Triple Crown signage now dominates the Radnor Hotel’s new facade.
When Rosalie opened in the Wayne Hotel six months into the pandemic, we raved about its exuberant transformation of staid and stuffy Paramour. Rosalie felt like a respite from those dour days, a technicolor treat for our deadened senses.
Five years later and a mile down the road, the Main Line’s most prolific restauranteurs have done it again.
Marty and Sydney Grims, the dynamic father-daughter duo behind Fearless Restaurants, have turned a ho-hum hotel restaurant – the Glenmorgan Grill at the Radnor Hotel – into buzzy destination dining.
Triple Crown Restaurant, Bar and Garden is Fearless’s fourth Radnor/Wayne establishment, its fifth on the Main Line, and its 13th overall. (Next up in Wayne: a second Testarossa – vroom, vroom – at the old Bertucci’s.)
Fearless restauranteurs Marty and Sydney Grims at Triple Crown, their latest Main Line venture in partnership with SW Bajus, owner of the Radnor Hotel and the Wayne Hotel.
While Fearless’s White Dog Cafés are an ode to our furry friends and Autograph Brasserie is an homage to musical celebrities, Triple Crown is a deep, dapper dive into all things equestrian: jockeys and juleps, sure, but also hunt cups, horse shows and just hacking around.
The menu fits the horsey-handsome, all-American vibe.
Under Executive Chef Robert Reissner, Triple Crown offers classic, refined, Mad Men-style dining. Think aged steaks and fresh seafood in mostly straightforward preparations. Remember retro faves like Prime Rib, béarnaise sauce, steak tartare and crab Oscar? They’re all here, gunning for a comeback.
So are sandwiches for dinner. There are three: a $31 Prime Rib French Dip, the inevitable burger for $26, and – surprise! – a Corned Beef Special with house-cured brisket, also $26. When entrées are at least a ten-spot more, they sound like steals. “It’s the way I want to eat during the week – a sandwich or salad and a glass of wine,” offers Marty Grims.
On the dinner menu: Snacks, raw bar and appetizers $8 to $34; Four salads $14 – $18 without protein; Sandwiches and entrées from $26 (Triple Crown Prime Rib is $52); A la carte fish, chops and steaks $36 – $68; Shareable chicken, bronzino, steaks $48 – $145 (extra for special sauces, seafood toppings and shareable sides.)
Richly evoked in every square inch, Triple Crown’s equestrian theme should land well with locals and out-of-towners. (It certainly has clicked elsewhere, notably at Malvern’s jaunty new Jockey Tavern.)
Indeed, with apologies to Aronimink, Merion and Lilly, we daresay nothing says Main Line more than horses.
Besides the obvious Devon Horse Show and Radnor Hunt, racing fans know us as stud country, spawning champion steeds like Crème Fraiche and Hard Spun.
“We wanted Triple Crown to feel like a Main Line estate,” explains Sydney Grims. “Ardrossan was one of the inspirations.”
Triple Crown’s clubby, 14-seat Velvet Saddle room.
It’s an apt reference. Ardrossan’s most celebrated resident, Hope Montgomery Scott, aka Katharine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story, was famously mad for horses. A few generations later, Grims follows in those hoofprints: she’s been riding for 31 of her 34 years.
Thanks to Grims’ savvy shopping, her father’s astute project management, and Fearless’ imaginative designer, Barbara Balongue, Triple Crown is full-on equine immersion. “We’re not in the food business, we’re in the entertainment business,” Marty Grims likes to say.
Quality finishes abound. Walls are paneled in mahogany, floors are sheathed in walnut. The bar boasts marble mosaic floors and solid brass rails; booths are covered in real Ralph Lauren fabrics, not dupes; authentic Hermès scarves are framed on walls.
Lighted shelves showcase vintage plates – from Triple Crown’s equestrian-chic neighbor, Vanner House – and antique silver trophies, many of them from Main Line estate-sale specialist Sales by Helen.
There’s no shortage of equine eye candy to ogle in the warren of cozy dining rooms, each of which can be made private with the slide of a pocket door. Clever, right?
The foyer is a veritable tack room, hung with vintage huntmaster’s red coats, British breeches and boots, polo mallets, bridles and such – much of it foraged from an equestrian resale shop that Grims stumbled on in Middleburg, Va. After excitedly texting photos to Balongue, Grims shipped seven boxes back to Radnor.
When Balongue couldn’t find a wallpaper evoking jockey silks (riders’ race-day jerseys), she designed one herself.
Wallpaper inspired by jockey silks hangs above booths near the bar.
Balongue also created the Triple Crown tartan, which graces ceilings, menus and more.
With 60+ stools at the bar and bar rails and a smattering of frame TVs to entertain solo diners, Triple Crown’s central bar is a focal point. “Obviously being in a hotel made it really important to have a substantial bar,” says Grims. “We have a lot of single, corporate travelers on weeknights.”
The bar was designed for solo travelers and locals. “I geeked out on glassware for the bar,” says Sydney Grims. Note to oenophiles: Triple Crown’s wine list is the largest in the Fearless constellation, Grims says.
Lunch, brunch and weekday breakfast are coming soon. “The Radnor Hotel used to be known for its business breakfasts,” Marty Grims explains. “We want to recapture that.”
Behind the restaurant, Triple Crown’s newly remodeled ballroom has been hosting functions for more than a year. But area event planners are champing at the bit for the arrival of “The Garden” – the self-contained, alfresco venue that’s the third and final leg of Fearless’s Triple Crown venture.
The Garden, an expansive, full-service event venue, is currently under construction in the rear of the hotel.
The Garden’s glass “Conservatory” – tinted a cooling green and climate-controlled – will seat up to 180 guests for wedding ceremonies and corporate presentations. (When it’s not booked, Triple Crown restaurant will offer outdoor dining in the Conservatory, Grims says.)
An early CGI rendering of the Conservatory.
Receptions will take place in an elegant Sperry sailcloth tent, spacious enough for 300 people with a dance floor, 350 without dancing. The peaked tenting will stay up from early spring to mid-fall.
A CGI rendering of The Garden’s three-season sailcloth tent.
Lushly planted and paved with bluestone, The Garden will have its own entrance, parking, restrooms, kitchen, bar and patio.
Due to open this fall, it might just become Triple Crown’s crowning glory.
Here come the brides.
Triple Crown Restaurant, Bar and Events, Radnor Hotel, 593 E. Lancaster Ave., St. Davids, is open for dinner daily from 4 p.m. Happy Hour begins in the fall. Breakfast, lunch and brunch coming soon. Private parties for 10 to 50. Indoor ballroom and outdoor “Garden” venue (under construction) host larger events and weddings.
