The restaurant business is no big thing. It’s thousands of little things, and all of those little things—each one of them—have to be addressed,” said restaurateur Jeff Ruby. “And then things change all the time—they get redesigned, or at least I do. I keep reinventing myself. I keep re-evaluating what I’ve done, and I say, ‘you know what, I think I’ve got a better idea than that other idea.’”
Dressed in a Kentucky-blue sequined blazer decorated with symbols of the state, wearing a black fedora and smoking one of his signature cigars—his hand adorned with a diamond-encrusted University of Kentucky basketball championship ring—Ruby is seated on the patio of Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse in Cincinnati, discussing his namesake restaurant brand’s most-recent location in Lexington, which is set to open April 20 in the City Center building.
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The lounge of Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse Lexington will feature a sushi bar and a baby grand piano painted UK blue—as well as live music on most nights.
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Rendering of the main dining room.
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The elevated bar and lounge.
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The Breeder's Table
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The Wildcat Room
Ruby opened his first restaurant in Cincinnati in the 1970s and has been working in and around the industry since he was a child growing up in New Jersey. He’s made his name not only through his convivial personal style but also through an over-the-top approach to entertainment and fine dining—the two are synonymous in his experience—as well as through his exacting attention to detail. Restaurants in the Jeff Ruby Culinary Entertainment group include The Precinct and Carlo & Johnny in Cincinnati, as well as Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse locations in Cincinnati, Louisville, Nashville, Columbus, Ohio and now, in Lexington.
To say that Lexington is “getting a Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse” doesn’t quite convey the scope, however. Like Ruby himself, each location is an evolution of the brand, a riff on a theme. The Lexington location represents “a new look and feel for the rest of the company. A little more modern,” said Britney Ruby Miller, Ruby’s daughter and president of the restaurant group.
A large lounge area features art deco-inspired décor and is centered around a raised stage and a baby grand piano painted UK blue. A large dome in the ceiling—visible from Vine Street—was installed to accommodate an ornate, 15-foot-diameter chandelier that Ruby purchased at auction nearly a decade ago. A similarly sized chandelier hangs in the main dining room. Large doors and wall panels open onto an 1,800-square-foot patio.
There are also several themed private-dining rooms. The Bourbon Room is outfitted with wood-paneling and an 18-foot-long dining table. A large cabinet, dating from 1905, will contain and display all the whiskey stores for the restaurant. The Breeder's Table is decked out in appropriate style, as is the Wildcat Room. The Gatsby Room features carpet and decor from the 2013 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
“We want Lexingtonians to feel like they’ve escaped on a little vacation for an evening, and the people from out of town are going to know they’re in Lexington.” — Jeff Ruby
“We want Lexingtonians to feel like they’ve escaped on a little vacation for an evening, and the people from out of town are going to know they’re in Lexington,” Ruby said of the décor.
The menu is classic steakhouse with a touch of Southern, along with seafood, sushi and raw bar items. While most of the items are the same at all Jeff Ruby’s locations, Britney Ruby Miller said, chefs have creative leeway with about 20 percent of the menu.
The Lexington menu, for example, includes items such as steak tartare and Russian caviar, as well as several dishes prepared tableside. Desserts include the Wildcat cake—a towering four-layer blueberry cake with a cream cheese icing and ribbons of blackberry jam—as well as a bourbon butter-pecan ice-cream torte.
To ensure that service runs smoothly, the company has hired 125 employees from the Lexington area, each of whom participates in a five-week training program working at other Jeff Ruby’s locations.
“When [guests] leave one of our restaurants, I want them leaving with more than a doggie bag,” Ruby said. “I want them leaving feeling like they’ve been completely entertained.”