The idea came to the two businessmen a year ago, their brainstorming perhaps kicked a little by the two bottles of champagne they had consumed. Russ Wiles and Dennis Spiegel had just finished a late lunch at the Maisonette, their favorite restaurant.

        “We looked around and there were only about 12 other people in the dining room,” says Mr. Wiles, president of Heidelberg Distributing Co. in Cincinnati.

        This worried them.

        The friends wanted to support and share their favorite restaurant with others. But what could they do?

        Then and there, the men decided to form a Maisonette dining club. At first, they proposed a membership of 100, but scaled it back to a more manageable 50 people. They would call their club “La Maisonette 50.''

        The rules were simple: Members would pay annual dues of $1,000, which would help cover four special meals prepared and served by the Maisonette staff for club members during the year. Members also would be required to dine on their own at the Maisonette at least twice a month.

Cincinnatians Dennis Spiegel (left) and Russ Wiles founded La Maisonette 50 a year ago (Steven M. Herppich photo) | ZOOM |

        But before they started signing up members, the men approached the Maisonette's managing partners, Nat and Michael E. Comisar.

        “They sat us down and told us they had this idea, but they wanted our blessings first,” remembers Nat Comisar, who believes this may be the only such dining club in the country. “We thought: What's to bless?”

        Not only were the men going to generate business for the Maisonette, they weren't asking the Comisars to become involved. The founders of the Maisonette 50 would handle all the administrative duties — and they would decide who could join their club.

        Mr. Spiegel admits recruiting members went easier than he thought it would.

        “I'd start my pitch to people and before I could finish they'd stop me,” says Mr. Spiegel, president of International Theme Park Services. “They'd say: "I'm in.”'

        Jeff Besecker called to join La Maisonette 50 when he heard about it from a friend.

        “I thought it would be fun and I thought it would help support the Maisonette,” says Mr. Besecker, owner of Hunt Club Clothiers, downtown. “The Maisonette is very valuable to our community.”

        This week, the dining club may have become more valuable to the Maisonette. Monday, executive chef Jean-Robert de Cavel surprised many patrons by announcing he will leave the Maisonette to open his own restaurant, Jean-Robert at Pigall's, on Fourth Street, downtown, this fall. Mr. de Cavel plans to stay on at the Maisonette at least two months while the restaurant searches for his replacement.

        The news of the chef's departure is distressing to Maisonette fans because, since his arrival in late 1993, Mr. de Cavel has helped the restaurant maintain its prestigious Mobil five-star rating. And he has been a tireless promoter of the Maisonette — making public appearances around the Tristate and the country.

        Although part of the club's mission was to support the hard-working chef, Mr. Wiles and Mr. Spiegel respect his decision. La Maisonette 50 will continue, they say.

        “Change is not always bad,” Mr. Wiles says. “The next chef that comes to the Maisonette may be the best thing to happen.”

        Adds Mr. Spiegel: “I look at the Maisonette as a train on the tracks. People get on, people get off. But the train stays on the tracks.”

        Mr. Spiegel realizes many probably view La Maisonette 50 as only a vehicle for the wealthy to get together to eat fine food and drink wine. He understands everyone doesn't have the resources to join his club, but he believes the community could do a better job patronizing the Maisonette.

        “Everyone can't eat there five times a year,” he says. “But just about everyone could eat there once a year.”

        He and Mr. Wiles consider the Maisonette a resource that too many take for granted. They understand even pricey fine dining restaurants need a solid customer base in order to survive.

        The club plans to next meet at the Maisonette in September for a special meal that will probably be prepared by the new executive chef — who will no doubt be pleasantly surprised by the crowd of gushy supporters. The club's founders have no plans to expand membership, although they do have a list of folks waiting to be asked to join.

        “Who knows, someday it may become the Maisonette 500,” Mr. Wiles says.

       For information on La Maisonette 50, call Dennis Spiegel (381-6131) or Russ Wiles (421-5000).
       

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