Photo by David Slone, Times-Union Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting Thursday afternoon for the reopening of Palette, an American Eatery, 2521 E. Center St., Warsaw. Pictured (L to R) are Scott Wiley, Chamber member relations manager; Scott Clay, NAPA Auto Parks, Chamber ambassador; Kyrié Maierle, Cardinal Services, Chamber ambassador; Shawn Brown, Lake City Living, Chamber ambassador; Morgan Bruner, W.R. Hall Insurance; Jon Vida, Rabb Kinetico, Chamber ambassador; Maria Navarro, Cruz Cacahua, Marino Mendez, all of Palette; Deep Patel, Fortune 1; Marisa Cacahua, Jasmin Cacahua, Palette; Ben Snyder, Humana, Chamber ambassador; Lynn Brown, author, Chamber ambassador; and Rob Parker, Chamber president and CEO. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union.

By David Slone
Times-Union

WARSAW – A fire in December of 2021, led to a temporary closure of Palette in Warsaw, and the restaurant celebrated a remodeling and a reconfiguration of the dining and bar areas.

On Thursday, Nov.  17, the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce celebrated Palette’s reopening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

General Manager Marino Mendez said, “The difference now is we moved the dining room to the front. A lot of people know this space over here, we used to use it for banquets and private meetings. So now we moved the dining room over here (to the entrance) so that way when people walk into the restaurant, they should be right at the restaurant.”

Where the dining room used to be in the back is now space for private meetings and banquets.

He also talked about the new menu they have now as well.

Some of the dishes are holdovers from when the restaurant used to be Bennigan’s, including the turkey and swiss and the Monte Cristo sandwich.

“And we kind of integrated some Mexican dishes, and we also kept some of the Italian dishes that they used to have when it was Bella Vitale,” Mendez said. “We still have appetizers and stuff because we still have the bar side as well.”

He emphasized that Palette, 2521 E. Center St., Warsaw, is open to the public, not just to guests of Wyndham Gardens.

“We serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. We start opening at 7 a.m. and then we close at 2 p.m. We take a break for two hours, and then we reopen at 4 until 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Right now, we’ve been closing on Sundays because we’re short staffed. Nobody wants to work on Sundays,” Mendez said.

He hopes to reopen on Sundays in December when the Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts presents its Christmas show “The Sound of Music.”

A family restaurant, Palette originally opened in 2018.

“We made some changes after the fire. It’s open for the community. I hope you guys can come in and try some of the food,” Mendez told the Chamber staff and ambassadors before the ribbon-cutting.

The interior of Palette was significantly remodeled after a fire on Dec. 17, 2021. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union.