After years of delays, Tony Foreman’s restaurant The Duchess has officially opened on The Avenue in Hampden.

The former Cafe Hon space is barely recognizable after a painstaking remodel that includes the addition of bespoke wooden booths and benches, copper-top tables and antique furnishings from England.

“I wanted to build a dignified but not formal vessel,” said Foreman, who worked with longtime collaborator Katie DeStefano on the design.

In addition to dinner, the restaurant will serve late-night snacks for the post-theater set leaving downtown venues, as well as weekend brunch, complete with soccer — or “proper football,” as Foreman calls it — on the telly.

But don’t expect to see the food to match the European aesthetics. “I didn’t want sausage rolls and mushy peas,” Foreman said, so he asked chef and business partner Kiko Fejarang, a veteran of Foreman Wolf restaurant group’s eateries, what she wanted to cook.

At The Duchess, Fejarang is preparing food from her native Guam, a U.S. territory in the Western Pacific whose Chamorro cuisine reflects a melting pot of influences. Dishes like typhoon fries topped with furikake and spam are on the menu, as well as pancit bihon, a stir-fried noodle dish also popular in the Philippines.

Fejarang, who has worked at restaurants including the Milton Inn and Johnny’s, called it “pretty surreal” to be serving fare so close to her heart. “This is my aunt’s recipe from growing up,” she said as she prepared titiyas, a type of thick tortilla that accompanies the restaurant’s kelaguen, which is similar to ceviche. When it comes to ordering, Fejarang encourages diners to take a family-style approach, ordering several plates for sharing. “If it’s unfamiliar, try it. It’s small bites,” she said. “It’s pretty approachable.”

The 120-seat eatery is Foreman’s first in Baltimore without longtime business partner and ex-wife Cindy Wolf, a James Beard Award nominee many times over for her work at Charleston in Harbor East. The cuisine at The Duchess marks a bold departure from the European-centric fare Foreman Wolf is known for, but Foreman doesn’t see the restaurant as a risk. “I’ve got about three decades in believing that Baltimore can embrace things that are not what they’ve seen before,” he said. Food “doesn’t have to be cliché to be excellent.”

Foreman initially shared plans in 2022 to take over the Cafe Hon space, which had been occupied by Denise Whiting’s kitsch-themed diner since 1992. But The Duchess’ arrival was delayed both by a renovation that was more difficult than expected, as well as Foreman’s own health problems. In 2023, he underwent a rare heart and kidney transplant at the University of Chicago Medicine.

Foreman, 59, said his advancing age and brush with death influenced his approach to the restaurant.

“I’m not 40 years old and building Pazo,” he said, referring to the now-closed Foreman Wolf restaurant in Harbor East. “I’m in a space where I have really accomplished young people that have worked with me a long time who have thoughts and energy and ideas.” Moving forward, he said, he’s more interested in mentoring talent and watching them take charge.