By Polly Campbell
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Since Maisonette was awarded its 38th consecutive five-star award from the Mobil Travel Guide in January 2002, the downtown French restaurant has coped with a slumping economy, boycotts keeping some people away from downtown and competition from another French fine-dining restaurant opening downtown.

Maisonette co-owner Nat Comisar (left), executive chef Bertrand Bouquin (center) and co-owner Michael Comisar in front of the restaurant. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

But when Mobil announces its list of five-star restaurants for 2003 today, Maisonette once again will be on it. The restaurant remains as the longest-lasting five-star restaurant in North America, with 39 years of five stars to its name.

"External forces impact us all the time," said Michael Comisar, co-owner of the restaurant with his cousin, Nat Comisar. "But we have been staying focused on what we do: taking care of our customers every day."

Mobil changed the release date of its annual travel guide and restaurant ratings from January to November this year to take advantage of the holiday travel and dining-out season.

The Mobil five-star announcement always is good news for the Comisars, and never taken for granted, they said Wednesday.

"There may have been a time when stars were given for sentimental reasons. But ever since 1994, when the process was shaken up, there is no safe turf," Nat Comisar said.

Mobil inspectors visit the restaurant anonymously five to seven times a year, he said.

The Comisars are not in the business of winning awards, but of pleasing customers, the co-owners said, and the award is a byproduct of that. Nevertheless, the five-star designation is clearly a point of pride and an important part of Maisonette's marketing and advertising. As one of only 13 restaurants in the United States and Canada to earn the designation last year, it sets Maisonette apart from other restaurants in the region. (The next closest five-star restaurant is in Chicago)

Perhaps more pleased than anyone with today's news is Chef Bertrand Bouquin, who came to Maisonette in mid-2001.

"This year, it was all on me. So it's a lot of pressure all year long, especially these last few months. I feel very good about it. I feel awesome."

Of all the external challenges this past year, the competition from former Maisonette chef Jean-Robert de Cavel's new restaurant on Fourth Street does not worry the Comisars. In fact, they said they welcome it.

"That is absolutely a good thing for us. Our guest counts have not gone down since they opened" in August. "Anything that brings people downtown is good. It certainly didn't work when we were down here by ourselves," said Michael Comisar.

Much more worrisome is the slow economy.

"In the 90's, we had brokers who came in here all the time. We still see them, but not so much," he said.

The lack of convention business is another worry. In the late 1970s and early '80s, out-of-town visitors were 65 percent of Maisonette's guests. Now it's closer to 25 percent.

Even government regulations can have unexpected effects. "The FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) passed new regulations that mean pharmaceutical companies can't take doctors out to eat so much," said Nat Comisar.

What the Comisars said they want most is to have ordinary Greater Cincinnatians eat at Maisonette more often.

"People may come here once in five years" Nat Comisar said, "but one of the best restaurants in the country is in their range, and it's not as expensive as they think it is."

To introduce more people to the Maisonette experience, a $20 lunch option was introduced in April, which has doubled the noontime guest count. Next, the restaurant plans to introduce a $50, three-course dinner menu. There will be three choices for each course, and it will be available every night at dinner.

The Comisars look forward to downtown developments, such as the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art (Nat Comisar is on the board) and the new plan for an expanded convention center. But already, they said, they are seeing more people coming downtown.

"There was a night recently when Enrique Iglesias was at the Taft and The Producers was at the Aronoff, and the streets were full of people, and they didn't disappear at eight o'clock, either," Nat Comisar said.

Regardless of outside issues, the owners said their everyday conversations revolve mostly around topics such as bread.

"Do you serve bread warm, which makes a nice crust, but sometimes becomes stale faster, or at room temperature? Does a waiter serve it, which can be intrusive, or leave it on the table, which seems like you're not paying enough attention?" Nat Comisar said.

That is the level of attention that has to be made when a five-star designation creates high expectations in guests.

And to celebrate the payoff, Michael Comisar said, "it's going to be a festival down here tonight."