ENTERTAINMENT

Please goes from pop-up to OTR restaurant

Polly Campbell
pcampbell@enquirer.com
Ryan Santos in front of his future restaurant Please at 14th and Clay streets in Over-the-Rhine

Over the last four years, Ryan Santos has put on pop-up dinner events in his own apartment, in a coffee shop after hours and on a farm. Soon he'll be serving guests in his own restaurant.

Santos produced the pop-ups under the name Please, and that name will carry over to the restaurant.

He'll be opening in a building at 14th and Clay streets in Over-the-Rhine. It's a small space, enough for 25 seats, with 10 at a bar. The building, which also has four apartments upstairs, is being renovated by Urban Sites.

Santos' pop-up dinners are usually five-course dinners with artistic and experimental food, always using interesting local ingredients. That will also be the format of Please. "We're going to be as creative as we want," he said. "But we'll be focused on making sure it's super delicious, and not just for foodies."

It will be a set menu, either three or five courses. Allowances will be made for food restrictions, but otherwise, there will be one set menu each evening. It will evolve over the course of the seasons, so dishes will change with the availability of ingredients.

"I've learned a lot over the last four years," he said. "I started out being all about creativity, playing with extreme flavor combinations and unusual cooking techniques. But I've had some failures and successes to learn from. I want to be very approachable with the restaurant."

They'll take reservations, but also accept walk-ins.

Santos said the building never had damage to the roof, as so many Over-the-Rhine buildings have, so there's no water damage, and the simple renovation, designed by The Drawing Department, will be able to use the original woodwork.

The bar will be physically separate from the dining room, and the cocktails will also be themed by what fresh fruits, herbs and vegetables are available. There will be a small a la carte menu at the bar. Santos hopes to open in late spring.