Fox Park is getting a new dining option, one with a neighborhood-centric focus from a pair of chefs with serious culinary chops but a relaxed approach.

This summer, chefs Craig and Mowgli Rivard will open Little Fox in the space formerly occupied by Purple Martin, at 2800 Shenandoah Avenue. It marks the Fox Park residents' first foray into restaurant ownership, though they have a wealth of experience in the kitchen, including years spent cooking at acclaimed restaurants in New York City and private kitchens in London.

“Our whole relationship has just been cooking and eating together," says Mowgli, who met Craig while working at Diner and Marlow & Sons in Brooklyn. "It’s all we ever talk about and do, so it made sense to go and do it.”

Almost two years ago, the couple bought a house in Fox Park and gradually moved their lives here. “Fox Park is an amazing neighborhood that reminded us a lot of Brooklyn,” says Craig. “The cool thing about Fox Park is that there are still some commercial spaces tucked within the neighborhood that aren’t all converted residential spaces. The problem is there aren’t a lot that are intuitively restaurant spaces.”

So after The Purple Martin closed last year, the Rivards jumped. They've since worked with Fox Park resident Jay Reeves of SPACE Architecture + Design to create an intimate 54-seat space with a long bar, somewhat reminiscent of a Brooklyn eatery. “I’m hoping we’ve found a nice medium between what people are used to and that energy that we’re trying to create,” says Craig. A streetside terrace on the building’s north side will also accommodate about 35 diners.

× Expand Photo credit Linda Rivard

Likewise, part of the inspiration for the food comes from Diner, the "scrappy Brooklyn restaurant that forever changed New York’s food scene," as The New York Times recently put it. “It was really game-changing in terms of what food could be," says Craig, a St. Louis native who attended the Culinary Institute of America and also worked at the acclaimed Gotham Bar and Grill. "Bringing a quality of food that you would find in fine-dining restaurants without that pomp and circumstance.”

“You could be eating a great thing, having a fantastic glass of wine, but it’s so relaxed,” adds Mowgli, a native of Buffalo, New York. "Everybody really cares about the quality of the food—that’s the base of what we want to do, for sure.”

The dishes will be “American, influenced by Tuscan Italian, French, and Spanish," says Craig. "Cuisine-wise, that’s where we keep finding ourselves eating.” There will be an emphasis on small plates, though it won’t be limited to that approach. “You could navigate the menu in different ways,” says Mowgli. “You could sit at the bar by yourself and have a couple of plates and a glass of wine, or you could go with a group and get a bunch of things. But we know not everyone wants to share, so we’ll also have larger plates, appetizers, and entrées.” That might mean a bowl of clams with crusty bread (“I could eat that pretty much every day,” says Mowgli), as well as crudo or pork Milanese.

On the drink side, the Rivards are enthusiastic about natural wines. “You get to taste so much more of where the wine came from,” says Mowgli, adding, "You get less of a hangover, because there are fewer sulfites.” The Rivards plan on offering a large selection of by-the-glass natural wines, allowing diners to explore without committing to a full bottle, as well as more traditional wine.

“We’re not trying to come back and educate anyone, like ‘This is how you should eat,’” adds Craig. “It’s like, ‘This is what we love to eat, and we’re sharing it with you.’”

The Rivards are excited about the Fox Park addition, slated to open in June. “It’s such a community of people who want a neighborhood place so badly,” says Mowgli. “It’s not just the food—it’s the atmosphere, the vibe. We really see it fitting in.”