DaVinci Synthetic Slate Creates French Chateau Setting at Cru Uncorked
Visit Cru Uncorked and your fine dining experience starts long before you get to your table. As you approach the beautifully designed restaurant you’re transported to the Loire Valley in France. The sprawling country chateau setting features four dining rooms, a wine pavilion, green house and gardens. Topping the entire French Chateau complex you’ll find a DaVinci Castle Gray synthetic slate roof that complements the building style.
“We felt the color and texture of the DaVinci slate best resemble the slate roofs of the Loire Valley that we were trying to emulate for this project,” says Richard Kawalek with Kawalek Architects. “This synthetic slate has the correct color range, scale and slate appearance that one would find in northern France.
“I specified it for the original restaurant in 2017. Then, when the addition was added in 2021, we knew we wanted the consistency of remaining with the same roofing tile. This composite slate is essential to the look and feel of the French revival style buildings. This simply could not have been done with asphalt shingles. And real slate would have been far more costly.”
Expanding for the Future
Cru Uncorked originally opened in Moreland Hills, Ohio, with 9,600 square feet of fine dining space. The restaurant has a wine storage room that holds more than 18,000 bottles of wine. Due to its popularity, a major addition was created in 2021.
A second patio, a French Parterre ornamental garden, Garden Pavilion and Greenhouse were created. A Wine Pavilion room was also constructed to house the restaurant’s wine tastings and dinners.
“These additions round out the facilities for our guests,” says Sandy Cutler, co-owner of Cru Uncorked. “We now have indoor and outdoor dining with farm to table vegetables, herbs and flowers. The new space gives us the ability to hold special events in our gardens. These multiple venues enrich the overall experience for our guests.”
According to Cutler, having an authentic look on all the roofs is an integral aspect of the entire French Chateau architecture at Cru Uncorked. “We want to maintain the same architectural feel on the entire campus in each of the buildings,” says Cutler. “The DaVinci roof simply ‘flows’ throughout our entire restaurant grounds. It connects everything.
“The original roof is now six years old. We’ve been extremely pleased with the DaVinci product. It’s held up very well. We’ve definitely recommended it to others.”
Dedicated Synthetic Slate Roofing Installers
For both the original construction and the recent addition, Cutler relied on Warren Roofing™ to install the DaVinci synthetic slate roof that complements the Cru Uncorked building style.
“The DaVinci product makes so much sense for this project,” says John Arsena, project manager with Warren Roofing out of Walton Hills, Ohio. “The authentic look absolutely replicates real slate. However, it’s lighter in weight, so you don’t need the same structural support system as you would for heavier slate.
“In addition, there are so many benefits of this synthetic slate. It’s Class A fire and Class 4 impact resistant, which is ideal for a restaurant. Plus it resists cracking and chipping. This makes it the perfect roofing system for the long-term needs of Cru Uncorked.”
The Warren Roofing team successfully completed the expansion of roofing on the property in 2021. At the same time they took on one extra challenge. The team created a four-sided copper and glass cupola to serve as a landmark on the property.
Created offsite first by a carpenter in a workshop, and then by technicians at the roofing company, the cupola was installed onsite by Warren Roofing. The team performed all of the copper and roofing work around it to properly complete the installation.
“The exterior of Cru Uncorked is simply magical,” says Arsena. “Our team is very proud to have contributed to this beautiful French Chateau style complex.”