BY GREGORY A. HALL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
BROMLEY -- A colorful piece of Kenton County riverfront lore will soon be going through a third reincarnation.
The former Tamsui restaurant, which closed about five years ago, is to become American Banquets and Catering.
"Everybody is anxious to get it going again," said owner Harry Hsu, who operated the Tamsui.
Instead of having a restaurant that offers Chinese and American cuisine, the new operation will be a banquet hall and catering facility. This time the menu will be American, with Chinese food available if desired.
The project will be voted on by the Kenton County and Municipal Planning and Zoning Commission on Thursday. Michael Schwartz, a staff planner for the commission, said he knew of nothing that would prevent the needed changes from being approved.
The site, previously a riverside sewage plant, was converted in the early 1980s to developer David Hosea's International Catfish Ranch. The plan was to raise and harvest 2 million catfish in its first year. The fish would be sold wholesale to restaurants, produce stores and meat markets in addition to being sold at an on-site retail outlet. It also was a restaurant.
That closed in 1986 with city officials worried about trespassing fishermen getting hurt trying to get the remaining fish out of the 15-foot deep tank.
A few years later, the facility became the Tamsui restaurant, which specialized in Chinese and American food.
American Banquets and Catering could open as soon as a month after zoning approval, Mr. Hsu said. The two biggest rooms hold about 150 people each.
Reopening as a restaurant is a remote possibility, he said. "We'd like to serve the public, but you have to have enough public to support it," he said.
