Dexter's New Standard
Updated | This article has been updated to reflect Nathan Landwer as the owner of Dexter's New Standard.
Less than two years after Dexter's New Standard opened in the Ravaudage complex in Winter Park, the restaurant and music venue has apparently shuttered.
A sign on on the door says they're temporarily closed for cleaning and renovation, but according to publicly accessible records, the restaurant is under eviction proceedings. Chef Eliot Hillis of Orlando Meats, which is also located in the Ravaudage, says he hasn't seen any activity in the restaurant since Saturday, Aug. 21.
We've since come to learn that the restaurant closed after brunch service on Aug. 22.
Sydney Bellows Brownlee, leasing and property manager for Sydgan Corp. (which operates Ravaudage), would neither confirm nor deny New Standard's closure.
In my March 2020 review of the New Standard, I said it was Winter Park's most eclectic gathering ground thanks to its live music stage, and that the kitchen, overseen by chef Ryan McLaughlin, exhibited a consistency no matter the night (or day).
McLaughlin left the restaurant in March of this year and, since then, kitchen consistency has been sorely lacking.
In 2018, a group of investors, which included Greg Peters of Graffiti Junktion, purchased Dexter's of Thornton Park and Dexter's of Winter Park. They sold Dexter's of Winter Park to Nathan Landwer, who then moved the restaurant from Hannibal Square to the Ravaudage complex.
Dexter's of Thornton Park was sold in October 2019 to Brian Minkel and Matthew Nicoletti. Earlier this year, Todd Ulmer and Wendy Connor took over the space and opened the 808.
Frank Echevarria, owner of Hospitality Investment Partners LLC, operates the Dexter's in Lake Mary, the lone Dexter's left in the area.
Stay tuned for further developments.
In some unrelated flap, Dexter's Birdland, which has absolutely no association with Dexter's Lake Mary or Dexter's New Standard, has opened in Parramore. They specialize in jumbo chicken wings.
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