A creative combination of a French bistro and nightclub is coming to Royal Oak in early 2014. Aaron F. Belen of AFB Hospitality Group purchased the 9,500-square-foot building at the corner of Lafayette and 4th Street and has his sights set on making it into one of the most exceptional restaurants to hit the metro Detroit area. The two-story restaurant is expected to employ about 75 people, and, when considering the current construction phase, it can be upward to 150 people will be employed. Aaron Belen is building a restaurant with two unique concepts: a French bistro on the first floor called Bistro 82 and an ultra-lounge on the second floor called Sabrage.....
“We are hiring local companies to do the construction — keeping our dollars in Michigan,” he said. “That’s important to me.” Though the construction phase is ongoing, Belen said he is excited about the group he has put together for the new concepts. “I have reached out to many vendors who I have done business with in the past,” he noted. “We wanted to go after the big vendors for cross marketing purposes — to help grow our brands through partnership.”
The group is working with IntelliTech Systems, a leader in audio/video entertainment systems in the Midwest, and Harman Co., a California-based conglomerate in audio and video. Both will provide Belen’s property with a unique audio/visual system not experienced before in a Michigan restaurant.
“Harman and Intellitech’s audio engineers designed our system,” Belen noted. There was lot of emphasis on the audio design simulation and integrating smart technology into the venue, and the intellitech team with their smart automation background brought a lot of experience and skill set in that area.
“My focus for sound was to create a system that was well-balanced and well-tuned,” he continued. “I feel many systems in other restaurants and clubs have either too much bass or are too loud and distorted.”...