From George Clooney to Sinead O'Connor, Dee Felice welcomed legendary stars to Cincinnati

Shelly DeFelice-Nelson remembers the night Phyllis Diller’s manager called her Covington jazz cafe requesting a private table in the corner for his client so she could protect her anonymity. Ten minutes after being seated, however, Diller threw that anonymity to the Northern Kentucky wind by jumping on stage to play the piano.

Then there was the night in the late 1980s when an up-and-coming singer named Sinead O'Connor hosted a pre-concert party there that erupted into a food fight – the night the late sportscasting legend Harry Caray fell head-over-heels in love with a young hostess (it was a different time) – and the many nights anchorman Nick Clooney and his son, George, would come in for some father-son bonding while listening to jazz.

But mostly it was the regulars and the musicians who made Dee Felice Cafe such a special place to its customers. And it is what DeFelice-Nelson – who opened the Covington supper club with her jazz drummer father Dee Felice in 1984 – will miss the most.

A sign on the door announced last week that the restaurant would close its doors for good. Though DeFelice-Nelson said the sudden closure was hardly a surprise to its employees.

“I think they knew it was coming,” she said.

DeFelice-Nelson and her husband, Patrick Nelson, leased the restaurant to Another Round LLC about two and a half years ago. Another Round's other properties include the now-shuttered Squeaky Squirrel, in Taylor Mill, and Weather Oar Knot, in Union, which remains open.

“They wanted to keep Dee Felice going, which kind of appealed to us,” she said.

Another Round kept the restaurant up and running for a couple of years, but staffing shortages and a customer shift away from fine dining seemed to doom the space. DeFelice-Nelson said the restaurant's reputation as a place for special occasions was a particular challenge since many of its customers only came back once or twice a year.

“You need something more competitive because there’s a lot of competition over here,” DeFelice-Nelson said, pointing to places such as Bouquet, Lisse and Mama's on Main. “You can’t just be a once-a-year type place.”

Last month, DeFelice-Nelson, who owns the building, terminated its lease for nonpayment. Two weeks ago, the restaurant was gone for good. Since then, Another Round has deleted all of the restaurant's social media accounts. The Enquirer reached out to the LLC directly but has not received a response.

When Dee Felice opened in the early 1980s, Cincinnati was considered a jazz destination with clubs such as the Blue Angel, the Living Room, the Carousel, the Whisper Room, the Buccaneer and the Playboy Club bringing in the crowds, DeFelice-Nelson said. Given the newfound popularity of New Orleans-style food, ushered in by pioneering TV chefs such as Paul Prudhomme and Justin Wilson, her father decided to offer food from the Big Easy in Covington along with the city's signature music. (Her father had a particular love of Dixieland, which he enjoyed while being stationed in New Orleans while serving in the Navy.)

There was always a family element to the place, too, DeFelice-Nelson told The Enquirer. “Patrick was in the kitchen, Mom took care of the bills and my father was the musician," she said.

If there's any good news, it's that Dee Felice Market, which DeFelice-Nelson and Patrick Nelson opened as a way to stay in business during the pandemic, will remain open, selling the restaurant's famous bread, andouille sausage and lobster butter.

DeFelice-Nelson said she has already been approached by three potential suitors for the space. While all of them want to introduce new concepts, she said she would be open to the right person continuing the Dee Felice legacy. After all, the restaurant is practically in her blood. "I was 29 when we opened and I’m going to be 70 this year," she said. "I spent the majority of my life working here.”

Still, no matter what happens to Dee Felice, she's proud of what she, her family and her staff have accomplished.

“We are closing with our heads held high,” she said. “We did a good job and our Dee Felice family was a huge part of that. Without them, we wouldn’t have been able to do it.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Dee Felice Cafe in Covington closes after 39 years