Steve Logsdon, owner of Basil Prosperi Bakery, announced last week plans to open a second, more upscale restaurant and bar in the East Village this summer that will offer live jazz music on weekends.

Logsdon said the success of his two current downtown outlets in the East Village at 407 E. Fifth St. and at 801 Grand Ave. allows him to pursue his longtime dream of operating a restaurant that caters to his two greatest passions: fine dining and jazz.  

“When I opened the first restaurant, I didn’t how successful it would be, but it has turned out nicely,” Logsdon said. “I’ve always wanted to do this, and I think it fits with the urban feel of the neighborhood. I’m excited about it.”

Logsdon, who opened Basil’s two years ago, said he recently purchased a two-story building in the East Village for $50,000. He estimates that the building, located at 420 E. Locust St., will require an investment of $500,000 for renovations. Logsdon plans to open the new restaurant, which is yet to be named, by mid-summer on the ground floor and convert the second floor into a spacious loft that he’ll occupy at a later date. Each floor contains 2,600 square feet, and Logsdon plans to convert a portion of the building into a cheese cove, a place to store the restaurant’s high-end cheeses. “Cheeses are an important part of what we do here,” he said. “Like all of our foods, they’re conversation pieces. We provide a service for people who are looking for conversation and good food.”

The restaurateur will work with Des Moines architect Kirk Blunck to complete the renovations. Logsdon leases the building where his current East Village restaurant is located, but plans to purchase it from Blunck in the near future and is currently working with the city of Des Moines to secure financing.

“I’ve worked with Kirk before and we have a good relationship,” Logsdon said. “And the city has been great to work with.”

The new restaurant not only fulfills a dream of Logsdon’s but it also make logistical sense, he said, noting that space and business hours are at a premium at his other two restaurants, which serve breakfast, lunch and dinner at various times during the week. The new venue would employ 10 to 12 new cooks and waiters, offer twice as much seating and include a bar stocked with a variety of wines and beers. Logsdon said the restaurant’s weekly menu, which will include more French foods, will also differ from those at the other two locations, offering diners four- to- five-course meals at a “reasonable price” Wednesday through Saturday.

“It will have a different feel,” he said. “I want to do other things that I hope will attract the after-work crowd as well as diners. We’ve also had more demand during our dinner hours.”

Logsdon foresees the present East Village Basil’s being converted into a full-time bakery in about five years. “We’ve talked about offering pizza which would create a need for the bakery and other products we want to introduce later,” he said.

Additionally, Logsdon wants to bring live jazz to the new location, booking local and national acts to perform there on weekends. Logsdon’s current East Village location already features live jazz during its dinner hours on weekends. “I’m a big jazz fan,” he said.  Logsdon said he wants to grow his operations at a responsible pace that is consistent with the growth of the East Village.

“This is not a heavily-populated area yet,” he said. “We want to take our time and do it right. We don’t want to compete with what we already do and we don’t want to get too big so that we lose touch with our products and our customers.”

VILLAGE GROWTH

Restaurant owner Steve Logsdon’s expansion of his business within the East Village is one of several projects coming to the area as momentum builds in efforts to create more places to live and shop in downtown Des Moines.

Developer Tony DeAngelo plans to bring a $7 million condominium and retail project to the area. The development will include Soho Lofts, an upscale three-story building located at East Fourth and Locust streets, housing 32 housing units ranging in size from 700 to 1,300 square feet and in price from $131,000 to $316,000. It will also include 11,000 square feet of ground-level retail space to be occupied by a coffee shop, a restaurant, art galleries, a clothing boutique and a hair salon.

In addition Des Moines developers William Knapp II and Jack Hatch have proposed constructing 105 apartments and retail space on the former site of Dewey Ford at a cost of $14 million. The nearly one-acre parcel of land on East Fourth Street between Grand Avenue and Locust Street will also include a courtyard and parking.