Restaurateur plans French-style restaurant on C-Street

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Last edited 12:01 p.m., March 10, 2025 [Editor's note: Additional details have been included.]

A Springfield restaurateur known for Cafe Cusco, Van Gogh’s Eeterie and Chabom Tea & Spices is bringing a new French-style restaurant to Commercial Street.

Joe Gidman teased the new venture, called LaRoux Bistro, in a public Facebook post on March 7. He said in the post that he's "getting ready to open" the new business.

"This will be a new venture with a lot of depth. First, I’m getting the chance to build this with my best friend for life, Rodrigo Cabrejos," Gidman said in the post. "It’s also a chance to explore how we get from there to here in many ways. The restaurant is a venture of French influence from Paris to New Orleans and eventually to the Ozarks. I'm really excited for the experience LaRoux will provide."

Springfield Business Journal observed LaRoux signage posted to the window of the building at 300 E. Commercial St., at the intersection with Robberson Avenue, in January. Gidman, who had not disclosed the LaRoux plans publicly until Friday, told SBJ on Saturday that more details would be coming soon.

The C-Street building is owned by Northbridge 300 LLC, with the Greene County assessor listing the square footage at roughly 6,200. The Missouri secretary of state filing for that LLC lists Joseph Hosmer as the registered agent and member. Hosmer is also on the September 2024 La Roux LLC secretary of state filing with Gidman and Cabrejos.

The building in recent years has been targeted for separate projects by businesspeople Tom Muetzel and Drake Tillman.

During the development project for Muetzel's planned relaunch of Ophelia’s at the building, an underground cellar was discovered in 2017 during the rehabilitation of the over 150-year-old building.

Gidman has had business operations on C-Street for more than a decade.

Cafe Cusco, influenced by Peruvian culture, opened in 2013, followed by his Chabom Tea & Spices store in 2015 and the Netherlands-inspired Van Gogh’s Eeterie in 2018. He partnered with his mother, Claire Gidman, on those businesses, according to past reporting.