MARIETTA - The Levee House Cafe in Marietta reopened in late June with new management bringing a new feel to the longtime establishment.
"Oh, it's a completely different place - it's been renovated, color, carpet, tables and the menu," said David Hearing, who now manages the restaurant with his wife, Kimberly. "We wanted to make sure that the people that came to the Levee House before walked in now and it would be a 'wow' factor from the change."
Contributing to that "wow" factor was the change of the color scheme from a canary yellow to a gray blue, he said. The carpeting had also been changed due to floods in the past and to coordinate with the new color of the walls.
The dishes offered have changed as well, with new menu items including pot stickers, bleu cheese-crusted beef medallions and horseradish-crusted salmon.
"Those have been some of the things people haven't tried before, and they came in and tried them and loved them," said Kimberly Hearing.
They are still in the midst of fixing some things up, for example the private dining room on the side of the building.
"The private dining room hasn't been remodeled yet, but the long-term plan is to turn it into a lounge or bar," David Hearing said. "Hopefully we will be done Sternwheel (Festival) weekend; that's our plan."
Heading into their fifth week running the restaurant, the Hearings have already been through several big events - the Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure swing through the region, the Riverfront Roar and last weekend's Sweet Corn Festival.
The couple already have experience in food management. David Hearing worked as the chef at Glenwood Retirement Community and ran Cite Grille in North Canton. Kimberly Hearing worked at TGI Friday's in North Canton.
Now they are operating as a team along with family friend Shannon Campbell to help things run smoothly.
