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SYRACUSE, NY -- Armory Square's stylish bc Restaurant has been sold to a new owner who plans to move away from fine dining and toward a gastro pub concept.

"It's not a pub -- not just fish and chips," said new owner Danny Vault, a graduate of the French Culinary Institute of New York City and a native Central New Yorker. "It's going to be well-executed food."

Among other things, Vault plans to introduce a charcuterie -- emphasizing specialty meats -- and a raw seafood bar. He plans to add comfortable seating in front, replacing the traditional dining tables, while keeping a dining room in the back.

He expects to shut down briefly in January to do some major renovations.



News of the sale first came through a Facebook post from Ellen Leahy, who had been bc's managing partner.

The restaurant at 247 W. Fayette St. opened in 2004 under the direction of owners Sara and Bill Collins (Bill's initials provided the name). In 2011, the Collins' left day-to-day running of the restaurant to Leahy. Paul Solomon and Richard Sykes came aboard as financial partners.

Chef Gregg Marsh and current manager Tyler Dunlap will remain.

The restaurant has always billed itself as specializing in "modern American dining," with creative menu touches featuring both fine dining and affordable "small plate" options. Its vibrant dining room and bar are usually hopping.

It's not a major stretch from that to the gastro pub concept, which emphasizes creative and modern takes on classic comfort foods and bar offerings.

What's a gastro pub?

Vault, who spent 10 years in New York City working as both a chef and an event promoter, said he's not completely comfortable using the term "gastro pub" to describe the new place, though he acknowledged bc might move "in that direction."

That means less fine dining and more comfort food, but not downscale pub grub, he said. "We're going to pay a lot of attention to well executed food," he said.

Gastro pubs began in Britain in he 1980s, when many old-time English pubs were re-designed to put more focus on food. Today, gastro pubs are generally considered to be bars that offer high quality food in a more casual, or pub, setting.

The Spotted Pig, which opened in New York City in 2004, was the first American gastro pub. The Beer Belly Deli on Westcott Street and the Ithaca Ale House in downtown Ithaca are other examples of what some people might consider gastro pubs.

Don Cazentre writes about food, beverages, restaurants and bars for syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Contact him by email, on Twitter, at Google+ or via Facebook.