Popular MS Coast restaurant closes, while another moves to a ‘dream’ downtown location
The food scene in Long Beach is getting stirred up, as one popular restaurant closes and a bakery moves to a more visible downtown location.
Seven years ago, William and Brooke Rester opened Dolce Bakeshop in a yellow house a block or so off Jeff Davis Avenue. Since then, the shop’s become renowned for its cakes, cupcakes and other Southern and Italian treats.
Two years ago they opened Radish, an upscale restaurant at 200 Jeff Davis Ave. It quickly became one of the go-to places in South Mississippi.
A year ago they added Kaiteki Noodle Bar adjacent to Radish, and it was another hit.
When their young daughter became seriously ill last fall, the Resters needed to make changes to their growing businesses.
“We want to consolidate and just focus on family,” William Rester said.
Change of pace
Despite the restaurant being busy, they closed Kaiteki noodle restaurant after dinner on March 8.
“I never set out to open a ramen shop,” Restor said on Facebook. They made a lot of customers very happy, he said, and he posted: “It always brought us a great joy to hear that it was your favorite spot.”
The concept for the ramen restaurant, which featured meat, seafood and vegetarian dishes, is for sale, Restor said.
The owner of Long Beach Market & Deli said he was considering buying Kaiteki, but like the Restors decided he couldn’t give his attention to keep both businesses going.
Sweet changes on the way
The Restors are making other changes — moving Dolce Bakeshop into a storefront on busy Jeff Davis Avenue in Long Beach.
They’ve waited for the retail space to open — “right next door” to Radish, William Restor said, in suite 2 at 200 Jeff Davis Ave.
They plan to have the bakery ready to open Tuesday, and Brooke Restor said, “I am beyond excited for this next chapter in our dream space.”
While they closed the bakery for a week to get the space ready, they continue to take phone orders for custom cakes and Easter specialties. Internet orders resume March 20.
Radish continues
“Sometimes, leadership means knowing when to walk away from something, and as a dad, I feel like it’s time to do that.” Restor said.
“It’s time to focus on what I started to do when I opened Radish two years ago. That was to explore upscale southern food and redefine what it means to meet and eat in the south,” he said.
The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturday, with lunch specials like jerk stuffed pepper chicken sandwich with jerk aioli and dinner specials like steak night on Tuesdays and cheesy crawfish bread during Lent.
Chef Restor recently represented Long Beach at the first Jackson Food and Wine Festival, showcasing his dish of roasted radishes with goat cheese, ricotta and chimichurri.
