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The Rise and Falls of LeFever's
Bob LeFever builds a complex plan for success by keeping things simple
NorthernOhio Live , December 1999
By Michael Rosenberg
Restaurateur Bob Lefever remembers himself as a child cleaning floors on his hands and knees under the tables in his grandmother's old honky-tonk off Arizona's famous Route 66.
"We used to get up early Sunday mornings," Lefever reminisces, "and, if we cleaned a little deeper under the tables, we'd find change and money. I know my granny tucked it in there for us to find if we put in the extra effort."
LeFever no longer gets a thrill pulling nickels and cigarette butts off the floor. But he still understands the value of hard work and has spared little effort in his latest venture, LeFever's River Grille, nested on the bank of the Cuyahoga River in the shopping district of Cuyahoga Falls.
LeFever has never strayed from the food service industry and the work ethic he acquired at his grandmother's honky-tonk. For 24 years he has led front-of-house operations in yacht clubs, country clubs and riverboats, ranging geographically from Ohio, to Florida, to New Orleans.
"I have always been around food and in the kitchen, always known enough about it to be able to hire the right chefs, and always tried to keep it simplistic but with an interesting twist," he says. 
Head Chef Partick Kunkel is the man LeFever thought was the right fit for LeFever's. No rookie of ragout, Kunkel has 25 years experience in the kitchen, including eight and a half with LeFever at the Fairlawn Country Club, a job he left because he believed he was missing the latest food trends. At the River Grille he explores a less conservative menu and LeFever tastes all of Kunkel's creations, playing a role he likes to refer to as the "sacrificial lamb."
"LeFever's is accepting of my creativity," Kunkel says. "I try to keep the menu global, but with an emphasis on the American. We find people like this."
People also like LeFever's unique location; perched over the Cuyahoga River a la Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling water, it is no small achievement. During the summer, the deck and balconies, with an exquisite view of the falls, are and plans are underway to add another deck by the bar. Inside, between the two main dining rooms, smaller rooms and the bar, the seating capacity is 188.
The space is well laid out, permitting seclusion and privacy in most areas, while the atmosphere is strongly conservative. We ate in the more formal Falls Room, along a wall bedecked with mirrors of assorted frames, and allowed ourselves to be pampered by the friendly, but very young, waitstaff.
Even with the tremendous amount of seating, if you plan to stop in for some of the regional seasonal American cuisine during the weekends, you may be have a wait to contend with. Diners come from Cleveland, Akron, Canton and other locales to converge on the restaurant for special occasions, a cocktail, or just a quick and hearty bite.
The parts of the menu mainly influenced by American cuisine are the selections from the grill, currently five truly meat and potato dishes with good flavors, but without too much flair, while the rest of the menu is part American, but mainly eclectic.
Mixed into this seasonal menu are a handful of seafood selections that outsell the rest of the dishes by a rate of three to one, a phenomenon Kunkel attributes to the proximity to the falls. Of these dishes, the most popular is the roasted Chilean sea bass ($24). The fresh bass is pan seared, then finished in the oven and served with a slightly sweet peppered Cabernet demi-glace over lumpy lobster mashers.
The house's signature plate is the pan-seared pecan-crusted tuna ($25). Accompanied by acorn squash and sweet potato and scallion pesto on a roasted red pepper butter sauce, the tuna makes a cheery autumnal entree.
Of the appetizers, specially noteworthy are the goat cheese and leek pierogis ($6). The healthy portion of pierogis and lentils with a spicy roasted red pepper sauce may make a suitable main course for those looking for a light meal. Kunkel has done excellent work on this dish, taking the standard filling of cheese and onion and exploring the possibilities with the more refined kin of these everyday ingredients.
Kunkel and LeFever also appease their fish loving clients with a sushi combination plate ($12) containing California rolls and a small sampling of other delicacies. I still prefer fishes of the cooked variety.
Some of the desserts are excellent, as evidenced by the deep-dish apple pie ($4) with walnuts and a creamy caramel glaze. The molten chocolate cake ($5) with honey vanilla ice cream is enough to draw out even the most bashful sweet tooth. The two warmed brownie-like pastries are filled with hot fudge, forming a rich chocolate sandwich.
