When George Hauer, owner of George’s at the Cove restaurant, sat down with business partners in 2005 to take a long, hard look at the direction the restaurant was headed, he had a revelation.
"I recognized we had a business model based on how people behaved 15 years ago and not how people behave today," Hauer said of the three-tiered fine-dining facility at 1250 Prospect Street.
By renewing the business lease for an additional 20 years, Hauer has allowed himself to think in broad terms and create a new vision for the lower-level restaurant, which has been renamed George’s California Modern. It underwent a complete remodeling “” an estimated $2.5 million project that got under way at the beginning of the New Year.
Renovations include a larger menu with more detailed food categories, but with a continued emphasis on freshness and quality. Head chef Trey Foshee has put a new creative twist on menu selections.
A partnership with Jennifer Luce, whose self-named studio recently received the Architectural Record’s "Design Vanguard" award, making it one of the top ten design firms in the world, has taken Hauer’s project ideas to the next level, he said.
A foyer was transformed into a long communal-style bar area, allowing passersby to drop in spontaneously to socialize over a drink and appetizer, the owner said. Color schemes also are brighter.
The rest of the 10,000-square-foot building features a bar on one level and the Ocean Terrace restaurant on the third.
Hauer said he hopes that George’s, after being a part of La Jolla for 23 years, will impress its new patrons and equally satisfy its longtime ones.
"We are trying to redefine what fine dining is and make it a more modern experience," he said. "It’s a fresh beginning and an exciting, new beginning."
(Parts of this story originally appeared on Jan. 11.)