Published: February 20, 2008 10:52 pm            

Planet of the Grapes to add gourmet dining areas

If all goes according to plan, Planet of the Grapes will complete a major expansion at its King Street location by this fall, including two new dining areas, says owner Thomas Freidheim.

The expansion, into the area just outside the wine and beer bar’s back door, will include a 1,500-square-foot courtyard for outdoor dining, a new formal gourmet dining area and a commercial kitchen.

“It will provide food for the formal dining. It will provide food for the open-air dining, and it will provide food for our current facility,” said Freidheim. “It all goes with wine because that’s what this shop is.”

“It’s almost three restaurants in one,” he added.

Funding for the expansion comes from two loans totaling $256,000 from the state Department of Community Affairs and the Georgia Cities Foundation. The Downtown Dalton Development Authority (DDDA) applied for the loans on behalf of Planet of the Grapes, and DDDA executive director Sarah Harrison announced the loans at Wednesday’s DDDA meeting.

“It would have been impossible for us to proceed with the project and secure that financing without the downtown development authority, specifically without Sarah Harrison’s participation and leadership,” Freidheim said.

He said he has already begun receiving bids from contractors on the project and is looking at a six to seven month construction as soon as a bid is accepted.

“We have an existing patron base of 2,500 who are ready for a gourmet restaurant downtown,” Freidheim said. “In addition to that, we do art and wine events, monthly events — tastings, international guest speakers — and those have drawn people from as far as Atlanta and Chattanooga.”

“We are not putting together another local, Dalton restaurant. We are putting together a regional destination for wine enthusiasts,” he said.

        

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