LeFever's has been open for just over eight months so, in time, it should be able to work out a few of its softer spots, including the young and unpolished waitsatff. However, LeFever loves the business, and it is often this kind of passion that helps one succeed. He says when he first walked into the empty but finish building and visualized where he would be setting up shop, he could hear the rattling of the dishes and the chatter of the diners. That dream has become quite real. One can only expect him to continue to run LeFever's with the same degree of effort he put forth scrubbing clean that old honky-tonk.
Urban sanctuary on the banks of the Cuyahoga
Jennifer Mastroianni, Repository food writer
The view from LeFever's River Grille is spectacular. Water flows lazily downstream, then rushes over a 14ft drop that spans 100 feet of the tree lined banks of the Cuyahoga River. It's pounding turbulence stirs up pools of fluffy white foam, which float in swirls before meandering past mossy boulders, bone gray driftwood, and a handful of hopeful anglers.
Located on Riverfront Parkway, LeFever's is the handiwork of owners Robert J and Julie LeFever, who, with a vision and $1.2 million, transformed a wreck of a 1914 hydroelectric plant into an urban sanctuary.
The culinary landscape is just as impressive. The LeFevers and chef Patrick Kunkel offer a mesh of inventive, globally inspired New American cuisine at nongouging prices.
The crowd on a recent Thursday evening is a mix of trendy fashion-forwards, ladies and gents in suits, and a few folks in Dockers and button-downs, Patrons may choose seating among the airy rooms; the casual lounge, the formal Falls Room, or the brick walled plank-ceilinged Crane Room, which is the original powerhouse. Techno lighting, sparsely placed oil paintings and walls of dusty blue, matted olive, and earthy mustard are an inviting mix in this upscale, but not uppity eatery. We can't resist dining on one of the four terraces overlooking the waterfall.
From the 13 item small plates menu, my companion and I share the pan-roasted mussels ($9). In a mammoth bowl, chunks of spicy chorizo sausage and soft slivers of plum tomatoes swim in Chardonnay garlic broth. Heaped atop are two dozen mussels, the shiny ink black shells offer delicate morsels done right, with texture like butter, not Bazooka.
Feisty offerings from the cold plates include a hot bread salad of balsamic-charred portabella, toasted sourdough, Italian plum tomatoes and pressed eggplant preserves ($9), and a chopped salad with grilled chicken, bacon, cucumber, crumbled egg and blue cheese ($9).
Tonight we opt for the house salad served with entrees, a loose amalgam of greens with refreshing and slightly sweet Cabernet vinaigrette.
We enjoy the salads with chunks of soft bread with chewy, flour-dusted crusts.
I vacillate between the pork tenderloin ($18) and the roasted Chilean sea bass with crispy fennel fries, lobster mashers and peppered Cabernet demi-glace ($24).
The tenderloin wins. I have no regrets. Marinated, charcoal-grilled slices of juicy pork collaborate with warm, sweet and silky pear bread pudding, a worthy drizzling of peppered raspberry barbecue sauce, and slices of roasted wrinkly-skinned pears. The union is bliss.
My companion feasts on ruby roasted natural chicken ($14), a hearty breast and wing poised on a mountain of coarsely mashed potatoes, encircled by a moat of opulent port wine gravy, bridged with tender braised spinach and a hash-like stuffing of sun-dried tomato and scamorza. Waifs need not order this dish.
Five years in the planning and just five months old, service at LeFever's is not without hiccups. While our server and bus boy are thoroughly delightful, this night there are noticeable, but not annoying, delays from the kitchen.
Calling to me from the dessert menu is the flourless chocolate brownie with raspberries and mango coulis ($5).
I answer. Daylight has faded, the falls glisten under floodlights, and candlelight casts soft shadows across my pretty plated dessert.
Delicately crispy outside, the center of the round black tart is a mudhole of fudgey warmth. Tart berries and seductive puddles of coulis take the flavors far, but not over the edge. Exquisite with a steaming cup of coffee ($1).
