Italian restaurant set to replace Reserve in downtown GR

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — An Italian restaurant is set to replace Reserve in downtown Grand Rapids.

Reserve Wine & Food closed in May to make way for a new concept.

“When we first opened (in 2010), maybe Grand Rapids wasn’t quite so ready for the direction that we were heading. But the neighborhood (has) caught up, lots of positive dining that’s happening in the area,” general manager and executive chef Luke VerHulst told News 8 in April . “Great restaurants are happening, the dining scene is coming forward and people are catching up to what we were trying to do. So now we think it’s a good time for us to reinvent, to push the scene forward again.”

Now, ‘Allora’ is set to take the restaurant’s place at the intersection of Monroe Avenue and Lyon Street. It will offer a “comfortable, fresh coastal Italian dining experience,” the restaurant said in a Thursday release.

“Like our namesake, we aim to help conversations and stories flow while telling our own through a menu of sustainable, artfully prepared dishes inspired by Coastal Italy,” VerHulst said in the release.

‘Allora’ is a common Italian word often used in storytelling. It doesn’t have a direct English translation, but it “creates space in a conversation, lends suspense and flow to a story, and sings the rolling song of the world’s most beautifully spoken language,” the release says.

English speakers could use words like “well…” or “and then…” to get the same effect, the release says.

Allora is expected to open by the end of the year.

“Our goal is to offer an unforgettable experience for every guest in an intimate, comfortable setting,” founder Betsy DeVos said in the release. “At Allora, every delicious bite with family and friends will be a story.”

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