tephen De Haan, the restaurateur behind the shuttered Andrews Entertainment District, is back on the scene with a new downtown restaurant and cigar bar.
De Haan opened Red Phone Booth, a cigar bar, Aug. 20 and Amalfi Pizza, an authentic Neapolitan pizzeria, in early September on Andrew Young International Boulevard.
The 100-year old, 12,000-square-foot building where the concepts are housed has a rich history. It was formerly an iconic restaurant, Dailey's, but has been closed for many years. The building has undergone a complete renovation over the last nine months.
Red Phone Booth, located on the bottom floor of the building, offers patrons a speakeasy experience resurrected from De Haan's former Prohibition lounge in Buckhead. It will serve with craft cocktails made out of some of the rarest liquors available and over a dozen tinctures, bitters and flavoring agents to add a little more kick. The bar is the first of a multi-location franchise, and its small plate options include fresh seafood, carpaccio and beef tenderloin.
Like Prohibition before it, visitors get into Red Phone Booth by dialing a secret phone number into a restored antique London red phone booth in the bar's entryway. The 1920s decor continues inside with the space's original brick floors, a honey onyx bar, Italian leather couches and a private "mob-style" kitchen with poker and pool tables that can be reserved for private events.
Amalfi Pizza is located upstairs and features two 6,000-pound brick ovens from Italy that had to be lifted into the space by cranes. It is decorated with large semicircular booths, custom wrought iron chandeliers and Juliet balconies. In addition to Neapolitan-style pizzas, its offerings include appetizers, salads, pastas and original desserts from Dailey's recipes. De Haan co-founded the restaurant with Greg Grant, and the two toured the Naples region to gain inspiration for it.
These concepts are De Haan's first moves since the Andrews Entertainment District, which he co-founded in 2002, closed after being sold to Columbia, S.C.-based real estate company Edens for $19.1 million.
De Haan has also said he plans to bring back the Atlanta Improv Comedy Club & Dinner Theater, which lost its home when Andrews Entertainment District closed.
See slideshow and original article at Atlanta Business Chronicle.