Gamlin Whiskey House (236 North Euclid Avenue; 314-875-9500) is set to open its doors Monday, October 21, in the Central West End, in the building that formerly housed Jim Fiala's Liluma. The whiskey-focused restaurant comes to us from Gamlin Restaurant Group, a.k.a. brothers Lucas and Derek Gamlin, who also own SubZero Vodka Bar and are opening Taha's Twisted Tiki this fall in the Grove. The Gamlins poached chef Ivy Magruder from Vin de Set to oversee the menus for all three restaurants.
"He's been a joy to work with," Lucas Gamlin tells Gut Check. "He's really helped us bring the menu to the level we expected."
See also: Ivy Magruder Takes Over As Gamlin Restaurant Group's Corporate Executive Chef
Magruder will be at Gamlin Whiskey House on a day-to-day basis for the next few months, and he will oversee the kitchen at Sub Zero as well. Much of the menu is whiskey- and bourbon-tinged. There's bourbon pecan pie, bourbon-brined fried chicken, house-cut bourbon fries, bourbon-brined salmon -- the list goes on. But there's other stuff, too, like salmon tartare, buttermilk-fried green beans, Brussels sprout slaw and more.
As for the whiskey, Gamlin Whiskey House has more than 200 varieties, an echo of the huge vodka selection at Sub Zero.
"We're loading them up on the shelves right now. It's really exciting that we've finally got liquor!" Gamlin says.
Whiskey, bourbon, Scotch and Candian and Irish whiskies will be available, as well as cocktails like "Lynchburg Lemonade" to make the spirit a little more accessible for first-timers.
"Dustin [Parres], our bar manager, has a saying that we don't believe there's anybody who doesn't like whiskey -- just people who don't know it," Gamlin says.
To help with that, there will be a whiskey sommelier during dinner service with a mobile cart that will make it easy for guests to sample whiskies and learn about the different varieties.
Dinner service begins Monday, October 21, at 4 p.m.; Gamily Whiskey House will expand to full operating hours (11 a.m. to 1:30 a.m.) on October 28.
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