When you hear a restaurant is celebrating 50 years of service, there are a few words that likely come to mind: Grit. Determination. Commitment. Excellence. In the case of The Refectory Restaurant, which has been serving renowned French cuisine out of what was once a church on Columbus’ Northwest side for a half-century, a few other descriptors might come to mind as well: Stained glass. Elegance. Wine.
And then: Kamal.
Kamal Boulos has owned The Refectory since 1991, but he has shaped it from the beginning, when in 1976 he took a part-time job as a line cook at what was then called the Olde Church-House Restaurant. And he’s navigated through eras of changing diner expectations, building the restaurant’s reputation far beyond Columbus and receiving significant recognition along the way, including recently from both local and national outlets. (Columbus Monthly recognized it as a Best Restaurant of 2025.)
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But when Boulos thinks back on the media accolades The Refectory has received, it’s one from 1991 that comes to mind. That’s when The Refectory first received a Grand Award from Wine Spectator Magazine, in recognition of its outstanding wine cellar. It was one of just 91 restaurants worldwide to receive the honor that year and the first ever to do so in Ohio.
The award bolstered Boulos’ confidence in the restaurant he’d recently taken over. “It demonstrated that if we could build a world-class wine cellar in Columbus, … then we could build a world-class restaurant,” Boulos says. A year later, chef Richard Blondin, a native of Lyon, France, came on board and has been serving elevated French cuisine at The Refectory ever since.
Achieving excellence
It should be noted that The Refectory’s wine cellar didn’t exactly start out grandly. An early review of the Olde Church-House restaurant in the February 1977 issue of Columbus Monthly called the wine list “above average—but average in Columbus is quite poor.” After lamenting the presence of too many “very expensive ($25-up) wines,” reviewers Jon and Karen Christensen also critiqued the limited options: “A more serious criticism is the lack of even one dry rose: What do you order when one person has fish and the other has red meat?”
Boulos credits the late Jeff Elasky, who began working at the restaurant in 1979, for building the wine program. “We started off, he and I together, with a dozen bottles and a metal locker. And I told him this was our wine cellar,” Boulos says. “At that time, I knew a lot about wine. He knew very little. And when we finished, he knew a lot more about wine than I did. And he took it over the top.”
Elasky died in 2016, but the restaurant’s wine legacy continues to this day.
Pandemic Pivots
When restaurants were forced to shut down at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Boulos didn’t think The Refectory would make it. The team, expecting to close, wanted to end their run “thanking the community that supported us,” he says. They quickly created a carryout business with the food already on hand. “We [decided] we would sell the food out the front doorway and give it away out the back to people that needed it,” Boulos says. “And that carryout business just blew up.”
Between carryout and $100,000 in donations from supporters, The Refectory survived. Some pandemic-era changes that carried the restaurant in a new direction have been maintained, including daily menu updates and reduced hours for traditional service. Food, music and wine events are now offered on select Mondays and Tuesdays when the restaurant is closed for regular dining, giving patrons new ways to engage.
Celebrating 50 Years
Given its history, it’s fitting that wine is part of the restaurant’s anniversary celebration: The Refectory had a commemorative bottle of champagne by Gratiot-Pillière in France produced for the occasion. Bottles are available for purchase ($65) with flutes ($26) sold to-order.
Consider pairing your bubbly with the 1976 classic dishes that chef Blondin is serving for the anniversary. In May, the restaurant featured veal, one of the Olde Church-House’s signature dishes. Bringing things into the current era, the restaurant created Facebook Reels documenting different preparation techniques.
The Refectory is also planning a reservation-only champagne dinner under the stars on June 27.
Meanwhile, marketing and sales manager Leah Jennings, is assembling the restaurant’s rich history into a timeline. “It’s a mountain of things to go through,” Jennings says. She’s reviewing articles written and awards received over the years to tell the story as an “art piece that’s going to go on the wall for the guests to see.”
Part of this archive includes the restaurant’s commitment to the greater community: One slide notes its devotion to charitable causes, estimating monetary and in-kind contributions over the years exceed $1 million.
As for what’s next, expect more of the elements that have made the restaurant standout for so long. Boulos says he will continue to focus on diners and their experience. “I think we’ve managed to stay relevant by being true to what we want to do. And that is to create an experience where you can just relax and spend as little or as much time as you want [here] and not feel like you’re going to be rushed out,” he says. The experience in his view is also about trying new foods: “It still amazes me that every few weeks he’ll do something he’s never done before,” Boulos says of Blondin.
“I would love to see this place continue, and others will one day build, hopefully, on the foundation that we put here,” Boulos says.
This story appeared in the July 2026 issue of Columbus Monthly. Subscribe here.
This article originally appeared on Columbus Monthly: The Refectory Restaurant Reflects on 50 Years
Reporting by Linda Lee Baird, Columbus Monthly / Columbus Monthly
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Linda Lee Baird, Columbus Monthly | USA TODAY Network
