Thrilling crossword-puzzle constructors everywhere with its delicious vowel pattern, the wine bar Enolo (450 N. Clark St., River North, 312-477-7674) will replace Bombay Spice in the space beside Roka Akor. Evoking oenology, the science of wine, Enolo will pour 25 wines from small vineyards, and home drinkers can also buy those bottles to go.
The Italianish menu of bruschetta, panini, charcuterie, pasta, flatbreads, and the like was co-created by all the chefs at the restaurants run by the parent company of Enolo, Roka Akor, and Bombay Spice. “So five chefs wrote menus, and the corporate chef used those to put together one menu,” says Felipe Ospina, the director of new concepts and marketing for JNK Concepts. He mentions three bruschette in development: heirloom tomato, mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh basil, olives, and romesco; Brie, Honeycrisp apple, fig spread, marinated grapes, and lavender honey; and house-cured salmon with pesto, red beets, shallots, capers, crème fraîche, and lemon zest.
Ospina says they hope to open the 64-seat boîte in early June, after some remodeling to introduce a new style to the space. “It’s going to be a mix between modern and antique,” he says. “Modernique, I call it.” Rats. And we just trademarked “antidern.”