Plans have changed since last fall, when Annemarie Maitri and Mark Pavlovich decided to take over the former Crescendo space at 1859 Monroe St., next to their Bloom Bake Shop, at 1851 Monroe St. Now, they’re opening a more ambitious, but still intimate, neighborhood-focused restaurant there in early June.
Initially, the idea was to recreate the old Bloom cafe, which was taken over by bakery equipment when indoor dining shut down during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But as Maitri began working with the space, and after she and Pavlovich traveled to France, their ideas began to evolve. “It was a natural shift inside Mark and me,” Maitri says, as they asked themselves, ‘Where are we now?’”
They pondered creating more of a French-influenced bistro, centered around small plates, featuring some of the many other foods they love besides baked goods, in a way that…
