Pair hope to revive glory of post-war Locke-Ober, only with tapas - and women

Christopher Jamison wants to turn the shuttered Locke-Ober space on Winter Place into a new destination restaurant for the downtown set - right down to the fabled carved wooden bar that still sits there.

At a Boston Licensing Board hearing today, Jamison and Mark Malatesta, his proposed manager for the as yet unnamed restaurant, said they would even keep the old Yvonne's private club in the basement, although they said they would turn it into a function room.

Jamison needs the board's permission to buy the Locke-Ober liquor license from Origen Property Investments, which bought 1-4 Winter Pl. after Locke-Ober shut in 2012 to turn most of the building into six luxury condominiums. The board decides on the request tomorrow.

Jamison said his goal is "a first-class dining destination and supper club" that evokes Locke-Ober at its peak of 50 or 60 years ago - although unlike back then, women will be allowed to dine there. Also, unlike the filet mignon and foods floating in butter sauces from back in the day, Jamison said diners can count on "small plates, social plates" of "New American" and international cuisine. You know, tapas.

He continued he wants to turn the restaurant's back room into a library bar, "ringed with old books" and is looking to hire Berklee students or other musicians to fill the air with music from brass or wood instruments.