New Winter Park restaurant the Chapman promises the best Florida has to offer

It’s been more than two years in the making, but Artistry Restaurants, the group behind Winter Park’s Boca and Atlantic Beer & Oyster, will finally launch their most ambitious venture when The Chapman, a 6,700-square-foot culinary colossus, opens Monday, Jan. 20, at 500 S. Park Ave.

The Chapman and its bar, the Chase Lounge, pay homage to Winter Park founders Loring Augustus Chase and Oliver Everett Chapman, with both spaces promising a past-meets-present decor and a menu of the very best Florida has to offer — plenty of citrus, fresh fish and seafood, as well as locally raised beef.

Menu development was overseen by Clifford Pleau, a Culinary Institute of America grad who went on to become the opening-day chef of Disney’s California Grill in 1994. He then spent 12 years creating concepts for Darden, most notably Seasons 52.

Pleau and the Chapman’s executive chef Ibis Lopez (The Celeste Hotel) will source proteins from various family-run farms, including Joyce Farms, Cheshire Farms and Kvarøy Arctic, and will always feature a fresh Florida catch of the day.

Alex Farley (Shula’s Steakhouse) will be the restaurant’s general manager.

The Chase Lounge, billed as “a destination unto itself,” will be located within the confines of the Chapman and offer a menu of “timeless tipples” and “old-fashioned” cocktails including, presumably, the Old Fashioned.

With its culinary team, corporate backing and prime location, this most Winter Park of Winter Park restaurants has all the elements to succeed on one of the city’s most competitive and sought-after restaurant strips.

“It’s the first concept we’re creating from scratch,” Artistry vice president Mitchell Goff told us back in 2022. “It presents an opportunity for us to not only anchor [with Boca] both ends of Park Avenue, but pay homage to our home, Winter Park.”

According to Artistry’s chief concept officer, Daniel Harf, the restaurant’s theme was to celebrate the fin-de-siecle era. “We were intrigued by the style, architecture and romance of the Seminole Hotel, the history of the neighborhood, and how it offered a winter respite for Northerners.”

And this being peak snowbird season, the timing of the Chapman’s opening couldn’t be more apropos.

Visit OpenTable for reservations and follow @thechapmanrestaurant for updates.
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This article appears in Jan 8-14, 2025.