Several months ago, the Redwood Café relocated to Lathrop.
The structure of the popular Modesto restaurant – formerly on Dale Road – was taken apart in sections and loaded onto trucks during its move to River Islands, specifically, near Islanders Field.
On Wednesday, the Lathrop Planning Commission will consider adopting various amendments to the Town Center Architectural Design Guidelines and Development Standards upon approving the Site Plan review for the Redwood Café Restaurant and Event Center.
This project will be located in the Town Center District of River Islands, 1300 Riverfront Dr.
At the 6 p.m. meeting in the Lathrop City Council Chamber, 390 Towne Centre Dr., Commissioners will also look at amending the River Islands Community Stadium Conditional Use Permit and Site Plan Review, in turn, allowing for the construction and operation of an Amphitheater / Event Center in place of a community stadium.
Plans call for the venue on Islanders Way in the River Islands Town Center District to host concerts, plays, and various community-wide events.
As for environmental status, this proposed project falls with the scope of the previously certified Subsequent Environmental Impact Report with no further review required, in accordance to the California Environmental Quality Act.
Three sections of the iconic dining spot — including the bar and dining room —will have a footprint nearly triple its size in Modesto.
The new structure will incorporate segments of the Redwood Café that closed Dec. 31 after 14 years when the property was sold to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as part of the Modesto Temple project now under construction.
The restaurant will be three stories with multiple wine cellars, dining and the barroom on the main floor, and banquet facilities on the third floor.
There will be an elevator to ferry guests between floors.
The third floor will have access to the 18-mile parkway for pedestrians and bicyclists that will eventually ring River Islands along the 300-foot wide levee.
As such, it will open to an outdoor dining area that will have sweeping views of the San Joaquin River.
The Redwood Café will be the second restaurant at River Islands.
The current dining venue — the Boathouse — is almost as unique as the Redwood Café promises to be in the greater Lathrop-Manteca-Tracy area. It sits along a manmade lake along with sand volleyball courts and a park.
The new Redwood Café endeavor is a partnership of Bob Campana and Cambay Group.
Campana opened the Dale Road location in 1994 as an events center that quickly became a popular venue for weddings and other celebratory events.
The Redwood Café opened in 2012.
It has a varied and unique eclectic cuisine inspired by multiple trips Campana has taken around the world.
The Redwood Café fits into River Islands goal to develop a town square that has a unique vibe sans cookie cutter boxy development.
The vision is not just to have apartments intertwined with retail, dining, and services that also may have housing above, but to create a town square that is a gathering space that is walkable.
For more information, log on to www.ci.lathrop.ca.us.