Artisan Grill to add art gallery

Artisan Grill, the restaurant inside the Artisan Inn in Downtown DeLand is in the middle of a metamorphosis. The menu has been completely revamped, more than two dozen new employees have been hired (bringing the total to more than 30), and the eatery will soon welcome the addition of an art gallery.

“Our focus is to make the place itself a place for culture,” said Jason Jurss, who co-owns the restaurant with Jasin Quimby. “A focus on local culture and culture in general can really make it more interesting to current and future generations.”

An entirely new menu, focused on American grill-style cuisine, was introduced in mid-July. It features breakfast dishes available until 3 p.m. every day, and a wide range of sandwiches, burgers, salads, pastas, steaks, and seafood entrees for lunch and dinner. Appetizers also are available all day and comprise the late-night selections.

Menu items intentionally are affordable, Quimby said. More than 90 percent of the menu items are prepared in-house: hand-cut steaks, house-made sauces, potatoes and other goods cut and prepped in the kitchen.

“We’re very proud of the quality,” Quimby said. “For the money, it’s the best value, hands down.”

The menu also features a number of dishes that are vegetarian, or gluten- or lactose-free, Quimby said.

“We wanted to make sure there’s something for everyone,” he said. “That’s not an accident.”

The art gallery, however, is still in the works, according to Jurss.

“We’re in the process of finding a curator and getting the lighting for the artwork,” he said. “We already have some artists lined up, but we want everything to be ready before the artworks go up on the walls.”

Paintings or sculptures will be installed at each of the restaurant’s 15 tables, which can accommodate up to 69 diners at a time. And when the artwork is in place, the restaurant will be renamed Artisan Gallery & Grill, Jurss said.

“Then our social-media marketing will promote the artists themselves in addition to promoting the restaurant,” he said.

The overarching goal is to make the place a fun, family-oriented destination. Even the background music is carefully chosen to carry out that theme.

Jurss and Quimby took over the restaurant from Scott Lewitt, who ran it as Sinatra’s Ristorante. Lewitt still owns the place, but has leased it to the partners with a future buyout plan, Jurss said.

“He was very instrumental in choosing us,” according to Jurss. “He still has Sinatra’s in Cassadaga that’s doing very, very well.”

Jurss and Quimby say they’re in it for the long haul. Both are West Volusia natives, and Artisan Grill is a member of both the DeLand Area Chamber of Commerce and the MainStreet DeLand Association.

“We’re not here to just show up,” Jurss said. “We’re here to be involved.”

Artisan Grill opens at 11 a.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, and serves until at least midnight every night. The restaurant is located inside the Artisan Inn, 215 S. Woodland Blvd. in Downtown DeLand.

-Joe Crews, joe@beacononlinenews.com