As if Elaia, Olio, Salume Beddu and La Patisserie Chouquette weren’t enough to keep restaurateur Ben Poremba busy, the chef-proprietor of the first two establishments and co-owner of the latter two is adding more to his plate. Poremba revealed his plans for another restaurant with an anticipated April 2014 opening.
Poremba is currently finalizing paperwork to lease the building on Tower Grove Avenue in Botanical Heights, next door to bakery Loafer’s, opening this spring, and near the same intersection anchored by Elaia, Olio and Chouquette.
As the restaurant’s working name implies, Chicken Shack will focus on fried chicken. “Fried chicken is my favorite food,” said Poremba, when asked the impetus for the restaurant’s concept. “There are enough taquerías, pizzerias … in town.” And while some restaurants offer weekly fried chicken dinners, he sees a niche in focusing daily on “just good fried chicken,” along with upgraded southern sides like black bean hummus or bacon cheddar cornbread muffins using a family recipe from Chouquette co-owner Simone Faure. And yes, there will be waffles.
The bar will center its attention on house-made sodas and American whiskey, which Poremba said will be categorized by grain type on the menu. In a somewhat “build-your-own” manner, patrons will choose a whiskey and then decide whether they want to sip it neat, on the rocks, as a highball with a house-made sodas or in an Old Fashioned, Manhattan or mint julep. No other cocktails will be offered.
Poremba hopes elements such as a vintage jukebox, a stage for live music, a 20-seat bar and communal seating only (five communal tables with 10 seats each) will lend a casual feel to the restaurant and make it a nighttime hangout.
-photo by Greg Rannells
This article appears in October 2013.