MASON, Ohio. — A new bar and restaurant, The Rare, is set to open in downtown Mason inside a 150-year-old building.
WCPO learned about the undertaking at our 'Let's Talk Mason' event earlier this month.
Nikki and Josh Logsdon are the local couple behind the project, called The Rare. The two gave me a behind-the-scenes look at the work in progress.
"We knew it would be a big project. It has turned out to be a monumental project," Nikki Logsdon said.
Demolition began in January, and the space has undergone significant changes since then. Despite the scale of the work, the Logsdons say tearing the building down was never an option.
"I have been told time and time again it would've been less expensive, less of a headache and quicker to tear the building down to start from scratch, but that wasn't what either of us wanted. That's not why we worked so hard to buy this building and to secure it because we wanted to be able to keep this piece of downtown Mason," Nikki Logsdon said.
The name is a nod to the building's charm and character.
"It looks wildly different but it still kind of feels the same," Nikki Logsdon said.
Watch: Look Inside "The Rare' coming to Downtown Mason
Max Wagner, the former executive chef at Pepp and Delores, will lead the kitchen. He described the restaurant's culinary direction as approachable and rooted in familiar flavors.
"The focus of the restaurant is to be more of what I call American bistro — food that is humble, food that is familiar," Wagner said.
Wagner also teased one dish he is especially excited about.
"The dish I'm the most excited for, what I'm lovingly calling a rare way, so it'll be our take on Cincinnati chili but we're gonna use braised short rib and some aged cheddar. We'll have a little bit of fun with it making our own, but I kind of think it speaks to what we're trying to do here, which is embrace a little bit of our history, but also put our own modern twist on it," Wagner said.
The Logsdons say they hope The Rare becomes a destination that keeps Mason residents close to home.
An event space will take over the upstairs and be accessible via elevator.
A food window will also be able to service The Common Beer Company next door.
"We wanted to create that OTR-esque vibe here in Mason so people don't have to drive 30-40 minutes and go downtown," Nikki Logsdon said.
If everything goes to plan, the doors will open in November. Crews have been and will continue working around the clock putting on the final touches until then.
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