The Grand on Main to open underground dessert lounge next month. Here’s what we know
The Grand on Main’s bottom level has been renovated into a dessert lounge set to open in September with a menu set by a Michelin-starred chef.
The lounge, deemed the Robinson Room, will be a dessert bar and lounge with a menu designed by Michelin-starred Chef Rory MacDonald. Chef MacDonald worked with Chef Gordan Ramsay in New York from 2007 until 2009. While there, he was promoted to sous chef in just a month.
MacDonald has developed the gourmet pastries that will be featured on the menu at the Robinson Room, according to The Grand on Main’s official website. His career began in 2003 while working with Chef Salvador Gallego in Madrid, Spain, at El Cenador de Salvador, where he stayed until 2005.
Historians estimate the Main Street building was constructed in the summer of 1866. Thirteen years later it was bought by William and Selina Robinson and became known as the “Robinson building,” according to Historic Columbia, an organization dedicated to the historic preservation of Columbia and Richland County. The couple owned the building for 43 years. It was passed down to their daughter in 1922 after Mrs. Robinson’s death, according to Historic Columbia. Throughout the 1900s and into the 2000s, the building was home to the Grand Theatre, an army-navy store and the Allan Shop, later renamed Allan’s Clothiers. In that time, the building saw knife-throwing acts, various live performances and underwent considerable renovations.
The Grand on Main opened as a boutique bowling alley, restaurant and bar in 2017 and was inspired by the Grand Theatre that operated in the building from 1909 until 1914, according to the business’ official website. The Grand on Main even displays the original Grand Theater sign that was found during the renovation.
Representatives from The Grand on Main could not be reached Monday afternoon for comment.
This story was originally published August 17, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
