By Patrick Crowley
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Covington is "absolutely still in the running" to be the new home for the Maisonette, the restaurant's managing partner said Friday.

Nat Comisar, whose family operates the Mobil five-star restaurant in downtown Cincinnati, said Friday morning he had just arrived back in town and had not yet seen legislation that is moving through the Kentucky General Assembly that would offer the restaurant a tax break to move to Covington.

The Comisars are scouting suburban locations and downtown Covington in an effort to possibly relocate the nationally-known restaurant.

"When I left town we told Norwood, Kenwood and Northern Kentucky what we needed to make this happen," Comisar said. "I'm anxious to see what Kentucky is doing."

Comisar would not divulge what incentives other communities are offering. A pitch is also being made to keep the restaurant in downtown Cincinnati.

State Sen. Jack Westwood, a Crescent Springs Republican who represents Covington in the legislature, has successfully attached a tax incentive amendment to a tourism bill that passed the Senate Thursday.

The bill now moves to the House, where it is expected to pass. It would then go to Gov. Ernie Fletcher for his signature.

It would allow the Maisonette to recoup a quarter of every $1 it pays in state sales tax for up to 10 years.

Other tourist attractions in Northern Kentucky, including the Hofbrauhaus restaurant in Newport, have qualified for and are now using the tax break.

The Maisonette has looked at a building at Pike Street and Madison Avenue in downtown Covington and other undisclosed locations in the city's Mainstrasse Village entertainment district.

Comisar said Friday he was returning from a trip visiting restaurants in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Mexico, where Charlie Trotter's of Chicago recently opened a restaurant in an exclusive resort.

Comisar said he was in New York last week, where he visited 23 restaurants in less than three days.

"It was exhilarating," he said Friday. "I just wanted to see new restaurants to see what people are doing these days, and I'm loaded for bear. I looked at everything from architecture to storage rooms to dishwashers to ceiling fixtures and tiles.

"Because the Maisonette in its new life will be the vibrant, young, youthful, energetic, exciting thing it needs to be," he said. "And I'm excited with all the new ideas I've received."

Comisar did not say when a decision on moving or on a new location would be made.

E-mail pcrowley@enquirer.com