Sensing an opportunity, a pair of local chefs have reeled in a recently vacated West End restaurant space.
Lee Gregory and Bobo Catoe are taking over the former Billy Pie space at 6919 Patterson Ave., where they’re planning a restaurant like Odyssey Fish, which they opened earlier this year in Manchester’s Hatch Local food hall.
The duo is perhaps best known for their work at Alewife, the seafood-focused Church Hill restaurant that Gregory owns and where Catoe is a chef. Prior to opening Alewife in 2018, Gregory also opened The Roosevelt as well as Southbound in Bon Air, though he’s no longer a stakeholder in The Roosevelt.
Gregory said they worked out a deal to buy some of the kitchen equipment left in the space by the building’s previous tenant Billy Fallen, who recently closed his Billy Pie pizzeria after four years as he moved to Manchester. Gregory said he and Catoe are still working out what exactly their West End restaurant will be.
“It won’t necessarily be what Odyssey is at Hatch because there’s no hood (at the Patterson location), but we’ll do some raw stuff, some salads and pizza-type things – whatever we can get away with cooking in that oven,” Gregory said. “It’ll be a different kind of challenge and, to be truthful, one we haven’t really thought a lot about. We just kind of jumped on it.”
While Billy Pie was takeout-focused, Gregory and Catoe’s new spot will be a sit-down restaurant with seating for about 40.
Despite being on the other side of town from Alewife and Odyssey, Gregory said they’re familiar with serving folks from the West End.
“A lot of customers drive all the way across town to Alewife to have our food and support us,” he said.
Taking over a space without a fully fleshed-out concept is a new approach for Gregory, but he said it’s one that excites him.
“It’ll be some trial and error, but it’s always exciting to do something new,” Gregory said. “You kind of get a fever for that kind of thing, or so it seems at least for me.”
Sensing an opportunity, a pair of local chefs have reeled in a recently vacated West End restaurant space.
Lee Gregory and Bobo Catoe are taking over the former Billy Pie space at 6919 Patterson Ave., where they’re planning a restaurant like Odyssey Fish, which they opened earlier this year in Manchester’s Hatch Local food hall.
The duo is perhaps best known for their work at Alewife, the seafood-focused Church Hill restaurant that Gregory owns and where Catoe is a chef. Prior to opening Alewife in 2018, Gregory also opened The Roosevelt as well as Southbound in Bon Air, though he’s no longer a stakeholder in The Roosevelt.
Gregory said they worked out a deal to buy some of the kitchen equipment left in the space by the building’s previous tenant Billy Fallen, who recently closed his Billy Pie pizzeria after four years as he moved to Manchester. Gregory said he and Catoe are still working out what exactly their West End restaurant will be.
“It won’t necessarily be what Odyssey is at Hatch because there’s no hood (at the Patterson location), but we’ll do some raw stuff, some salads and pizza-type things – whatever we can get away with cooking in that oven,” Gregory said. “It’ll be a different kind of challenge and, to be truthful, one we haven’t really thought a lot about. We just kind of jumped on it.”
While Billy Pie was takeout-focused, Gregory and Catoe’s new spot will be a sit-down restaurant with seating for about 40.
Despite being on the other side of town from Alewife and Odyssey, Gregory said they’re familiar with serving folks from the West End.
“A lot of customers drive all the way across town to Alewife to have our food and support us,” he said.
Taking over a space without a fully fleshed-out concept is a new approach for Gregory, but he said it’s one that excites him.
“It’ll be some trial and error, but it’s always exciting to do something new,” Gregory said. “You kind of get a fever for that kind of thing, or so it seems at least for me.”
Looking forward to it, all of the other places these guys had a hand in were bangers.