Kitchen 56 has just opened its doors this week after a major overhaul.
The interior was redone, new management and staff are on board (Brittani West, formerly of Metro Brasserie, is the GM), and new chef Jonathan Stonis (who previously worked for Fox Restaurant Concepts' Olive & Ivy and Bloom) has a completely new menu of casual American comfort food.
The changes were part of a reboot by the restaurant's owners, who opened the place as Vatra Grillhouse last August, and then relaunched in December after a lukewarm response from the public. Chef Peter DeRuvo was briefly at the helm in the kitchen for the relaunch, until getting lured away by an understandbly irresistible offer to become executive chef at Prado.
After DeRuvo's departure, they switched the name to Kitchen 56 and shuttered the place altogether, instead letting consultant Bill DeGroot assemble a new team.
What's on the menu?
Appetizers include edamame with shallots and oyster and soy sauce, housemade chips with parmesan-onion dip, griddled corn cakes topped with pulled pork, and wood-grilled oysters. There are also salads, wood-fired pizzas, burgers, sandwiches, and pasta dishes such as handmade pappardelle with slow-roasted pork sauce, tomatoes, and herbed ricotta, and spaghetti with veal and ricotta meatballs. Among the entrees are pork chops with braised red cabbage, potato puree, and spinach; hangar steak with hand-cut frites; Cabernet-braised short ribs; and grilled ahi tuna with eggplant caponata and spinach. Desserts look homey: Chocolate-peanut-butter mousse, molten sticky toffee pudding, and warm zeppoles with powdered sugar. Kitchen 56 is open from 5 to 10 p.m. nightly (until 11 p.m. on weekends) and closed Mondays. Happy hour starts at 3 p.m.
