The French Pantry and Little Miss Ha will open in St. Augustine toward the end of March in the 36 Grenada building, according to owner John Valentino.
The space at 36 Granada St., previously the Corazon Cinema, will have four businesses. It is across the street west of the Lightner Museum.
Upon completion, the building will be 7,700 square feet. It was constructed in 1880, according to St. Johns County records.
DiMare Construction of St. Augustine is the contractor, Cronk Duch Architecture of Jacksonville is the architect and Dottie Northrop of Pink Salt in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is the designer.
Valentino declined to discuss building costs.
“I thought it was too big for any one concept,” Valentino said of 36 Granada. “I thought in St. Augustine, with the opportunity of both locals and a lot of tourist traffic, we could provide a lot of different experiences given the size of the space.”
It will have two separate restaurants and a lounge each having its own entrance. The other businesses are a lounge called Cache-Cache, that will have full liquor, and La Petite Kitchen where cooking classes, special events and chef dinners will be held.
The restaurants will each seat about 65 and a shared bar with another 18 seats.
The French Pantry will be open for coffee, pastries and a light French breakfast, lunch and dinner. It will serve a French-style cuisine. No dinner menu has been set, but it will have a raw bar, Valentino said.
Little Miss Ha will be open for lunch and dinner and serve Asian-inspired dishes. Little Miss Ha started in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, by Johnny and Janice Hudgins. They closed that restaurant in 2023.
Waylon Rivers, formerly of Black Sheep in Five Points, will be the executive chef of both restaurants.
Valentino, who bought The French Pantry at 6301-1 Powers Ave. in Jacksonville in 2015, said that location will remain open. The restaurant was founded in 1995.
Valentino also owns four area Mellow Mushroom restaurants. He met the owners of Little Miss Ha, who also had a Mellow Mushroom franchise, when he went to see what was involved.
The restaurateurs kept in touch and have worked for more than three years on this concept.
State records show that Valentino and Johnny Huggins are operating under Camaraderie LLC.