An East Lawrence chef now has city permission to begin operating a private restaurant out of his home.

City commissioners Tuesday unanimously approved a special use permit for Robert and Molly Krause to operate a by-reservation-only restaurant at their home at 917 Del.

The restaurant will focus on serving high-end, gourmet food. The Krauses had previously operated the restaurant out of their house and had received national attention for their cuisine, but they had to shut down the operations a little more than a year ago after it was discovered they did not have the necessary city land-use permits.

Commissioners had to create a new permit process to allow the unique restaurant. Commissioners approved the permit after being assured that it would not automatically transfer to any new owners or operators if the Krauses ever decided to leave the business. The city also has the ability to revoke the permit at any time if the Krauses don’t follow the conditions that are designed to insulate the business from the neighborhood.

Robert Krause said he hopes the restaurant will be open by April, after the couple makes necessary code improvements to the home.

“It has been the most difficult year we have spent,” Krause said of the process they went through to get the necessary approval to reopen the business. “But it has been very gratifying to see how much support people have for not only what we do, but also for our family.”