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GREENSBORO - One of the city's most popular chefs and one of its best-known developers will team up to open a new, white-tablecloth restaurant downtown.

Avenue will be the centerpiece tenant on the first floor of Center Pointe, Roy Carroll's $40 million rehab of the old Wachovia building on North Elm Street.

Carroll, who was out of town Monday, has not released an opening date for the luxury condo project but has said the first tenants will be moving in "in a matter of days."

The building's restaurant, which Carroll will operate with veteran chef Mitchell Nicks, has a tentative opening date of May.

Work began on Center Pointe more than two years ago, but from the beginning, Carroll has been in no hurry to identify a restaurant tenant.

"I was looking for the right restaurant concept and operator who would fit the vision I had for ... Center Pointe," Carroll said in a statement. "I think that the selection of Mitchell Nicks hits our targeted mark."

Nicks, 46, has operated two eating places downtown - Muse and Restaurant Pastiche - and served as chef at the former Greensboro City Club. He also has served as chef at the Sedgefield Country Club.

Nicks said he and Carroll have been discussing a restaurant deal since October.

"The opportunity I have to work with Roy is something that you just don't find," said Nicks, the restaurant's managing partner. "This is something that just comes once in a lifetime."

Avenue will seat 74, plus another 16 at the bar. When the weather is nice, there will dining for another 20 outside.

The restaurant, which will serve lunch and dinner, will feature what Nicks calls a New American menu of free-range meats and wild-caught seafoods prepared without a lot of heavy sauces and creams.

"It won't be hospital food," Nicks said. "It will be flavorful."

Lunch entrees will range from $7 to about $11. The restaurant also will offer a lunch buffet and Sunday brunch.

Dinner entrees will run from $18 to $35. Half portions also will be available.

Avenue also provides what Nicks calls residence service. Tenants can have a meal delivered to their condos by a waiter who will set their tables and come back later to take away the dishes.

Nicks called the feature a first for Greensboro.

Restaurant patrons will be able to order a split service theater menu that allows them to eat their appetizers and entrees, walk down Elm Street to a play and come back later for dessert. Patrons would present a bill showing they had already paid for their meal.

Another feature, called Avenue Express, will allow customers to call in an order and get curbside pickup.

Even in the face of a prolonged recession and ongoing uncertainties of the restaurant business, Nicks said he's confident Avenue will be a hit.

"People are still going to eat out," he said. "People are excited about the opening .... There has been a buzz about it for awhile."

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7037 or don.patterson@news-record.com