Momentum builds for revamped riverside restaurant

By Alfred Miller

As Frankfort looks to embrace its identity as a river town, one recently revamped riverside eatery is showing the way.

When the Frankfort Boat Club’s cafe reopened this May as “Riverboat Grill,” its four young proprietors decided to stick with a simple plan: work hard and offer high-quality homemade pub fare at an affordable price.

“Keep it simple, stupid, is what they say in culinary school,” said Megan Farney, who designed the grill’s initial menu.

Three months in, it’s evident to the new co-owners — Farney, John Moschella and Jacob and Megan Allan — that the plan works.

“The biggest challenge has been keeping food in place — for sure, by far,” said Allan on a sunny Tuesday afternoon as a wave of state government and other local workers on lunch break loomed near. “We get that busy. It just does.”

From May through October, the grill plans to remain open seven days a week, with lunch on Mondays and Tuesdays, lunch and dinner Wednesdays through Fridays and breakfast, lunch and dinner on weekends.

As momentum builds, the grill plans to introduce karaoke nights on Wednesdays; it already has live music on Saturdays. Five new sandwiches are also being added to the menu, said Allan.

“We had the ‘Rachel on the River’ and that thing blew up — crazy great,” said Allan referring to the grill’s toasted turkey sandwich with Swiss cheese, coleslaw and Thousand Island dressing. “I think we figured out our identity here is going to be hot sandwiches and fried food. To me, that’s a great identity of a restaurant and nobody has that around here.”

Joining the Rachel on the River on the menu are a chicken-bacon-ranch sandwich with Provolone cheese, a Philly cheese steak, a tuna melt, a pizza sandwich and a hot ham and cheese sandwich.

Allan says he’s already looking toward next year and a possible expansion of the grill’s kitchen.

RECIPE: Beer-Battered Fish and Onion Rings

INGREDIENTS

• 2 12-ounce cans of beer
• 12 ounces of water
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons pepper
• 3 tablespoons garlic powder
• catfish fillets or onion

PREPARATION

• Cut onions crosswise
• Prepare batter by mixing beer, water, flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder
• Dip onions in batter
• Deep fry

 

RECIPE: Chicken-Bacon-Ranch Sandwich

INGREDIENTS

• 3 pieces of chicken tenders
• 1 slice of Provolone cheese
• 2 strips of bacon
• 2 slices of sourdough bread
• Ranch dressing

PREPARATION

• Toast the slices of sourdough bread
• Grill the chicken tenders
• Top chicken with Provolone cheese and bacon
• Drizzle ranch dressing on top