In fine-dining shakeup, ‘hip steakhouse’ to replace Boise chef’s restaurant sold downtown
When Richard Langston uprooted his restaurant from the North End and reinvented the concept downtown, it was one of the city’s bigger culinary stories of 2017.
Nearly eight years later, the familiar Boise chef is making news again.
Richard’s Restaurant & Bar — located at the Inn at 500 Capitol hotel — will close at the end of the year. He and Melinda Langston, his wife and business partner, plan to retire. They’ve sold the restaurant at 500 S. Capitol Blvd. to Scott Slater and Todd Ketlinski, owners of Spitfire Tacos + Tequila in Eagle.
After remodeling, the former Richard’s space will be reopened as Hemlock, which calls itself a “boutique neighborhood steakhouse.” The target is spring.
With two longtime steakhouses downtown already — locally owned Chandlers and national chain Ruth’s Chris — Hemlock will strive to carve out its own slice of beef.
One not quite as aged.
“This is going to be a little bit more updated and cool and bringing fine dining to the next generation,” Slater said by phone. “We’re going to be serving a really damn good steak, but we’re going to be going off script a little bit.”
Menu flourishes will include tableside baked potato service. The sound of a grand piano will fill the cocktail-friendly atmosphere. But patrons won’t hear jazz standards. Think top 40 songs or old-school hip-hop. “It’ll be ‘Wonderwall’ and Warren G,” Slater said. On weekends starting in summer, Hemlock will offer brunch with a DJ, too.
Renovations to the Richard’s space will include a new bar, a new floor plan and new seating.
“It won’t look anything like it does right now,” Slater said.
Richard’s Restaurant, launched New Year’s Eve 2016, will keep serving through Dec. 31. When Hemlock opens months later, some of the Richard’s spirit will remain. A former James Beard Award nominee, Chef Langston will create the opening menu. On a permanent basis, Richard’s chef de cuisine, management team and banquet staff will stay on at Hemlock, Slater said.
The Langstons’ restaurant history stretches back to Hyde Park in the 1990s: Richard’s Bakery & Café and Richard’s Across the Street. In 2007, they opened Richard’s Café Vicino near the Boise Co-op.
Evolving the brand to fit a hotel environment, the Northwest-laced Mediterranean concept made a significant jump to the Inn at 500 Capitol — from “neighborhood haunt,” as the Idaho Statesman described it, to a 100-seat operation that was “big city” elegant.
The Langstons now look forward to helping foster the transition to Hemlock, according to a press release.
“Although it’s somewhat bittersweet, Melinda and I are proud of the legacy we’ve created in Boise,” Langston said in the release. “… Scott and Todd’s vision of a hip, upscale steakhouse is exactly the revamp the space needs.”
When Richard’s shutters, the kitchen will continue serving hotel guests during the changeover. After Hemlock’s debut, the plan is for the restaurant to be open seven days a week, Slater said.
The goal will be to create an experience that maintains the “rich traditions of the Boise dining scene,” he said, “while pushing the limits of what a steakhouse can be.”
This story was originally published November 20, 2024 at 2:00 PM.