News

Rooftop restaurant has name and will open soon, owners say

By Lightning Reports, Published: October 30, 2018

The most eagerly awaited new restaurant in downtown Hendersonville finally has a name and the promise of an opening, the owners say.

Layla Rogers, who is running the rooftop restaurant with her husband, Bobby, confirmed in an interview with Lightning news partner WTZQ on Tuesday that they plan to open the restaurant before the end of the year.
Renovation of the double storefront property at 202 North Main Street has been under way since 2011. Diners have been eagerly awaiting its opening, not least because it would be the first restaurant downtown to offer open-air rooftop dining.
Called Shine, the restaurant will serve a variety of food, classic and original cocktails and beer and wine.
“Something for everyone,” Bobby and Layla said in an interview Carolina Epicurean published on line Monday. “We will change our menu both seasonally and inspirationally. We will have everything from biscuits and gravy to foie gras, well-balanced salads and sandwiches to hand-cut steaks and seafood. A menu that allows a casual working lunch, weekly family dinners and intimate or celebratory weekend meals. … We also have 24 taps on three floors curated by a Level 5 beer nerd.”
The couple brought Chris Nevel on board to help manage the restaurant, which is hiring for all positions now.
As for the seven-year renovation, Layla Rogers and Nevel told WTZQ that the quality of the work, the structural requirements to support a rooftop holding 148 people and digging out a basement all took time.
“It was 5,000 SF that was never there,” she said. “It was completely dug out.”
That added a third floor that can be used for banquets and other events.
“I’ve never seen something created from scratch for such a smooth workflow,” Nevel said. “It’s been an odyssey from the ground up and built for this purpose.”
The work took time because Rogers insisted on “working with local artisans and giving them the time they needed to make it right,” Nevel said. “An advantage to this project is we didn’t put that stress on or throw money at a compromise and just push it through. Good things come in their time. This couple, Bobby and Layla, it’s their dream, wanting to give this to the town. They’re great citizens.”
Bobby’s parents, Rolla and Mary Rogers of Flat Rock, bought the property in July 2010 for $1 million, tax records show. Built in 1928, the 12,600-square-foot building (not counting rooftop) had been home to SOS Office Supply among other businesses.
The restaurant’s owners and managers will be around when they give out candy during Trick or Treat Street on Halloween, they promised on Shine’s Facebook page.

Shine has multiple meanings, Layla Rogers told interviewer Mark Warwick on WTZQ.
“Because of the roof, we do have sunshine and moonshine,” she said. “We’re about shine in everything you do. And after working on this project for so long it certainly shines, or it does to me.”

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https://carolinaepicurean.com/2018/10/restaurant-that-never-opens-opening-details-and-name-revealed/?fbclid=IwAR3pqAfOv84Eca-nM1pV6QbZUOFUhEq2bYrzazWpTdPcIzRTEN_ekia7CnM

https://www.facebook.com/shinehendersonville/