by TM Petaccia

UPDATE: The restaurant is opening for service Tuesday, May 6

Originally the site of Atherton Methodist Church in the late 1800s and expanding to its current form in 1915, the building that will become Leluia Hall was the first permanent prayer structure in the Dilworth neighborhood. It went through several renovations, as well as religious denominations, before becoming one of the Southeast’s top restaurants, Bonterra, in 1999, operating through 2021. Since then, Jeff Tonidandel and Jamie Brown have been transforming the space into their newest concept.

“We’re just waiting on the walk-in to go in,” Tonidandel says, “then we start with the final inspections and then acquire the temporary occupancy permit.”

One of the challenges in getting the final thumbs up from the city is the original plans submitted to it no longer apply. The property now consists of two buildings, the original church and the recently moved Leeper-Wyatt building, which was relocated from its original location on South Boulevard in September.

“It wasn’t planned on being there when we turned in plans,” Tonidandel says. “Now we have a building in our parking lot. We need to see how it’s all going to play out, which makes it hard for us to pick an opening date and run a parallel planning path.”

When the concept finally does open, patrons can expect a steak and seafood-focused menu, with a rum and pisco-forward cocktail program. “We’ll have five different kinds of steak — all prime or wagyu,” Brown says, “as well as an extensive raw bar.”

“We’re instituting a lot of the stuff that we’ve learned at our bar programs over the years in terms of working with citrus to ensure the consistency of all of our ceviche,” Tonidandel says. “We’re even doing some cool things like acidifying different juices to act like lime juice, just like you would in a high-level cocktail program. We’re adding these touches to take our raw bar kind of next level.”

Jon Rosenberg, of late the general manager at Supperland, will assume GM duties at the new restaurant as well as have area director responsibilities for Supperland as well as select new projects.

“I always love the thrill of a new place,” Rosenberg says. “There are high expectations, and we have to meet them. It makes everybody work harder and gives them a goal to shoot for. Those things always feel good to me.”

Chris Rogienski, currently executive chef at Supperland, will assume the same role at Leluia Hall. Joining him will be Cristian Medrano (Supperland, Coquette) as one of the sous chefs, along with Alex Zellers, who recently returned to Supperland after a hiatus from the restaurant group. Replacing Rogienski at Supperland will be Vince Giancarlo, former executive chef at Haberdish, with Lex Falardeau moving into the Haberdish executive chef spot from sous.

While 2025 James Beard semifinalist mixologist Colleen Hughes oversees the cocktail programs at all the Tonidandel-Brown properties, Rhea Buck will move from bar manager at Supperland to the same post at Leluia Hall. Zach Benson has been promoted to bar manager at Supperland.

“Colleen and Rhea have worked together for so long, it’s really nice to have them working together on this,” Tonidandel says. “Rhea is really into rum, and with this concept, she was going to be involved one way or another.”

“Rum has always been my favorite spirit to sip or cocktail with,” Buck says. “It is very versatile, and there are so many amazing rums being made all over the world that are rich and full-bodied, dry and vegetal, or even light and delicate. Colleen and I are so excited to show our guests what we can do with rum and pisco in the stunning bar Jeff and Jamie have built at Leluia.”

Promoting people from within is a core value of Brown and Tonidandel. “If we can keep opening up a restaurant every 18 months or so, although it’s taken a little longer with Leluia Hall, we can give people so many more growth opportunities and the possibility of advancement. It’s been really nice to have that kind of growth.”

The musical chairs at Tonidandel-Brown may not be fully over yet, as plans and renovations for the Leeper-Wyatt building are already underway.

“We’re going to do a completely separate restaurant in that space,” Tonidandel says. “It won’t be like the Bar at Supperland. It’s way too expensive to not turn it into its own thing.”