A coffee-crusted New York strip, a bison burger loaded with pepper jack and caramelized onions, and cocktails named after birds are planned for the menu at Phoenix & Folly, an all-day restaurant and bar slated for the former Salud Bar & Kitchen space at 50 Comstock St. inside Richland's Riverfront Hotel. The restaurant is run by Thomas Kalmbach, who formerly owned The Peacock, alongside new business partners Justin and India Bazinet, who together serve as managing partners.
A New Concept, Not a Peacock Relocation
The Peacock closed on October 9, and the new venture is explicitly not a rebrand of that restaurant. According to Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business, the owners described Phoenix & Folly as an entirely new restaurant, with a new concept and a new space, and they announced the move to 50 Comstock St. the day after The Peacock's closure went public. Still, there's continuity: Phoenix & Folly will serve coffee and some familiar food items from The Peacock, and it will honor gift cards issued within the last 12 months. Justin Bazinet said of older gift certificates that they would try to make things right, and anyone who believes they're owed a refund for a Peacock event has been told to reach out to the restaurant directly.
Phoenix & Folly's opening timeline has shifted. The restaurant initially planned to open for Halloween 2026, but it canceled that planned Halloween party after discussions with state and health department licensing, according to Tri-City Herald. The restaurant had sold five tickets to the Halloween event, and Justin Bazinet said all five had been easily refunded. An earlier Tri-City Herald report had pointed to a Saturday, October 31 opening at 7 p.m., while the same outlet's later coverage said the restaurant was set to open Friday, November 13, 2026 — a discrepancy the available reporting does not resolve.
Coffee-Crusted Steak Anchors the Menu
The signature dish is a coffee-crusted New York strip, priced at $32 and served with mashed potatoes and brown butter green beans. The crust is built from ground coffee, black pepper and other spices. The Folly Burger, meanwhile, runs $22 and features a 6-ounce bison patty topped with pepper jack cheese, caramelized onions and arugula. Justin Bazinet described the burger as sweet, spicy and gamy from the bison meat.
On the drinks side, the restaurant bills itself as an all-day neighborhood restaurant and bar, per the same account, pouring bird-named cocktails alongside rotating old-fashioneds, classic cocktails and house creations. Dine-in customers can also order coffee-based drinks mixed with liquor, folding the café identity into the bar menu. Phoenix & Folly's website says coffee and breakfast are available from 7 AM, according to Phoenix & Folly. Tri-City Herald separately reported the restaurant's plans to serve customers Tuesday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Test Kitchen Nights Let Diners Vote
Every Tuesday, Phoenix & Folly hosts a test kitchen night where customers can order a dish that isn't on the menu yet, give feedback, and vote on whether it earns a permanent spot. Justin Bazinet gave examples of what's been tried so far, including lasagna, clam dishes, mussels, lobster tail, a French toast breakfast, and assorted dinner specials. The restaurant plans to host additional events and is using its website for ongoing updates and information.
How the Partnership Came Together
Justin Bazinet spent years working in IT support across the country before returning to hospitality during COVID. He and Kalmbach met through The Peacock and a neighboring business in Richland, and Bazinet later helped Kalmbach find the Hansen Park location for Kalmbach's coffee shop. That history set the stage for the new partnership. Kalmbach said he was excited to begin the next adventure and expand on it, a sentiment that frames Phoenix & Folly less as a replacement for his old restaurant than as a fresh chapter built on the connections he made running it.
The Comstock Street address has changed hands before. The building most recently housed Salud Bar & Kitchen, which itself underwent a change in ownership in 2024 when Jesse Martinez and Carmel Perez took over the Riverfront Hotel restaurant, according to Tri-City Herald. Salud held a soft reopening that November with a limited menu of tacos, nachos and hamburgers before settling into winter hours of 4 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and noon to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Phoenix & Folly now occupies that same space with a markedly different, coffee-forward identity.
