Trading Places: Hudson's One Red Door and Flip Side swap storefronts
Hudson’s One Red Door and the Flip Side are trading places.
Closed since Feb. 6, One Red Door has been undergoing renovations in anticipation of Flip Side taking up residence.
The idea of swapping the two spaces has been in the back of chef-owner Shawn Monday's mind, a notion justified, he said, by the crowds Flip Side has seen from day one.
"So finally we made the decision to do it," Monday said.
One Red Door will transform into a high-end but approachable Italian-themed restaurant called Porta Rossa, serving up things like steak and seafood, and taking its signature red door with it when it moves into Flip Side's current abode.
Flip Side is becoming an upscale sports bar quartered in One Red Door's current locale. Between the patio, new televisions, 24-seat wraparound bar, new sound system, reupholstered booths and expanded menu, Monday hopes Flip Side becomes a staple for sports fans in its new home.
The menu is expanding to include pizza, poké bowls, new sandwiches and more appetizers.
Monday said Flip Side's tentative reopening is April 5, after which construction will begin on One Red Door's Porta Rossa. A grand opening is in the works for early May for Flip Side, and one will be planned for Porta Rossa once construction wraps up.
"(Porta Rossa) is going to (have a) super high-end, Italian-themed look to it," said Monday. "Granites, marbles, tile work — a little bit of a modern feel but very rustic also. So we're going to start that construction probably second week in April and probably will take about two months."
Monday's background is in fine dining, and he's looking forward to getting back to that. Previously, he was the chef and owner of Hudson's Downtown 140 and worked at the Inn at Turner's Mill.
The revamp is driven by two factors: first, necessity. Both spots have been open for over a decade and needed some attention — kitchen upgrades, for one thing.
"We needed to reupholster the furniture," Monday said of Flip Side, "we needed to re-sand the floors, we needed to redo the bathrooms." Doing it all at once made more sense than tackling the project a piece at a time.
The second reason for the revamp is fulfilling a desire to bring first-rate eats to the city through One Red Door's transformation.
"We feel that Hudson needs a high-end restaurant right now," Monday said. "Italian is something that's close to my heart, it's in my family's background, and something I've been cooking for years and years."
"I'm just super excited for both concepts. I think they're a great fit for Hudson and the Akron area, especially Porta Rossa — we're super excited about that," Monday said. "I know the community of Hudson and the Akron area probably want me back in the kitchen where I should be."
Contact reporter Derek Kreider at DKreider@Gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Downtown Hudson restaurants switching places and changing operations
