A donut shop by day and a full-service restaurant boasting items like escargot, seared ostrich, french-style frog legs, steamed New Zealand fresh green lip mussels, is the latest eatery to set up shop on Main Street in downtown Cortez.
Texas natives and siblings Lagina and Craig Harvey and longtime friend Marc Darrow, have spent the past few months renovating the former Mr. Happy’s location on Main Street to make way for Lagina’s Place.
Serving donuts, southern-style kolaches and breakfast sandwiches in the morning and “international cuisine with a French twist” in the evenings, the restaurant hopes to fill two needs in Cortez in one fell swoop.
“We talked about a doing a donut shop because the closest one is in Farmington and it’s a Dunkin Donuts,” said Lagina Harvey. But the two realized they could maximize their chances for success if they added an evening dinner component and brought on chef Darrow. Darrow built his culinary skill set in restaurants such as Wolfgang Puck’s Spago in Southern California and Trattoria Dell’Arte in New York City.
Darrow and Craig Harvey both worked in the restaurant industry together for decades and owned a restaurant outside of New York City that was a similar concept as Lagina’s.
“It did very well, but about 10 years, ago we decided to go into the oil and gas industry,” said Darrow. “The oil and gas industry is good, the money is great, but that’s not our passion.”
The dinner menu is exotic, and items could easily be found in a fine dining establishment, but the goal of the resaturant is to create an inviting, casual space with a gourmet menu.
“I hope it satisfies a need in Cortez for somewhat finer dining,” said Craig Harvey.
Dinner items will rotate daily, Darrow says, and he’s looking forward to flexing his creative muscles in the kitchen. The restaurant will also have a beer, wine and cocktails.
Lagina’s Donuts will make their debut on Oct. 5, with the dinner items making their debut mid-to-late October.
The restaurant is also hosting the Oct. 8 Cortez Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours and is offering a free wine tasting.
Lagina’s Place is at 125 E. Main Street.