Completion!

The new wine room in Adele's Restaurant & Lounge contains about 3,000 bottles of fine wine, including Beringer and Bernkasteler Badstube encased behind oak cabinets and glass.

An oil painting of a docked sailboat is displayed above the brick fireplace in the new expanded lounge. A pair of high-backed red leather chairs and another pair of blue upholstered chairs are placed on the wood floor in front of the fireplace.

"The fireplace was an important element," Adele's owner Charlie Abowd said. "We wanted to bring the same kind of cozy atmosphere, that the verandah offers in the summer, inside during the colder months."

It was in this room that Mark Lopiccolo and Terry Reinhart lounged on a Wednesday morning. As part of the team that helped renovate Carson City's most lauded home-turned-fine-dining restaurant, the owner and project manager of Lopiccolo Construction are now back to being Charlie and Karen Abowd's customers.

Or almost.

Workers moved about the room fixing little details before the restaurant opened for the day.

The first phase of Adele's two-phase renovation began on the second day of 2004. Lopiccolo Construction and its 10 different subcontractors tore down the kitchen and rebuilt the foundation, walls and roof. After five weeks of construction, the kitchen had 120 more square feet, for 450 square feet total, a custom-made stove and all new equipment.

The second phase began January 2 of this year and continues, though the wine room and lounge was in use by Valentine's Day. The contractors had the difficult task of working around restaurant operations. This phase also included relocating the bathrooms and making them handicap accessible.

"What was unique about this project was the accelerated schedule," project manager Reinhart said. "The restaurant was in operation while we were working on it. It was only closed for two weeks in January. That's when we did the demolition."

Mike Grim, vice president of commercial lending at Irwin Union Bank, first became acquainted with Paul and Adele Abowd, the parents of Charlie Abowd, in 1978 when they came to open an account.

At first Grim said he was skeptical about the Abowds' plan to open a restaurant because there weren't many in Carson City, and competition was tough. He ate lunch at the restaurant, which had only a bar and two dining rooms at the time, and was quickly converted. About 25 years later Irwin Union is financing the expansion.

"We've known him and his family for so long, it was not an issue of whether it would be a success or not," Grim said.

Joe McCarthy, economic development and redevelopment manager, said the $100,000 redevelopment grant the restaurant received will attract tourists to the central business district.

"We cheer his effort to modernize his kitchen and expand his space," McCarthy said. "It's 100 percent consistent with the goals of redevelopment."

The restaurant is also significant because of its location in a1864 mansard-roofed house. Other vintage additions include a tin ceiling on the wine room and cellar.

Eddie Miller, a waitress at Adele's for six years, said the renovations have received praise from customers.

"I just think it gives the restaurant such a homey atmosphere," she said. "Before, when customers went to the wine room, it was disconnected from the rest of the restaurant. It felt very separate. Now it's together. And every night the lounge is full."

Adele's, 1112 N. Carson St., is open Monday to Friday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dinner is served Monday to Saturday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. For reservations call 882-3353.

n Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.