Bringing back Byronz

Dixieland jazz floats from behind the black wood bar at Bistro Byronz. Business diners linger under a pressed tin ceiling, enjoying themselves beneath the dining room's wrought-iron and globe sconces. Mike and Jill Kantrow catch a respite from opening the 120-seat bistro that's obliquely patterned

A woman enthusiastically explains to the Kentrows how thrilled she is about rediscovering Byronz. While an LSU student, she became hooked on the deli that opened opposite Baton Rouge High in 1976 and spread to College Drive, Catfish Town and Sherwood Forest.

Moments later, Mike Kantrow reads his favorite review from the restaurant's first days: " 'The food is fantastic. The only thing that's better is the company,' " he says, repeating an old friend's reaction. And that, says the 60-year-old CBO, is "exactly what we want to bea neighborhood gathering place where people know each other and come have a good time."

Kantrow is a restaurant executive on a mission-CBO stands for chief Byronz orchestrator-and his vision recalls bygone days, with food fit for contemporary tastes. In the end, family heritage and Baton Rouge business roots brought the Kantrows back to the table after an 18-year hiatus.

Back home

Bistro Byronz is the Kantrows' testament to the belief that not only can you go home again, you can rediscover your youth. In late 2004, they returned to Baton Rouge after two decades in Shreveport. Consolidation had consumed the family's VignesBombet Company beer and liquor distributorship in 1985. After VBC's flagship Falstaff brand faded in Baton Rouge and major state wholesalers-shrank from two dozen to two, Kantrow left to manage competitor Magnolia Marketing on the Red River. Soon, operating Byronz became impractical, and the delis closed in 1988.

But dreams die hard, memories harder still. Kantrow grew up on Olive Street, walked to Dufrocq Elementary and recalled extended families breaking bread in MidCity eateries.

"For some reason, restaurants were a part of the fabric of these neighborhoods," he says. "And from a business standpoint, they can be again. We're not getting the cart before the horse, but if this restaurant is successful and we have opportunity, we'll find other restaurant [sites] in neighborhoods such as this and communities such as this."

Friends urged the Kantrows to re-enter the business upon their return, and a 15-family core of investors banked on the Bistro Byronz concept. The menu brings back old favorites such as the flagship Byronz sandwich, corn and shrimp soup and heavenly hash a la mode.

Months of kitchen testing yielded moments of inspiration. Food, though, is only part of the success formula, and observers say other elements will determine the bistro's fortunes on Government.

Mid-City magic

Competitors say Bistro Bryonz made its smartest move by selecting the historic neighborhood site near Superior Grill.

"It's an awesome idea," says chef William Wells, who owns Culinary Productions in the same district. "For them to bring it back to Mid-City shows people that there is life in Mid-City, and I think it's going to be the new place to be."

Jim Urdiales, president of the Louisiana Restaurant Association's Baton Rouge chapter, says a line outside Bistro Byronz kept him from dining there recently. But the concept shows potential after Baton Rouge's word-of-mouth buzz wears off.

"It has a very French feel. I think that's a perfect fit in MidCity," says Urdiales, who operates Mestizo Restaurant on Sherwood Forest Boulevard but lives in Mid-City. He thinks the bistro can flourish in the crowded casual dining segment.

"Baton Rouge is really a casual going-out town," Urdiales says, pointing to patrons coming straight from the gym or school functions. I think that's totally the segment to go for: If you keep it a nice upper casual, your reach is broadened because you're opening your segment to people all over Baton Rouge."

The 3,500-square-foot, 1930s house that is Bistro Byronz retains its Mediterranean tile roof but gains enclosed porch and deck seating areas. The interior retains the 1930s feel, but the point-of-sale and kitchen equipment are state-of-the art.

All six Kantrow children contributed to planning the restaurant: Daughter Mari, displaced as a student from storm-struck Tulane, became a full-time Bistro Byronz startup specialist. Son Michael Jr., CEO of the New York ad agency Margeotes Fertitta Powell, refined the branding and marketing.

"Bistro Byronz is the beginning of a cutting-edge concept," he says, hinting at plans to replicate the bistro throughout the Southeast and add an express restaurant format within five years.

His father resolutely says additional bistros will capture the unique neighborhood flavor of the first one at Government and St. Landry in Baton Rouge. It's why the whole concept makes sense, says Mike Kantrow, who insisted on locally crafted dining tables and a meticulously stained parking lot that takes the "blabs" out of its concrete surface. Surplus parking was secured nearby on Government, and Kantrow knows there's a city full of neighborhoods watching, including Capital Heights next door.

"We knew we didn't want to be in a big shopping center with lots of concrete," he says. "We knew we wanted lots of character. And we've made every effort to be good neighbors to the residents behind us."

THE BYRONZ LEGACY

Three decades ago, the first Byronz was born.

Actually, it was the second. Brock Kantrow recalls his younger brother Byron's stay at a Galveston hospital, where his parents would escape the clinical atmosphere for hearty fare at a neighborhood deli. Upon returning to Baton Rouge, they launched a deli in honor of Byron, who today lives in New York.

"I don't know where the 'z' came from," Brock says. His father, Mike, supplies the answer: "It was a play on 'Byron's.' "

At the new Bistro Byronz, Brock carries the title "Coach B," referring to his years coaching basketball as a Tulane and Miami assistant and as head coach at St. Mary's College in Maryland. He's still a coach at heart, one who jumped at the chance to resume a restaurant career that began at age 7 as he scraped paint off the old Sam's Meat Market glass to open the first Byronz Deli on Government at Eugene.

"Coaching is about getting the most out of people," he says. "We want loyal employees who want to come in to work and are happy when they leave. That carries over to your clientele. They feel it."

There's another homage at the bistro, one paid to dentist Robert Landry, who died in a 2005 plane crash after years of practicing in Baton Rouge and Jonesboro.

"We were supposed to grow old sitting on the porch in rocking chairs together," Mike Kantrow says. "The interesting part of this is we're at the corner of Government and St. Landry. So we think of it as a reminder of a dear friend and someone whose enthusiasm was really key to bringing this restaurant back to life."