Sneak Peek: P.S. Steak

The new restaurant in the 510 Groveland space has brought a new vibe.

by

Let's start this New Year off with a BANG, shall we? On January 7th, the doors to P.S. Steak will open wide to let the eating set get their first new bites of the year. When Jester Concepts took over the spot and announced that chef Mike DeCamp would be back in the kitchen he helmed as La Belle Vie for so long, there was much rejoicing (raises hand, delivers whooop!).

Of course we knew that the very design-forward restaurant group would have ideas about what to do with the iconic space, but I was pretty confident that they would respect it and not tart it up. I popped in last week when it was still under construction, but managed to get a good idea of where things are going. Let's have a peek, shall we? Start planning where we might be raising a glass for NEXT New Year's Eve?

Upon entering the stately building, you'll still be greeted by someone at the top of the stairs. The bar and lounge will be to your right, the dining room to your left. One new change to the lounge area, is this little seating area right when you come in. There will be some low cocktail tables here for people who are waiting for their other guests or a reservation. You can see that the new color of the lounge is a fashionable light grey. They repainted all the moldings and mill work accents to a bright white so that those details would stand out. It has a really elegant effect. 

The bar itself has been given a new backdrop painting, against which shelves will be installed. While the structure hasn't been changed, the bar top is a new grey and black flecked marble. 

The rest of the room plays out in the same elegant tones. They kept the new booths installed on the back wall and the banquette in the middle of the room, but recovered them in darker fabrics. 

The small back private room, which is the only way to the Ladies Room, was lastly a brilliant red with a toile pattern. This crew has toned it down with a like-feeling grey, and they'll install a giant round 10-seater table in there, under the chandelier. There will also be a small half wall built to make it a bit more private when people book it separately.

So now that it's feeling more or less familiar, subbing grey for the butter yellow of LBV, but clearly the same vibe, let's find something entirely new.

The back dining rooms have been completely transformed. As you walk down the hallway, you find a darker, clubbier space with its own bar. "We wanted it to be different than the lounge," DeCamp told me as we toured through. "You really get the familiar with the lounge area, but you then you get something altogether new back here." And boy howdy.

The bar that has been built into the space feels like it's been there a hundred years. It faces a bunch of plush, deep red booths and bench seating. "The bar is going to bring the action back here, if there are only one or two tables occupied, it will still feel lively." The deep chocolate walls and ceiling really work with the gold and copper tinged lighting. 

The main room is mostly booth seating, but there are some tables for flexible seating in the back. The windows will all be shuttered, so there won't be any natural light let in. It will be dark and warm, with lots of candle light flickering all around. I know it might look super masculine, but there are soft feminine touches all around and the effect is really nice. 

The walls act as a gallery for found vintage pieces the team has salvaged. Among the portraits and notions, there are a few winks that the trained eye will find. While the steer on the entrance to the main seating area will stay, it's mirrored on the other wall for now with a ram's head, "though that might change when we change some of the proteins on the menu. That's one of the fun things that we're doing, we're not just sticking to the same old steak at this steakhouse. There will be seasonal proteins, that change quarterly, like goat and lamb in the spring, pork during summer, venison and elk in the fall, and maybe bear in the winter."

DeCamp didn't make too many changes to his former kitchen. I asked him if it was weird being there, "It was weird on Day Three, and then it wasn't weird ever again." One thing new in the kitchen is a bigass smoker, so be ready for that. "We want things to be approachable and familiar, but fun and new too."

"Like you'll never have to ask for steak sauce, because it will always be on the table." The kitchen has crafted their own, and it's tasty in the A1 way but with more depth and pronounced black pepper. You might be greeted with a bowl of farm raised goldfish crackers (from the farm of Pepperidge). Because this isn't LBV, and that's a distinction they want to make. 

I asked Jesse Held and Jeff Rogers, leading the crack bar team, how they felt about the iconic reputation of the bar and their role in reprising it. "It's funny, but Jeff and I both applied to work here, back in the day, and neither of us got hired," Held laughed. "We want to pay homage to what this bar stood for, but we have to be ourselves. We're actually going to have a few drinks on the menu not just named for the legends who've worked here, but really created to be like the person they are. It will be like putting Adam Gorski and Jon Olson in a glass." The whole cocktail menu will be sectioned by the type of glassware, of which there will be four: Nick & Nora, Old Fashioned, Sours, and Highball. "It keeps it streamlined and easy, making service faster and more efficient. We're also doing away with plastic straws." The names of the cocktails in the lounge have a particular theme, which I'll let you cop a squat and figure out, but if you can guess the theme and what they all mean, you'll probably get a drink. Or better yet, a lamb burger and fries or potato chips with curry béarnaise. Because those LBV winners will be once again available. 

Here's a SNEAK look at the opening dining room menu (prices and some items may not be officially set). 

And here's the good news, while the restaurant officially opens on January 7th, reservations are being taken RIGHT NOW on Tock! So go forth and secure your seating to embrace the new.