PARIS — The “X” in X-Vault Pub & Provisions represents a number of things to owners Paul Cornish and Myung Kim, but notably gives them endless opportunities regarding menu options for South Paris’ newest restaurant.

They held a soft opening this month for the business at 10 Market Square, site of the former Smiling Moose that operated for a decade.

“The ‘X’ also represents the number of this building — the Crossway Building — and the number 10,” Kim said. “X marks the spot for a vault.”

Featured behind the bar, which Cornish had refinished in cherry wood and copper, is the original vault to the building. Kim said the building was erected as the South Paris Savings Bank in 1899. The vault is a Mosler, the same kind that withstood the atomic bomb in Hiroshima during World War II, he noted. Today, the brass-and-steel vault houses the restaurant’s tap system for the bar.

In addition to the unusual architectural elements is the unique food offered and full bar, complete with its own menu.

Kim is a self-described foodie who used to own a winery and delights in trying new foods. Originally from California, he moved to Maine from Boston in 1998 to raise his children in a quiet, rural setting.

Cornish moved to Maine the same year from Pennsylvania and has been in the restaurant business for over 30 years. He first was with Morton’s The Steakhouse in Philadelphia and later owned the River Restaurant in West Paris, which is now the Rustic Tavern.

When the business partners began bouncing ideas off each other to decide what kind of restaurant they wanted, Kim said he simply wanted good foods and good drinks. It later transformed into the X-Vault’s motto: “A diverse community of good foods and good drinks.”

“The menu is different, which represents the name the X-Vault,” Kim said. “X” is a variable in mathematical formula. “X can be anything, so we are not just limiting ourselves to one kind of food. This is going to be the only place (in the area) where you’ll be able to have a hamburger and sushi, eventually.”

The menu boasts of house-made pastas, sauces, humus and Pad Thai, along with rib-eye steak and cedar plank salmon — all “on the diversified end,” according to Cornish. There are the Asian fusion dishes, which combine traditional comfort foods with Asian flair, such as kimchi quesadillas and kimchi mac and cheese, which he described as “a very cool mix.”

“We’ve got two wonderful chefs. … Our signature salad (an Asian Caesar salad) is one of (the chef’s) amazing dressings. Imagine miso with tahini dressing,” Kim said. “It is going to be very, very solid (and) very, very good.”

“And very fresh,” Cornish added. “That is one of the reasons we are limiting our menu.”

“The little we have, we will do very well,” Kim said.

Homecoming

So who is creating all this unique infused food?

Chef Alex White grew up in the Oxford Hills. After graduating from high school, he went to Johnson and Wales culinary school. He worked and studied in Florida, then worked at Menton in Boston — a fine dining French and Italian restaurant — and studied under famous chef and restaurateur Andrew Carmellini, owner The Dutch in New York City.

“We’re really excited to have Alex come back to his hometown and show off some of his flairs,” Kim said.

But it’s not just the owners who were happy to have a native son return home.

“I am just excited to be here,” White said. “I have always wanted to bring better food into this area. After I came back from bigger cities, I was so used to having good food and that wasn’t an option around here. I didn’t think it was going to be this soon. That is why I am thankful for Myung and Paul.”

Cornish thinks all three appreciate each other and bring something different.

The pub almost wasn’t

Kim, who owns the building and has his dental practice upstairs, said the funny thing was he never envisioned opening a restaurant. He rented the building to Smiling Moose owners Kathy and Dan Deluca for 10 years.

“They were really good tenants,” Kim said. “When they couldn’t sell (the business), they decided to just close down.”

He was interested in turning it into an oral surgery office downstairs, but Cornish approached him about going into a business partnership together. 

“So one thing led to another and here we are,” Kim said.

Well it wasn’t that simple. The business partners spent seven months completely gutting and remodeling the space, including redoing the ceilings and floors. The dining and bar area hints at the steampunk look, between the vault and the lantern lights nested inside wire cages. It’s more than twice the size it was as the Smiling Moose.

“It is a brand new, full-service commercial kitchen,” Cornish said. “That is really what needed to be done. Everything is brand spanking new.”

Local band The Cobblestones gave the inaugural performance at the X-Vault Pub under Cornish’s Muddy Waters Telecaster and Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster guitars that hang on the back wall. The partners plan to have other bands rock their house occasionally and won’t host a grand opening.

“It is kind of how I built the dental practice — it is word of mouth,” Kim said. “We are hoping word of mouth will slowly have that grassroots effect to it.”

Hours of operation are from 2 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 2 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 to 8 p.m. Sunday. The pub is closed on Mondays.

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/XVaultPubandProvisions/.

eplace@sunmediagroup.net

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