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Warming up with the weather: Bistro 112 eases into spring grand opening with brunch, wine dinners

By Tabitha Johnston - Chronicle Staff | Feb 10, 2023

From left, Chef Paul Stearman and fellow proprietor Jaye Golumbic stand on the main pathway of Bistro 112's native-landscaped garden on Tuesday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — On Jan. 7, Bistro 112 reopened its doors at 112 West German Street for the first time, since Sept. 26, 2020.

Although the restaurant’s founder, Shepherdstown resident Deb Tucker, couldn’t financially sustain the business throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic, she held onto the hope that another French food-enthusiast would buy the business from her and reopen its doors in the future. Almost a year later, in July 2021, her dream came to be, when Lars and Jaye Golumbic found out that, not only was the business for sale, but also, so was its building.

“We wanted to own the restaurant’s building, so that we didn’t have to go to someone else and say, ‘Hey, can you pay for this?’ They don’t necessarily want to pay for repairs, but then we don’t necessarily want to pay for it all, either, because at the end of the day, they still have the building. We would only get so much out of it, as long as we’re here,” Jaye said on Tuesday afternoon, as she gazed around the new, French-inspired decor of Bistro 112’s second floor dining room.

According to Jaye, while the building was in “wonderful shape” when it was purchased, she and her husband decided to invest in the future of the restaurant, by rewiring its electrical system; installing new HVAC splits and water filters; refinishing the floors; repainting the walls; and furnishing the space with new French-inspired decor, furniture, fans and sound panels.

“I honestly can’t even remember it all, because it’s been a year-and-a-half of stuff. But so often it happened that, whenever our contractors started doing stuff, they would dig a little deeper and realize further things needed done. So it’s been a lot of checks being written out!” Jaye said, noting Bistro 112’s building dates back to the 1830s. “It’s such a great space, but with these old buildings, this kind of thing tends to happen.”

The first floor dining room of Bistro 112’s new decor was revealed on Jan. 7, with a soft opening celebration. Tabitha Johnston

Last summer, the couple’s favorite chef, L’Academie de Cuisine alumnus Paul Stearman, agreed to work as a consultant for the restaurant’s launch. But when he visited Bistro 112 in-person in August, he realized he wanted to have a more permanent position at the restaurant. Soon after, he agreed to become the restaurant’s permanent chef and bought into the restaurant, which he and Jaye agreed turned out to be the best thing that could have happened. For Stearman, joining the venture allowed him to move to Shepherdstown and purchase a home, something he could not have afforded to do in Washington, D.C. For the Golumbics, it combined the extensive experience of a multi-award-winning, French-trained chef with Jaye’s sales and marketing abilities and Lars’ legal and financial knowledge.

“The great thing about Paul and I working together, is Paul’s like, ‘Let’s just go!’ and I’m more of like, ‘Wait, wait, wait, wait!’ He pushes me forward, and I pull him back,” Jaye laughed. “So we meet somewhere in the middle.”

According to Stearman, his menu features modern French cuisine, meaning it includes a number of classic French foods, as well as some French-styled popular American foods, like BLTs and burgers. Some dishes will vary, season-by-season, while others will remain static on the menu, like the steak frites, escargot and French onion soup.

“My training is in the classics, but when you’re doing modern French cuisine, you tend to be able to branch out and play with different flavors and things like that,” Stearman said, noting he did keep the American palate in mind, when crafting the menu. “The menu is pretty classically French — you could see that menu in any city in France.”

Since its soft opening on Jan. 7, Bistro 112 has been gradually preparing for its grand opening this spring, when it will open the native-landscaped garden dining area in its backyard to customers. It started off with offering dinner service, followed by lunch service and then weekly brunch on Saturday and Sunday mornings. This month, it will be branching out into holding monthly wine dinners, which Stearman is excited to bring from his prior restaurant experience to Shepherdstown.

Bonnymeed Farm owner Bill Licliter works on the landscaping in the garden behind Bistro 112 on Tuesday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston

“For Bastille Day, and really every single holiday, I hope to do a special thing,” Stearman said. “We want to do wine dinners here, too! We’re doing a monthly wine dinner — we’re doing Bordeaux this month, upstairs only with a set menu. It’ll be like a party, where everyone will receive their courses together.”

With the extensive work that has been done on Bistro 112, it will be able to offer a maximum seating capacity of 140 inside and outside of the building.

“This was a unique space, and the backyard had a lot of potential, once we reconfigured the space with landscaping,” Jaye said. “We’re excited for everyone to see it at our grand opening this spring, when the flowers are in bloom!”

Bistro 112’s outdoor seating, both in front of the restaurant and in its native-landscaped garden, will be available for seating when the restaurant holds its grand opening in the spring. Tabitha Johnston

Bistro 112's first special event, an author meet-and-greet, was held in its second floor dining room at the end of January. Tabitha Johnston