by Andrew Morrison | I took a little walk-through of the old DB Bistro/Lumiere space at 2551 West Broadway yesterday with its new tenant, Patrick Corsi (we announced that he and partner Alex Tsakumis had picked up the space last month). A couple of things to note. First, the DB Bistro side: Corsi and Tsakumis are making it a revamped version of Kitsilano’s popular Q4 – which is to say rustic Italian with approachable price points – and hope to launch it at the end of the first week of May. The original restaurant on West 4th will permanently close toward the end of this month after some 17 years of operation. While they haven’t ruled out retaining the space for something else, I’m not holding out hope. Original Q4 fans can rest easy: though the menu will get an update from chef Bradford Ellis (who wouldn’t want to play with these amazing kitchens!), it didn’t sound to me like the food concept was going to be fundamentally altered.

They’ve already redone the floors in the dining room, torn out DB’s iconic leather paneling, painted the walls and done lots besides, but the bones remain largely the same (eg. the patio, pillars, two big banquettes, private room, kitchen, bar). I’ve seen renderings of the aesthetic (mixed in with the gallery below), but we’ll have to wait until more has been done to get a better idea as to the overall look. Lunch and dinner will be served 7 days a week, and Saturday/Sunday brunches are a go.

As for the Lumiere side of the operation, I can’t reveal who is taking over just yet (we’ve been asked not to because it’s not yet set in stone). We will say, however, that if it all works out as per the current plan, it won’t be the wine bar that Tsakumis and Corsi were originally planning. They will instead be partnering up with another restaurateur who will be doing a London-style cocktail lounge with food being served from Q4’s kitchen (the impressive Lumiere kitchen will pull double duty as a commissary for a retail line of Q4 food products and for private functions). One thing of particular note is that there will be a broad, diner-level window between the two spaces, so one will presumably be oft-tempted to look a how the grass is growing on the other side.

Have a gander at what I saw yesterday in the shots below. It certainly was a little odd seeing the carcasses of DB Bistro and Lumiere laid so prostrate and bare, and it was definitely sad to hear that the original Q4 (aka Quattro on Fourth) is a goner, but such – I suppose – is the nature of storied addresses and restaurant reincarnations. We’ll have more soon.

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