!

Buffalo Wild Wings in Glenview is packed nightly. The food is weak at best. The prices are decent. Nothing about the place is good, but its always busy. TV's, pricing, atmosphere.
Why does HP need another Players, Nortons etc...?

people who think they can open a high end restaurant here are deluding themselves. customers want good food, a variety of items & fair prices. if you think you can succeed here with high end items you had better save your money.

Here is a link that has the article, the Royce menu and comments.
http://chicago.eater.com/archives/2012/12/20/moderno-reconcepting-becoming-royce-next-month.php
Likely another folly. But I have to give him a credit for attracting loons (investors).

Roasted beets salad with greens for $11. So I buy 3 Lbs of those for a dollar in Garden Fresh and throw them in the oven. Then put them in the fridge until I need them. Damn, this is a winner. I think I am going to open a restaurant too.

I would hope that they would not have valet Parker's.
the valets felt that the loading zone was theirs. And charged shoppers for parking to load or purchase movie tickets.
They were arrogant and intimidated the elderly

I'm convinced that Midwesterners - and particularly Chicagoans - work hard for their money and want value for what they spend. Are Highland Park residents any different? The exceptions might be those who gain wealth the old fashioned way. They inherit it.
Remeber the Bakery Restaurant in Chicago. Chef Louis Szathmary, who probably was one of the first, if not the first, celebrity chef knew what his customers wanted. BTW - Louis claimed to have a PhD in psycology. Over the many years he was in business, customers flocked to his restaurant. The only reason he closed was that people wanted lighter fare rather than a fixed price, multi-course continental meal.
George Santayana wrote: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemmed to repeat it." New business owners should keep that in mind.

I just checked the Royce menu at a site listed above. They're going to serve $12 to $15 burgers. I imagie the folks from Deerfield will be chuckling since they have a Tom & Eddie's burger joint in their town. I haven't been to T&E's for a while but I seem to recall their burgers were all less than $10. Granted you placed your order and picked it up at the counter, but will a full-serive hamburger restaurant really make it in HP? Only time will tell.

Des Rosiers is the most arrogant business owner I have ever encountered. Read his comments in the link above. Were all stupid for not liking his Italian concept. Good luck with the new concept. I for one understand that I don't want to pay $15 for a burger from an arrogant a-hole.

They also said in the eater article "We're trying to do concepts that are more elaborate than what there is on the North Shore," Des Rosiers said. "People didn't like looking at menus that had words they didn't understand on it." .... Is he saying there are no foodies in the North shore and that we are not smart enough to understand the Moderno concept? That is very insulting to me! Was hoping the experience at Moderno would have been better but it seems i will continue to trek down to the city to enjoy girl and the goat, gt fish and oyster, Balena.. http://chicago.eater.com/archives/2012/12/20/moderno-reconcepting-becoming-royce-next-month.php

The food at moderno was fantastic and worth the money. The sad part were the patrons who wanted to be cheap and all of their food to order instead of understanding the chefs dish. The amount of food and drink I saw being sent back because people "changed their minds" was ridiculous. The last thing highland park needs is another burger joint with a kids menu. This is so incredibly disappointing and I blame it on entitled, snobby patrons NOT moderno or its chef

Menu looks a lot like Norton's......Local and organic? Sure.

who's more arrogant,the chef who puts in 17hr days or any customer who"changed her mind"??

I called the failure of this place when it opened after the last proprietor folded as well. The new concept will fail as well. How about a Greek place---AGAGAGAGAGAGA

Same as before, "chef driven" which obviously didn't work the first time...plus, burgers are a dime a dozen in HP. At his rent cost, he probably be gone by mid summer.

I want to congratulate David and Forest for being experts on every board that Patch comes up with. Ridiculous to give either one of them a thumbs up! Too bad they have nothing better to do

Living in eastern North Carolina where gourmet dining restaurants are few, I savor my visits to the Chicago area where I can choose to dine at truly special places. Inovasi always tops my list. I appreciate John's talent and efforts at producing food that is a cut above even top restaurants. My only desire is for the return of the incredible dish that was served several years ago--a small slice of slow-roasted pork belly with grits and other toppings that blended together memorably. I would love to have "signature" dishes that are unique like that continued on the menus. People living in Lake Bluff, Libertyville and Highland Park should appreciate the quality of food that is available to them through the efforts of Chef John and his team.

Shame on all of you. Do any of you read anything. moderno made the top 100 dishes in Timeout Chicago.. a first for a restaurant in Highland Park. Moderno was the first proper Italian restaurant to serve real Italian food. Yes in Italy people only eat fresh homemade pasta and the pizza is almost identical to moderno. Being that I travel to Tuscany every summer I consider myself an expert on the matter. In addition, the atmosphere emulated the feel of Milan, a place I'm sure few have you have frequented as well. In addition the portions were exactly how they are served in Europe. Not everyone in the world eats a family size plates of food. It sounds most of you have never been past a burger and salad joint. I'm not sure where you're all eating but $11 for a salad is pretty reasonable.. The salad bar at Whole foods is almost $9 a pound. It sounds like most of you have never ventured out of this town. And as for the guy that makes his own beets from garden fresh for a buck please stay home, your comment was so ignorant it bordered on pathetic. I'm sure you've never entered a high end steak restaurant either. I will miss moderno emensely but most of miss the convinence of getting authentic Italian food without driving through hours of traffic.

simple equation. mediocre food at above average prices with an arrogant chef = short-lived restaurant. don't blame the clientele, as the market wins every time. if the food was better, served with a better attitude and more reasonably priced, perhaps it would succeed.

