July 28--So your jam-packed schedule means you can't get to the Hamptons this summer to bask in sea breezes, relax in an Adirondack chair with a cocktail and indulge your appetite for lobster?
Not to worry. The breezes in Chicago may be off Lake Michigan, but the ambience is designed to be totally coastal at The Hampton Social, a 7,000-square-foot restaurant that opened today at 353 W. Hubbard Street in River North.
The creation of restaurateur Brad Parker (of now-defunct American Junkie), the space is filled with off-white Adirondack chairs, white wooden tables, booths, rocking chairs and hammocks. When dusk arrives, the space is lit with chandeliers and lanterns.
Parker tapped Ryan Wombacher (Brass Monkey, The Central Standard, Park Taverns) to interpret Hamptons culinary style, so the menu includes lots of lobster (two versions of lobster rolls, lobster tail, lobster mac and cheese), Maryland crab cakes, P.E.I. mussels and a raw bar. There's a brick oven for wood-fired pizzas (yes, one uses lobster). Larger plates for larger appetites? Of course: halibut, scallops, Amish chicken, Skuna Bay salmon.
Seasonal craft cocktails are the creation of Zak Vossen (Celeste, Barrelhouse Flat) and include these two summer sippers: a Gatsby G (gin, lime, Fever-Tree Bitter lemon tonic, juniper berries, torched rosemary) and a Skinny Dip (tequila, mezcal, lime, prickly pear, cinnamon syrup).
A weekday happy hour (4 to 7 p.m.) offers $8 craft cocktails, half-price glasses of rose and half-price pizzas plus live music (think acoustic island). The restaurant will offer lunch and dinner service with brunch slated to begin Aug. 15.
The restaurant's hours: 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday to Friday; 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. Saturday.
jhevrdejs@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @judytrib
