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The Idea Collective

Three Birds Dayton Opening June 17th

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Big Bird, Larry Bird and Lady Bird Johnson, what do these 3 have in common?

They all appear on the walls of Dayton’s newest restaurant, Three Birds.  It’s touches like these you’ll find all over the building that clue you in that the thought behind this restaurant is playful and fun.

The Idea Collective, a hospitality development company  who have  brought us Sueño and Tender Mercy downtown are currently in a soft opening previews for their new eatery in the former Carmel’s space on Shroyer Road. I was lucky enough to get an invitation to Thursday nights meal, which would be donating a percentage of the proceeds to The Ruib Girls.

Chris Dimmick

The  4000 sq foot restaurant, which was originally opened in the 50’s as the Parkmoor, has seen massive remodeling. After closing on the property in November of 2024, the Idea Collective started working with Moda4 envisioning how they could respect the building, but modernize it to their vision. Chris Dimmick , one of the owners explains “we stripped the building down to the studs, expanded the kitchen and restrooms and strived hard to honor the mid century feel of the building and feature the light brought in through the windows. The majority of our time so far has just been spent trying to make this concept fit into that building and honoring what’s there and protecting it.”  “The original design for that building actually won architectural awards when it was built as the Parkmoor,” said co-owner David Kittredge said.

The Idea Collective tapped local chef Crystal Coppock to open the restaurant last fall. She’s been cooking in the area for about 20 years at Fleming’s, the sous chef at Meadowlark and most recently as the Chef du Cuisine at The Golden Lamb.
We’ve been impressed with her cooking and attention to detail since she advanced to the finals of our Chef Showdown (Dayton’s local version based on the Chopped TV show)  in 2017.

Crystal Coppock

However not long into their discussions about Three Birds, Crystal had to make the call that she’d suffered an injury that would be career altering and would no longer to be able work up to par daily in the kitchen.  It didn’t take the Idea Collective long to make a decision to offer Crystal the General Manager position for the new restaurant.  Crystal shared, she takes on this challenge “with unbridled excitement. As a chef I’ve always felt connected to front of house and now I’m excited to use my lifetime of experience to move to the front of the house. As chef I was disconnected with guests and diners and now I’ll have the opportunity to really influence the guest experience we offer.”

Coppock explained that the restaurant will feature “New American Cuisine” that is family friendly with a selection of crafted cocktails, wine and beer and a menu that will change seasonally, allowing them to take advantage of local foods.  Here’s the opening menu and some pictures of the dishes we enjoyed:

Opening Menu

The pimento cheese has a bit of a quick and is served with a sleeve of Ritz crackers, which takes you right back to childhood enjoyment of this treat.

Corndog Shrimp with a spicy mustard and mango jam were inspired by owners David Kittredge, and Ginger Roddick’s memories of the dish served in Austin Texas at the Moonshine Grill.

The Steak Frites was perfectly cooked and filling for even the largest appetite.

The Cacio e Pepe was rich and creamy.

 

Be sure and leave room for dessert as the  Basque Cheesecake with poppyseed crumble, and the Chocolate Budino (our tables favorite) were rich and decadent.
For their second night of service I was impressed with how quickly food came out of the kitchen and the smiles and spot on service from the staff.  I look forward to returning and spending many evenings enjoying cocktails on one of the 90 seats on the patio and making my way though the rest of the menu.

Three Birds

1025 Shroyer Road
Dayton, OH 45419
LUNCH + DINNER
Tue to Sat: 11 AM – 10 PM
Dayton’s Next Great Neighborhood Spot

Sueño Doesn’t Disappoint

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Free valet parking as you pull up on Third Street in the Webster Station area of downtown Dayton and enter the doors of the newly opened Sueño. Once inside you immediately feel like you’ve left Dayton and arrived in a hip dining establishment in a large city! The atmosphere is impressive as soon as you enter.

Greeted by a lovely staff and escorted to our table we pass a busy bar. Across the dining room from our table is a platform kitchen with wood fired open flame oven.
We are greeted by Jade our informed server and her assistant Marie. Jade took us on a tour of the menu with answers to all of our questions and fabulous suggestions.
From the Botonas (snacks for sharing) menu we chose guacamole and sikil p’ak (pumpkin seed hummus) both served with house made chips topped with a little cumin and acid(lime juice). Both were amazing and delicious!
Then it came time to choose entrees – Jade was careful to suggest just how to place the order so that everyone’s food arrived at the same time. From the platos pequeños (small plates) menu my friend chose Taco de Cochinita – three tacos with Adobe marinated pork, salsa tamulado and pickled red onion.
From the Hearth menu another friend selected Carne Asada. Beautifully seasoned steak bavette with chimichuri and frijoles charros. I chose the pork al pastor with grilled pineapple, caramelized onion and morita salsa. These dinners are large enough to share – but we didn’t! Two of us also ordered from the Verduras (vegetables) menu a dish of charred corn mixed with cascabel spice, cilantro, queso fresco and crema mixed together and served cold. This was a great balance to the dishes that were a taste explosion.
As if that wasn’t enough…we had to have something from the Postres (dessert) menu – there are two options so we chose one of each. A scoop of Mexican chocolate (house made) ice cream topped with pieces of spicy pepita (pumpkin seed) brittle and arroz con leche – rice pudding with roasted summer peaches and marscapone.
This is a dining experience and one that lends itself to a fabulous date, celebration or just a Wednesday night dinner – in a place that takes you away!
Do yourself a favor and make reservations now!

Sueño

607 E 3rd St.
Dayton, OH 45402

(937) 453-0008

Click for online reservations