No one called you a moron but perhaps you have never worked in the industry in order to appreciate hand rolled homemade pasta...which is far from comfort food. As an owner of a business in this town I know how hard it to survive in this tough economy and the guts and hard work it takes to even continue to reinvent yourself just to please everyone. The fact is you never will there will always be people like you that live for the opportunity to thrash someone's dream. Yes john's restaurant was his dream. I will not respond again to you as you're no one with a heart that understands that your worlds are hurtful and just plain mean. People like you continue to put people down for perhaps things you never had the guts in your life to pursue. Let me know when you're restaurant opens, I'd love to be the first to try your beet salad and I'd be curious to see how you can use the finest quality locally farmed products at a more "reasonable" price.

If this does fail, can someone please bring a Greek Restaurant here? This is the perfect sight for a Greek Islands.

I can't bring you a Greek restaurant, but I'm still willing to bring you "Moes Wing Ding Dingalings and Gyros". That's half Greek. If anyone would like to try this concept, let me know. I may have some extra time on my hands this winter. I also have a old school pizza recipe I would be willing to bust out. Like the old "Foldovers", I have the "Moes bendover pizza". We fill half the pizza with cheese and topping, bend it over like a taco, and bendover the customer at the register.

Moderno was a nice replacement for Rosebud as a place to have lunch before a movie. The eclectic menu was interesting and tasty. Sorry it didn't make it. BUT SERIOUSLY, ANOTHER BUILD YOUR OWN BURGER PLACE IN HP??? Get real, when is the City going to support the businesses it always has by not letting every Tom, Dick and Harry come to town and try to duplicate what already works. City Park Grill, an off shoot of the Original Claim Company, is all about building your own great burgers and at a reasonable price. They have recently had to downsize, now we need another entry into the same American fare? Haven't we got a phethora of burger places as it is? Nortons and Blue Grass come to mind besides City Park Grill, and then we have the recent failure of Stash's, yet another burger joint. And what about Michael's, a HP hot dog and burger institution right across the street. Can we say family dining and burgers and think Fuddrucker's??? Rethink this Mr. About to Be Defunct Moderno's...you are on the wrong track.

Everyone, epic clap to Gilat. CLAP.......CLAP.......CLAP....clap, clap? You just insulted everyone. Good job. We're all not as lucky to fly to Tuscany for fresh pasta. Traveling Europe for the finest in cuisine. Most of us are stuck here in Highwood eating frozen homemade tortelacci with cream sauce and practicing our broken Italian at the deli counter of Poeta's. I can send over some of my friends Mothers and grandmothers to show your guy how to press out pasta if you'd like. If they like you, they will bring homemade wine and fresh mushrooms.

Can you believe he finally retired. Now that's old school. He was just a good old city of HP worker. Oh the old days.

This is John des.rosiers
. I just wanted to.say we.feel.like.we built.a great place. It just wasn't the right concept for Highland Park. That said I never received any single request for.a comment. I was never unavainable.as the article suggests. That piece is an.outright lie. I would like to say we have listened to the community over the last year and Royce has taken into consideration every issue our customers brought to us.

We.are very excited for the new restaurant and look forward to its opening in a couple of weeks. We want to thank.the community for their feedback and while our idea didn't work this time we look forward to seeing everyone for Royce. We still believe in locally farmed quality foods prepared with great care and Royce will showcase that.

Thank.you all for.your comments. Even not positive ones we will learn from.

John des Rosiers

Well the best of luck to you John, will give it a try. I like a man that knows when to make changes. Have a great new year.

John, it is not that it is wrong concept for Highland Park, but rather you are being two three years behind the curve with your "inventions"

More restaurant supply keeps coming non stop

http://glencoe.suntimes.com/news/15901050-418/destination-eatery-planned-for-downtown-glencoe.html

This is by Magnetar hedge fund guy (the one who was doing synthetic CDO bets on the same side as John Paulson). Now he needs luxury restaurant, as he said 250 people six days a week. He obviously has dough to spend and it will open in February. Remaining HP high end dreams should expect hit in the teeth. More conversions into the burger joints? Or into upscale fried chicken wings and Greek? How about combine them all in one big luxury joint for needy people.

Having been to Moderno twice, it was not for me. Not that i wanted a clone of Rosebud, but something warm and inviting, great food, and a good vibe. Each time I went to Moderno, I left hungry and $200 less than I had before. When I order pasta, such as Rigatoni tubes, i envisioned a pasta meal and what i got was about 18-20 tubes of pasta lined up beautifully - the presentation was lovely. But it was also $19 for this dish, and did not satisfy my hunger, and I do not have a big appetite ever. We did starters, mains, and dessert, and a bottle of wine. My husband and I are "foodies", we have lived in London, San Francisco, and Atlanta before moving to HP. It was just missing something. THat said, the 2nd time there I was at the bar with my friend having a drink and there was a family with a teen at the bar - she was not 21 but having some wine. Later I figured they were there for no good, as I wearing a gold expensive well known bracelet, and when I got up to leave, the "father" suddenly got up and acted like he was so drunk he couldn't stand, and fell into me and pulled me to the floor tugging on my bracelet, which was screwed closed onto my wrist - I yelled loud and the waitstaff came and he was all drunky and saying "sorry" but I know when someone is trying to rip me off. I mentioned to the manager the girl was no way 21 and if they knew what was good for them they should be tossed out. I left.

Lets see what Royce can do

Theres only a few good restaurants left in HP. Abigails, Benjamin. Atleast worth mentioning anyway.

Why can't a high end restaurant succeed in HP? Do people there just want to dine on boring low end fare