Adorn Bar & Restaurant Celebrates First Anniversary with Expanded Team and New Menus

Adorn Bar & Restaurant celebrates its first anniversary and the change of seasons by introducing new savory, sweet, and cocktail menus for spring on March 21, and a new take on a happy hour menu – the “Social Hour.” Since Adorn’s opening, Chef Jonathon Sawyer has been joined by Netflix Chocolatier Juan Gutierrez and Mixologist Slava Borisov.

“Since our opening last spring, Adorn has cultivated a best-in-class, star-studded team. We are tremendously fortunate to be home to Executive Pastry Chef Juan Gutierrez, Mixologist Slava Borisov, Chef Brian Rodriguez and five-star service staff all anchored by Chef Jonathon Sawyer,” said Hayden Burchard, General Manager, Adorn Bar & Restaurant. “We’re thrilled to share where we’re at today with our playful, expanded menus that fully illustrate our team’s dedication to globally-inspired cuisine starring the bounty of ingredients grown and raised in the American Midwest.”

Adorn’s Live in the Lounge residency features musician and DJ performances with local and international influences. Guests are presented a roster of varied musical styles from South American guitarists and veterans of the Chicago jazz scene to DJs who spin house, funk, and disco.

Sawyer and his team’s  backgrounds and travels color the dishes they create that celebrate Midwestern ingredients as seen through a global lens. The majority of the ingredients for the dishes are sourced from farmers, ranchers, and other purveyors located within 200 miles of the restaurant. Spring dishes new to the menu include: 

• The Beet and Poppy Seed Gnochetti are dyed by the beets and every bite consists of different textures and flavors. Inspired by Chef Sawyer’s travels to Northern Italy, it offers the region’s bcombination of flavors with grappa gnochetti, beets, gorgonzola dolce, walnuts, chervil, and lemon. 
• Lamb Shoulder ’Paella’ this gluten-free dish takes the Mediterranean spring combination of lamb and artichokes and builds on it, with a crispy socarrat that holds a soft and fluffy inside, made in a timbal, topped with artichoke and Jerusalem artichoke soubise, and fatty lamb shoulder.
• Fred Flintstone Beef ‘Short Rib’ this bone-in cut is first smoked for three hours with koji, coriander, peppercorn, raw garlic and bay leaf pastrami spice rub and sous vide for 48 hours for a smoky cured tender bite. Accompanied with marbled twice-cooked new potatoes, jacquard, brined, confited, and then finished in beef suet for rich pickle and beef flavor.

Adorn’s pastry program features Executive Pastry Chef Juan Gutierrez’s desserts:

·      Open Sesame with sesame ball, black sesame praline, and rice ice cream 

·      PB & Jam It with peanut mousse, roasted grape sorbet, and toasted bread ice cream 

·      Pistacia Vera with semolina cake, pistachio ice cream, kataifi

Alongside the chefs’ cuisine, diners can imbibe in Adorn Mixologist Slava Borisov’s new menu of craft cocktails. Slava’s lineup of libations encompass four sections on the menu: ‘Adornables’ (globally-inspired flavors), ‘Off the Deep End’ (out-of-the-box cocktails), ‘(Not So) Classics’ (riffs on classic cocktails), and ‘Proof Free’ (all the fun without the booze). Beverages include: 

·       Pop Star Martini a Belvedere vodka, St Germain, passion fruit, vanilla martini with interactive passion fruit pearls and Lanson champagne

·       Long Strange Trip named after American rock band The Grateful Dead, Borisov’s mushroom-centric cocktail boasts a mushroom cordial, cranberry, habanero and egg white to give this libation its psychedelic twist

·      Triple Espresso Martini with three forms of espresso: cold brew infused Ketel One vodka, French pressed turbinado syrup and Robusto espresso

·      Spanish T&G with Seedlip Spice, Madagascar vanilla, verjus, and tonic

In addition to new dinner menus and cocktails, guests can attend Adorn’s recently launched Social Hour, the restaurant’s spin on happy hour featuring a collection of small plates.  Guests can select from international fare priced from $9-18 per dish, alongside Adorn’s lineup of cocktails, regional craft brews, and wines by the glass.

Social Hour menu items include:

·      Salt Friend Hominy with pickled red onion and cilantro 

·      Yellowtail Tartare with Japanese citrus and lotus chips 

·      Wagyu Potstickers with shumai sauce, ginger, and scallion 

·      Chicken Fried Lobster with green papaya slaw and sun-dried pepper aioli 

Dinner is offered daily from 6-10 p.m. Social Hour is available at Adorn’s bar or in the dining room Monday-Friday from 4-6 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday from 1-6 p.m.