By Ken Alltucker
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Jeff Ruby

Jeff Ruby has flirted with gambling culture at his gangster-themed Tropicana restaurant in Newport. Now the Cincinnati restaurateur will plunge into the casino business with a new restaurant at Belterra Casino in Southeast Indiana.

Jeff Ruby's at Belterra, a restaurant and lounge with a French Art Deco motif, will open May 24 at the resort casino near Florence, Ind. Florence is about 50 miles southwest of Cincinnati.

Ruby's at Belterra replaces the casino's Fireside steakhouse, which will close Mondayto allow construction crews one week to remodel the 136-seat restaurant.

"I can cherry-pick and take what people love most at each restaurant in Cincinnati and put it on one menu," said Ruby. "I couldn't do this in Cincinnati. It would hurt the other restaurants."

An official grand opening party is planned June 13 as part of Ruby's annual birthday bash. Two thousand of Ruby's closest friends will be treated to a private performance by country legend Kenny Rogers.

Ruby hired Las Vegas Flamingo hotel veteran Kiril Gallovitch to be his Belterra chef. He also recruited an executive from Bern's Steak House in Tampa to be general manager of the Belterra restaurant.

Features include a large fireplace in the center of the restaurant and a wine cellar with seating to attract high rollers.

"I think there will be a lot of new customers that go to Belterra," Ruby said. "What we're hoping is the people from Cincinnati that go to Argosy because it is closer may go to Belterra now because they have my restaurant."

He also expects the casino's promotions and ad campaigns will help him reach customers in new markets such as Louisville and Lexington.

Recruiting a top-notch restaurant is part of Belterra's continued effort to create a resort atmosphere and attract guests from a wider area, said Larry Buck, Belterra's vice president and general manager.

"This is a big picture, long-term plan ... to draw more people," Buck said.

Belterra will add a Starbucks coffee shop this summer; it already operates a Ben & Jerry's ice cream shop. The hotel/casino, owned by Las Vegas-based Pinnacle Entertainment Inc., also recently opened a new 300-room hotel tower and added 33,000 square feet of meeting space.

Belterra still ranks No. 3 as measured by gaming win - gamblers' losses - among the three Indiana casinos closest to Cincinnati. But it has virtually closed the gap with Rising Sun's Grand Victoria Casino & Resort over the past year. Argosy, located in Lawrenceburg, collects more win than Belterra and Grand Victoria combined.

Even though Ruby's name is synonymous with fine dining in Cincinnati, the management of competitor Grand Victoria doesn't see Belterra's moves as a threat.

"They are positioning themselves as more of a regional destination and they are advertising in markets way beyond (Cincinnati)," said Mark Hemmerle, interim general manager of Grand Victoria.

E-mail kalltucker@enquirer.com