The new Boathouse at Rocketts Landing, set to open this Friday for dinner, has a familiar face in the kitchen. Roger Murphy, who had been the executive chef at the Old Original Bookbinder’s in Shockoe Slip for about 10 years, now fills that position at the Boathouse.

“It was a big decision for me to leave there to go to the Boathouse, but I just feel that we’re going to make it the best restaurant in Richmond,” says Murphy, a New York City native who earlier worked as a chef at Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Midlothian. “It’s very weird that the James River is one of the most beautiful rivers in America, and there are no restaurants on the river.”

The Rocketts Landing restaurant is a sister to the Boathouse at Sunday Park, in another picturesque setting near Swift Creek Reservoir in Midlothian.

“It’s coming together,” says owner Kevin Healy. “It’s all very exciting. We’re hoping that downtown Richmond likes the Boathouse as much as South Side does.”

While at Bookbinder’s, Murphy worked with Steve Parry, now a partner in the Boathouse, to open nine other restaurants in Virginia, including Sette in Richmond.

“We’re sorry to lose Roger,” says Lynne Stanley, executive assistant at Bookbinder’s. “He was a wonderful chef. Everyone loved him.”

Bookbinder’s new executive chef is Matthew Tlusty, who has experience in high-profile kitchens at The Jefferson Hotel and The Dining Room at The Berkeley Hotel and ran the respected Limani Fish Grill in Carytown.