Pho Paris moves to Greenup. Yes!

Jean-Robert de Cavel in his infinite wisdom is moving on to Greenup Street. Thank goodness, because ever since Scalea’s, the best take-out deli on the planet, left we’ve been graced with 1. a member’s only club 2. a member’s only club-gone public. The only good thing about the Metropolitan was that Pedro Fontova was guest chef one month. Though as Pedro laughingly told me, the Met charged $14 for one of his burritos and you can get two for that price at his Scott street digs.

I avoid JC’s Greenup Café like it’s a crack house. I live three blocks away, work from home and I need a French pastry shop around the corner like I need a hole in the head. I go instead to Sunoco, to get a fountain diet coke and to catch up on the latest gossip with the cashier (they know everything about everybody). My neighbors have told tales of the espresso machine breaking down at the Greenup Café and day old croissants, but with Jean Robert's reputation, we’ll call those opening quarter mini-dramas, and assume they’ve worked them out by now.

We had Donna’s Diner for a too-short while (oh, that bloody Mary bar) but owned by the troubled Queen City Restaurant group, it was a short-lived addition to the area. Jack Quinn’s, after a year of near-empty capacity whenever we stopped in, likewise pulled up stakes and moved. They’re a franchise, so don’t feel too badly about it, but the food was pretty good and the place had nice atmosphere. Coco’s is, well, Coco’s, easy to walk to, and staffed by friendly people, but inexplicably, they reduced their menu down to nothing a few months ago, while simultaneously raising their prices. Some healthy neighborhood competition is clearly in order.

Pho Paris will be a nice addition to the riverside district. In anticipation of the move, and the problems experienced at the Oakley location, the restaurant will be more casual, with lower prices too… Can’t wait to see that take-out menu! Pho Paris opens at 318 Greenup Street in Covington in January 2007.