two men in swing chairs
Justin Sutherland (L) and Brian Ingram (R) on the patio of nearly re-launched The Gnome.
A good fireplace can sell a location, and a great open-hearth live-fire cooking line can keep one from ever getting on the market.
The In Bloom space in the Keg & Case Market, which Thomas Boemer and Nick Rancone announced last week would not be coming back from the COVID lockdown, has a new destiny.
Brian & Sarah Ingram, along with Justin Sutherland have taken over the spot and will launch Elotes Woodfired Cantina. Brian Ingram told me, "I've been talking about a wood fired cantina for a really long time. Justin and I started talking and it was all about what's approachable for that community, what do we think that people would really want and what could we do that would be a lot of fun, and really celebrate that type of food and cooking." After Ingram went to culinary school, he worked and traveled up and down the California coast, "I lived in Huntington Beach for a long time, San Francisco, San Diego, and Rosarito in Tijuana. So that's really the flavor that we keep talking about, really fresh salsas and great grilled meats, like the roadside grills in the beach towns along the coast."
Sutherland added, "I see it as kind of mixed between that Rosarito street food feel, like going down to Tijuana, and the rusticness of Mexico City where it's about bold flavors." While Sutherland will be guiding the culinary direction, Ingram is no novice with a grill, he helped open the Webber Grill restaurants in Chicago.
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The team thinks that they'll do a light remodel on the spot, by adding some new paint, maybe a giant green wall of succulents, and turning the upstairs wine room into a tequila and mezcal tasting area. They'll also be adding a big patio, and moving the main door for entry to the street side of the space, "We want the neighborhood to feel like they can just wander over and grab a table, maybe some tacos and margarita and still get out for under $20," Sutherland noted. "Plus, we're going to activate it a lot more. There's potential music or movie nights or whatever, we have a 25 foot inflatable screen now, and we bought a projector so you can do movies on the patio and that kind of stuff."
Per the COVID era, they will open with takeout as a strong presence, but they'll also start with a market area where you can buy grilled meats and sauces in bulk, but also pick up meal kits if you want to make the meal at home.
And like Ingram's other projects, Hope Breakfast Bar and the impending The Gnome, this project will give back. A minimum of 3% of proceeds will be driven to the group's Give Hope foundation which funnels funds directly to those in need. "It's just really great to be working together," said Ingram, "Justin and I know what it's like to have to work under corporate structures, and now we can finally do what we want to do, make a company that delivers on what we believe."
Get ready for all this to happen fast, the team thinks they can get it done by the end of August, so that we can still grab some patio time and margs.
