"Steaking" their claim
Posted: Sun, Nov 15, 2020 3:34 PM
Chicago area restaurant manager Roumel Reynon never thought this spring that he'd be living in NE Iowa in November. Sure, his wife Jilaine grew up in Ridgeway, but he says "we had good jobs—I was very happy." Then came the phone call from Decorah realtor Jamie Folkedahl, telling the Reynons about the "for sale" sign at McCaffrey's Dolce Vita. Roumel and Jilaine came to Decorah on August 8th and, as Roumel puts it, "things popped into my head."
It was the setting of McCaffrey's which first struck him. "The outdoor setting was 'wow!'," he tells decorahnews.com. His father-in-law, Dave Dvorak of Ridgeway, agreed to be the landlord, buying the building and property, and the Roumels began the task of creating a restaurant that fit the concept of a supper club—a place that became a destination where great food was served.
The renovations to the restaurant included a new walk-in cooler, as well as all new kitchen furnishings. The Roumels are also hiring new staff. While they have found two sous chefs, two hostesses and four or five servers, they're still looking for one or two experienced bartenders and four or five additional servers. Anyone interested in applying for one of the positions can e-mail
Roumel@twinspringsupperclub.com.
The Reynons are happy to be living in Winneshiek County now. They were married in 1998 at St. Benedict Church and Jilaine is a Crestwood High School graduate.
The Reynons are wrapping up the work at the restaurant and expect to have a "soft opening" in early December.