After spending 20 years fantasizing about running her own restaurant, the owner of a cramped Chinese carry-out in the basement of the Dartmouth Medical School finally has the chance to make her dreams come true.
Cynthia Ou, who is well-known among students and faculty alike for her Thursday special of fried dumplings, is expanding to a sprawling Main Street location that will seat almost as many patrons as Panda House, which is the largest Chinese restaurant in Hanover.
The new restaurant, which does not yet have a name, will seat 120 people and provide take-out service, Ou said. Located on the north side of the New Dartmouth bank building, the second-story eatery will occupy what used to be the bank's cafeteria.
The restaurant should be open by December 1, according to Jay Campion, one of the owners of Jaymark Properties, a real-estate company that owns the building.
But Michael Woodard, a real estate agent who lets the property for Jaymark, said fewer than 30 seats have met Town Zoning Board approval. The board will review the additional seats and parking tonight.
Ou plans to keep the Medical School carry-out shop, but said she is thrilled to finally open the downtown restaurant she has dreamed about since she began working in the Kellogg building. She signed the lease with Jaymark for the Main Street space earlier this month, Woodard said.
Workers began putting in a new window for the restaurant that looks out onto Main Street. The stairway to the restaurant will branch off from the building's hallway on Main Street, which also leads to the bank and clothing store.
The remodeling will not interfere with the new Campion's Women's Store, which opened on the first floor of the New Dartmouth Bank building late last month, Woodard said.
Other renovations to the building will create 2,000 more square feet of retail space in the basement and more than 3,000 square feet of office space on the second floor is still available for lease.
