Family Style Cole’s Restaurant aims to be home for the Montrose By Eric A.T. Dieckman

Esto quod esse videris. "Be what you seem to be." This is the motto of the Cole family crest, traced back as far as 1244 from Devon, England, and kept alive on the front of the Cole’s Restaurant menu. "I think that’s what gay people are. They are what they seem to be, the ones that are out," says Paul Long, co-owner of Cole’s.

Both Long and namesake co-owner Richard Cole have been waiters for most of their lives in other people’s restaurants. However, this is the first restaurant to call their own. With Cole’s Restaurant only four months old this April (after almost a year in preparation), it’s still very much their baby. A cherished, beloved baby.

"Both Richard and I have been in love with the business all of our lives," says Long. They, too, are what they seem to be, loyal and faithful servants to Montrose gourmands and sybarites. "We want to service this neighborhood," Long says. With brunch service now open–featuring bottomless mimosas–service should be positively gratifying.

Originally from Barbados, Richard Cole has waited tables, managed, and overseen catering at practically every major restaurant in the Montrose since its heyday. Tila’s? Been there. Moose Cafe? Cafe Noche? Done that. Cole and Long have both worked all over–separately, with each other, and for each other.

Cole and Long’s staff have equally impressive résumés, having worked the finest places in the area for years. Fox Diner, River Cafe, Baba Yega, the staff is as thoughtfully selected as the cuisine. Having worked with these people from one place to the next, the co-owners knew who to handpick. "A good waiter knows how to read a table, if they want elegant, formal service, if they want to be left alone, or if they want to be entertained," explains Long. With his and Cole’s solid reputations, recruitment was no trouble.

And what of the food? What’s the overall concept? "Food that you would fix for people coming over to dinner, but you’re too damn lazy to do for yourself," jokes Cole. Long chimes in: "We wanted to step back from the frou-frou, fusion, all of that that’s going on and just do straight-forward food that people recognize. We don’t serve emu or wild boar." "Well, we are going way out on a limb this weekend," Cole says, referring to a special offered one weekend in February, "venison in a plum-port sauce. But, you know, people talk about venison being gamey, but not the way I make it." Stuffing the meat with garlic and marinating it for a week, Cole tenderizes the meat and crushes the gamey blow of venison, broadening its appeal to diners with less adventurous palates. "Then I put this wonderful plum-port sauce on it. It gives it such a flavor that it’s . . ." his face explodes with sensual emotion, "Oh God!"

At Cole’s, the cozy bar is as much a focus (and takes up nearly as much space) as the restaurant proper. Try one of their "frozen martinis"–they’re about the only place in town I know that offers these Slurpees for adults. They're made with Smirnoff vodka, too, not some cheap well brand, so they don't burn on the way down.

The wine list at Cole’s follows the same philosophy as the menu. Long, the in-house wine aficionado, asked his vendors for simplicity and easy recognition. With an exceptionally modest mark-up, Long hopes to see Cole’s become a refuge for vinophiles in the Montrose area. "A shiraz would be much too big for a dish like that," Long muses, when asked about a wine selection to go with Cole’s venison dish. "Is shiraz really that big of a wine?" asks Cole. "No, it’s not big, but it would clash with the plum sauce." "Oh. Honest to God, yes. Would not work."

An Aussie shiraz and a plum-port sauce will not work. But with a new menu, an intimate setting, and the charming owners being what they seem to be, it looks like the Long-Cole combination will.

Cole’s Restaurant, 2100 Waugh Drive, 713/942-2100. Restaurant hours: Tues.—Thurs., 5:30—10 p.m.; Fri. & Sat., 5:30—11 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m.—3 p.m., 5:30—10 p.m. Bar hours: Tues.—Fri. & Sun., 4 p.m.—midnight; Sat., 4 p.m.—1 a.m.

RECIPE

Barbados Gazpacho (and lots of it)

Years ago when Richard Cole and his husband visited Cole’s home in Barbados, they visited a friend who had opened a restaurant there, The Waterfront. "It was fantastic. One of the things she did there was gazpacho. It was absolutely wonderful." They got the recipe from her. Years later, they returned to find her cold vegetable soup was even better than before. Richard made a further modification: Leave the hot sauce on the side, rather than already mixed in, allowing the guest to determine the heat. This is that recipe, the improved gazpacho, from the Waterfront in Barbados, to Cole’s in the Montrose, to you.

5 cans tomato juice, 46 oz
1/2 cup vegetable oil
10 large tomatoes, peeled & seeded
10 large cucumbers, peeled & seeded
2 1/2 lbs. onions, chopped
5 small bell peppers, chopped
15 cloves garlic
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C salt
2 C Worcestershire sauce

Blend all ingredients, 1/3 at a time, in a blender. Pour through a sieve. Chill. Serve in a cup or bowl with accompaniment of diced carrots, bell peppers, cucumbers, squash, onions, and a dash of hot sauce. Yield: 3 1/2 gallons, or 50 servings.

Per Serving:
82 calories
2 grams fat (24.6 percent calories from fat)
2 grams protein
15 grams carbohydrates
3 grams dietary fiber
0 mg cholesterol
1593 mg sodium