Longtime Lexington dining visionary opening new dream restaurant in Chevy Chase
A new cafe is coming to Chevy Chase from one of the biggest names in Lexington restaurants.
Fazoli’s Hall of Fame member Kuni Toyoda, who came up with unlimited breadsticks when he owned five franchises in Lexington in the early 1990s as well as developing the Bella Notte, Crust (now known as Bella Forno) and Smashing Tomato concepts, is opening his dream restaurant later this year.
The new concept will go in the spot where Le Matin Bakery & Zuni Cafe closed last August.
“It will be called ‘Bella Cafe and Grille,’” Toyoda said in an email. “The concept positioning is ‘everyday dining people crave for.’ We will have a very focused menu good for lunch and dinner.”
He said that he thinks it’s very difficult to be simple “since it requires perfect execution in quality, service and cleanliness.”
Toyoda said he had been talking with Le Matin owner Abbas Larian for the past four years about opening a small restaurant in the location at 890 East High Street when Larian and his wife, Debbie, were ready to retire.
The new restaurant may open by early June, but Toyoda said he does not want to rush anytime. Demolition has begun on the interior which Toyoda plans to renovate to create an intimate cafe with a small bar, with only about 66 seats.
The interior will be casual and comfortable, he said, for all-day dining. The building exterior will stay the same, to blend into the Chevy Chase neighborhood.
“I always wanted a Chevy Chase location,” Toyoda said. “But every single menu item has to be perfect. I just wanted to do it myself. That’s my personal pride.”
His son, Kevin Toyoda, who is the executive chef for Bella Notte and his other concepts, will create the menu for Bella Cafe and Grille too, he said.
The menu will focus on fresh foods, such as fresh-cut French fires, fresh-ground hamburgers and lots of fresh vegetables and fruit. They plan to have some of the most popular items from Bella Notte, including a pasta dish and the grilled salmon salad.
He also plans to have sandwiches, including a French dip sandwich made from aged prime rib.
And there’s some good news for those who were devastated by the closing of Le Matin last August: Toyoda said they will use Larian’s bread recipes and hopes to resurrect his famous baguettes and brioche bread.
They also may bring back some of Debbie’s dishes as well as the bakery’s fabulous pastries.
“I’d like to keep their legacy going and keep it simple,” Toyoda said. “We know there are so many restaurants in Lexington. We like to create a restaurant that our guests will drop in to have a casual but excellent meals and enjoy the conversation as well as good wine and bar drinks.”
This story was originally published January 13, 2020 at 8:45 AM.
