Bravo is home to two concepts
“The original plan was just to open up a fine dining restaurant,” Rhonda Duhamel said, “seven days a week from 4 to 10 p.m. at night.”
But, as boxer Mike Tyson once famously said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” For Duhamel, co-owner of the recently opened Bravo Restaurant (73 Hanover St, Manchester, 854-8139, bravonh.com) and its sister business, Café at Bravo (85 Hanover St, Manchester, 854-8089, cafeatbravo.com), the metaphorical punch was the need for more kitchen space, which led them to open a second, lunch-centered restaurant two doors down from the fine-dining one. Both use the same kitchen.
“Because we connect in the back, we are able to prep in the back for the restaurant and also make signature sandwiches for the cafe side along with homemade soups, pastries and salads; everything is made in house,” Duhamel said. “So that’s why we now have the Café at Bravo.”
This double business model has allowed Duhamel and her partner, Robert Singer, to serve two different types of clientele with little additional staff and minimal disruption to the fine-dining restaurant. The café is open until the early evening. The restaurant opens at 4 p.m., and there is little overlap between the two, Duhamel said.
The Café at Bravo focuses on sandwiches, salads, pastries and soups, she said.
“We make homemade soup — a special soup every day, and a specialty sandwich each week. We also just added a big catering side to the cafe, so that’s really ramping up now. People are ordering our signature sandwiches for their parties — businesses and Sunday football get-togethers. It’s a self-serve cafe. We do have a counter where people can come up and order their food, but we encourage people to use our kiosks.”
The kiosks are automated stations located at the front of the café, where customers can order and pay for their food before picking it up at the counter in the rear.
“We wanted to have very little overhead here on this side,” she said, “so we figured we would offer the kiosks…. We would rather pay our staff more and let the consumer not tip them.”
Two doors down, the Bravo Restaurant focuses on upscale American cuisine, Duhamel said. “We have everything from salmon, sea bass, seafood casserole — I actually had that last night — haddock, sole, and then we go into some nice chicken dishes. We have a nice rib-eye. Our tomahawk pork chop is very popular, and our short rib has been spectacular. And then we have filets and a [pasta] bolognese. We also do have a burger on the menu.”
The restaurant has the flexibility to meet several types of white-tablecloth-dining needs, Duhamel said.
“We have 101 seats. We have a regular bar and then we’ve added a wine bar here in our dining room. It’s a seated bar where you can have your meal. We’re very much into wines. We have 24 seats outside on the patio. We also have a private dining area with 16 seats, so we can rent it out for a family party to a business party. In this wine bar, we also have the ability to use audio if we have a chef’s tasting here. If we have upcoming special events, like a Valentine’s Day event, we can advertise on the screen here for our guests to see.” She pointed at a large abstract painting over the bar. “That isn’t a painting; it’s a video screen.”
Duhamel said that the two Bravo restaurants are a good fit for downtown Manchester.
“We complement the other restaurants in the city,” she said. “Hanover Street is the happening street, downtown. And now we have it filled — Hanover Street has no empty spaces.”
Café at Bravo
Where: 85 Hanover St., Manchester, 854-8089, cafeatbravo.com
Hours: open seven days a week, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Bravo Restaurant
Where: 73 Hanover St., Manchester, 854-8139, bravonh.com
Hours: open seven days a week, 4 to 10 p.m.
Featured photo: Cafe at Bravo. Photo by John Fladd.