Accoutrements at LeFever's are lovely and worth noting - glass vases with garden flowers, white linens, stunning stemware, and sturdy silver, which the staff polishes daily. Outside, black mesh tables and chairs are casual and comfortable.
Be sure to visit the restroom, even if just for fun. Wash your hands then pat them dry with a folded, linen hand towel, stacked in a silver mesh basket. Like many things at LeFever's, they are a simple luxury.
LeFever's River Grille lights diners' fire
The West Side Leader - August 26 1999
Frank DeVitis
Upscale but casual restaurant caters to a cross-section of diners.
CUYAHOGA FALLS - Operating in a restored powerhouse on the banks of the Cuyahoga River, Bob LeFever is generating business at his new restaurant - LeFever's River Grille. Located at 2291 Riverfront Parkway at Riverfront Center, LeFever's is an upscale, casual restaurant that has been churning since February 1999. "I have always wanted to own my own place; I think everybody in this business does," LeFever said. "Here, we focus on quality of food and service, and everyone who comes through the door is welcome."
The multiple settings at LeFever's River Grille create varied atmospheres and allow the restaurant to attract patrons both young and old. "Right now, our clientele ranges in age anywhere from 20 to 80," LeFever said. "We've really got a great cross section of diners."
Customers can choose from the upscale setting of the Falls Room, enjoy conversation and a cigar while gathered around the River Bar or casually dine in the Crane Room.
"The Crane Room seems to be the most popular of the three," LeFever said. In addition the restaurant features a loft, which can host a private party ranging from 2 to 20 people, and outdoor seating is available on balconies overlooking the river. A patio for diners is also under construction.
Describing himself as a hand-on worker, LeFever said he involves himself in all aspects of the business. "You'll find me wherever I'm needed," he said. "I like to be at the door greeting customers, and when there are 40 orders hanging up in the kitchen, I like to be there expediting orders."
He must love what he does, because LeFever averages 80 hours a week at the restaurant, with responsibilities ranging from management to maintenance.
The supporting cast at LeFever's has been essential to the early growth of the business, LeFever said, and he names Executive Chef Patrick Kunkel as a crucial vertebra in the backbone of the restaurant. "He really drives the train as far as food goes," LeFever said. "He is so creative - I've never worked with anybody who works as hard as he does."
Cheryl Johnson is the sous chef, and she is in charge of lunches as well as ordering groceries. LeFever appreciates her efforts at the business, and, like several customers, appreciates her chicken salad.
"It is to die for," he said of Johnson's specialty. "We have people driving from as far away as Columbus who have heard of her chicken salad."
Aaron Coppa is the general manager at the restaurant, and Katie Platt, a lifelong Cuyahoga Falls resident, manages the bar.
LeFever also recognizes his wife Julie's contributions. "She really backs me up," he said, "and she is truly a great asset to the business." LeFever's River Grille serves lunch Mondays through Fridays from 11:30am to 2:30pm. Dinner is served Mondays through Thursdays from 5 to 10pm, and the closing time is extended to 11pm on Friday and Saturday evenings. Melted chicken salad is a popular lunch item, and charcoal-marinated pork tenderloin and sea bass are standouts at dinnertime.
The bar, which opens at 10am, serves customers until approximately 11pm. Dinner reservations are recommended on weekday evenings and required for Friday and Saturday night visits. LeFever's River Grille also hosts banquets and business functions. LeFever, who is familiar to greater Akron residents from his tenure at both Portage and Fairlawn country clubs, has quickly developed a tie with his customers and the community, and he said everyone has been good to him during his venture. "We are so pleased with the support of the community," LeFever said. "We really appreciate their patience as we learn to dance."
Interest in the restaurant has grown, and LeFever is confident in the future of the business. "We are not a drive-by facility - we are a destination," he said. "We enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that we've done a good job and that customers can rely on us to deliver a nice product." For more information on LeFever's River Grille, call the restaurant at 330-923-4233.
Business features appearing in the West Side Leader are provided as a service to the community. They do not serve as an endorsement of any company, person, product or service. All information contained in these features comes directly and solely from those persons interviewed.
© LeFever's River Grille