What’s in a Name? The Story of Cedro

One of the more complicated and interesting aspects of the restaurant business is the actual naming of the establishment. Some names work well and last a long time. Others (Peso and Bucks, Rival’s Steakhouse, Sardine Rouge, Demi Epicurious for example, while well-intentioned, don’t seem to last long at all). Now I’m not saying the names were solely to blame in the failure of the aforementioned restaurants, actually far from it. But they didn’t help.

So along comes a new Italian restaurant in north Austin at Lakeline Mall next to the Alamo Drafthouse. The owner, James Sun, who cut his culinary spurs at Italian and French restaurants in Boston, assumed his new store was in Cedar Park. Wanting to be creative, he named it Cedro (pronounced Ched-row) for cedar in Italian. I thought it was pretty clever, and the food reminds me of Will Packwood’s late Cibo at 10th and Congress with a variety of pasta and gnocchi.

But when the final papers from the various inspectors arrived, James discovered that his new place was actually in Austin and not Cedar Park.

Okay, what to do? Well he had already expended considerable dollars for signage. An alternate name was not leaping out at him. So he kept Cedro.

And I for one am glad he did. The name’s got a nice ring to it and while it may not actually be in Cedar Park, it’s pretty damn close.

I guess the moral of the story is to thoroughly read all legal documents and to be totally sure of exactly what city you’re in. But had that been the case, James and his crew would have never come up with Cedro. I guess this is one case where creativity definitely trumped location. Here’s hoping they become a fixture in their new location.

cedroaustin.com