Apollo 13 astronaut Lovell launches upscale restaurant

Nation's Restaurant News, May 3, 1999 by Carolyn Walkup

LAKE FOREST, ILL.--James Lovell Jr., commander of the Apollo 13 space flight around the moon, has launched a restaurant that he and his son, its chef, hope will take off like a rocket.

Lovells of Lake Forest is a 275-seat, casually elegant restaurant, cigar bar and martini lounge, located in one of Chicago's wealthiest North Shore suburbs, where the Lovell family lives. "We like Lake Forest and want to leave a legacy here, so we decided to do this," the retired astronaut said.

The space hero, who helped rescue his ship from near-disaster after technical malfunctions, already had been further immortalized by Hollywood in Tom Hanks' depiction of him in the 1995 Oscar-winning film "Apollo 13."

Choosing not to overemphasize his historic space mission to the moon, Lovell selected a relatively modest in-restaurant display scheme for "a lot of artifacts that were gathering dust in my closet. This is not a Planet Hollywood or a Hard Rock Cafe. It's not a theme restaurant."

Most of the NASA artifacts are on view in a glass case in the clubby cigar and martini bar on the lower level. A subtle reference to Apollo 13 is the large mural over the main bar, titled Steeds of Apollo, which formerly hung in the St. Regis Hotel in New York and inspired artist Luman Winter's Apollo 13 insignia.

"We want to do good restaurant service and good food so people will come back," Lovell said. The former astronaut, now 70, pledged to spend as much time as he can at the restaurant when he's not away on speaking engagements or other business. He maintains an office above the restaurant.

Lovell and his family spent about $3 million on from-scratch construction and other opening costs for Lovells of Lake Forest. "It's built to last. We're not planning to sell it to someone else," he said. The classic design divides main-floor dining space into three rooms plus a conservatory with windows on three sides.

Lovell's son, Jay, is the restaurant's executive chef. He and general manager Russ Breckenridge are in charge of day-to-day operations. The younger Lovell has been a chef since the early 1980s, after he graduated from the Culinary School of Kendall College in Evanston, Ill., where he earned straight-A grades.

He describes his menu as "seasonal American with Mediterranean and Southern influences." A culinary late bloomer, he did not decide to pursue a restaurant career until after trying engineering school and a stint as a graphic artist. While he served as executive chef at Lake Forest's Deerpath Inn, that respected, small hotel's restaurant won awards from a regional magazine for having the North Shore area's best Sunday brunch.

Generous portions and artistic presentations are the chef's signatures at Lovells of Lake Forest. Among his specialties are Texas blue crab cakes with three-bean salsa, ancho chili jam and citrus-butter sauce; cold vegetable terrine with pesto oil; wild-pheasant ravioli in veal reduction with shiitake mushrooms, grilled pear with lingonberries and four-cheese au gratin; and pan-seared Atlantic salmon with Middle Eastern spices over tabbouleh with tomato, caper and olive relish and Moroccan vinaigrette.

Desserts, prepared by pastry chef Rachel Conger, include apple shortcake with mixed berries, vanilla ice cream and strawberry sauce and a peach parfait with vanilla genoise and whipped cream.

The extensive wine list features all American wines and French champagnes, said Wayne King, the restaurant's beverage manager. The martini menu is proving especially popular, he added. It features 26 variations with names like ''Dark Side of the Moon "Lunar Eclipse" and "Haley's Comet."

Breckenridge expects dinner checks to average about $45. Neither he nor the Lovells would project first-year sales. However, Breckenridge said the restaurant's "phones have been ringing off the hook" for reservations.

"Demand is very high in West Lake Forest. There was nothing here," he noted.

Finding enough employees to fill the 95 slots was challenging, he admitted. Although he began advertising well before the opening, many potential employees did not apply until the restaurant was in the final countdown for its launch.

Lovells is open for lunch on weekdays and dinner nightly, with brunch service on Sunday. Initially, the restaurant is limiting reservations to 20 every 30 minutes until the staff feels comfortable with a higher volume. "We're not worried about turning tables," Breckenridge said.

Private-party business is expected to account for about 30 percent of sales, he projected. Party bookings have been coming in steadily for the last two months, well before the restaurant opened. And New Year's Eve is nearly sold out.