Chefs James and Julie Petrakis always wanted a successful restaurant in their hometown of Winter Park. Their dreams came true with the opening of The Ravenous Pig in 2007.
Now the husband-and-wife culinary team is looking to repeat history with Cask & Larder, a Southern-inspired public house that will open this summer.
The 6,000 square-foot, 150-seat restaurant and brewery will be in downtown Winter Park at the old Harper’s Tavern building on Fairbanks Avenue. Cask & Larder is a restaurant and brewery drawn from some of the favorite eateries that James and Julie have visited in Charleston, Atlanta, and other stops along their travels.
Cask represents the specialty homemade brews that will be a staple at the restaurant. Larder is a name for a southern pantry.
“We always hope to have at least one cask of specialty beer on draught,” says Julie Petrakis, co-owner of Cask & Larder.
Petrakis noted that even though Cask & Larder’s roots are downright southern, the menu will not be loaded with fried comfort foods.
“We are sticking to our core of made-from-scratch foods, seasonal menus and fresh local ingredients. The new concept will be a tad more casual than The Ravenous Pig and will have a slightly lower price point – but the details are still in early drawing stages,” she explains.
The owners, who are James Beard Nominees for their culinary talents, have selected the same architectural team responsible for the construction and design of The Ravenous Pig to handle the new restaurant.
Nelson Blankenship of Blankenship Architects Incorporated is the architect on the project. Larry Foor from Gomez Construction will handle the construction of the project. Anna Schmidt of Schmidt Design Studio Incorporated will lead the design concept for the interior. They will also assist with restaurant branding.
The general manager of The Ravenous Pig, Tracy Lindskoog, will be coming over to head front-of-house operations for Cask & Larder. Her husband, Dennis Bernard, will be the Chef de Cuisine running the back-of-the-house.
“We had such a tremendous team from the start that we wanted to involve them all again in our next restaurant,” Petrakis says. “Cask & Larder will not be a repeat of The Ravenous Pig, yet we wanted to make sure it had the same dedication to quality and integrity.”
Restaurant interior design specialist Anna Schmidt is excited to be transforming another Winter Park building into the next hot spot.
“The Harper’s Tavern building provides a number of eclectic elements that we are going to be incorporating into the new design. We want to honor the heritage of the location but also make it exciting and new,” Schmidt says.
Permitting for the restaurant and brewery is underway and construction is expected to begin in March.
Petrakis says the selection of a building in Winter Park was critical to their plans for Cask & Larder because of the proximity to The Ravenous Pig and their home.
“We thought the building had a ton of character and since it was already used as a restaurant, it gives us the ability to install a brewery, which will bring in a new element for our fans,” she says.
“James and I grew up in Winter Park and this is our dream to have two unique concepts in our hometown.”
