Chef Danny Grant reintroduces Eight Bar, the upscale casual bar and restaurant located on the ground floor of Maple & Ash. Eight Bar features a refreshed look, new menu items, late night offerings and happy hour specials — officially debuting on Thursday, August 8th. Serving Maple Hospitality Group’s hospitality in a more casual setting, the restaurant features a well-rounded menu of raw and chilled seafood and sushi, along with steakhouse favorites, plus cocktails by the restaurant’s bar team and wine selections from the wine team.
“Maple & Ash has earned the reputation of being the city’s go-to for celebratory moments, where you dress up and enjoy an unforgettable meal. Eight Bar is for our guests who are looking for a more relaxed experience that’s fun, playful and a little rebellious, but still luxurious. For me, it’s where you enjoy the perfect bite – fresh sushi, a burger and a crisp glass of white burgundy,” says Chef Grant. “Think of the type of place where shirts are slightly untucked and neighbors can swing by on a whim for a mid-day meeting, a champagne-filled lunch with friends, or as a final stop before heading home in the early morning. At Eight Bar, chances are you’ll run into someone you know or leave knowing someone new,” continued Chef Grant.
Eight Bar invites neighbors to experience the space’s three separate dining areas – from a moody indoor bar to an outdoor patio and covered pergola. The varying backdrops – dotted with photographs, hanging light fixtures, and flickering candles – mean each visit offers the opportunity to try the thoughtful menu dreamed up by the team’s chefs, bartenders and sommeliers.
Eight Bar’s all-day menu features over a dozen sushi bites like Toro Nigiri with Perigord black truffle and kaluga caviar and the King Crab Roll with truffle and drawn butter courtesy of Chef Hari Chan of Japanese sister restaurant Kessaku in Dallas. To complement these raw bar selections, Chef Grant, alongside Corporate Executive Chef Austin Adler, translates dishes from Maple & Ash proper into modern steakhouse plates like bone-in ribeye, Crab Louie Salad, Turbot à la Meunière, and Steak Frites au Poivre, harkening back to the restaurant’s roots.
For those who’d like to explore the restaurant’s wine selections, National Wine Director Amy Mundwiler has curated a lineup of bottles and by-the-glass offerings that take notes from the brand’s list of over 2,400 labels that have earned it the “Wine Spectator: Award of Excellence”. The cocktail menu at Eight Bar offers an array of concoctions and presentations, crafted by the beverage team led by Bar Director Mario Flores and Head Bartender Juanjo Pulgarin. Pours like sake and new cocktails like The Devil Wears Prada (dos hombres, pamplemousse, pomegranate dream, citrus water, strawberry foam) are designed to embrace the neighborhood restaurant vibe, with an elevated delivery. In addition four new zero-proof cocktails will be introduced to the menu.
This article was originally published by a www.chicagofoodmagazine.com . Read the Original article here. .