Chapman’s Eat Market set for dine-in
Chapman’s Eat Market will begin dine-in services on Friday, five weeks after opening for carryout only.
The restaurant, which takes over the former Max & Erma’s at 739 S. Third St. in German Village, will offer a prix fixe menu, with two seatings of 16 at both 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Chef and owner BJ Lieberman, who’s worked in some of the most advanced kitchens in Charleston, South Carolina, and Washington D.C., tends to downplay his degustation menu and restaurant’s bill of fare overall.
“It’s just straightforward food,” Lieberman said. “It’s just comfort food to us.”
In the dining world, however, a tasting menu conjures up images of petite works of art, painstakingly plated and made with the use of emulsifiers, impossible-to-find ingredients, butane torches and liquid nitrogen.
Not so at Chapman’s, Lieberman said.
“To me, we can do a lot of stuff without breaking those tricks out,” he said.
His chef de cuisine is Wes Grubbs from his days in Charleston, and sous chef Justin Singer, a friend from D.C.
Lieberman is playing his cards close to the vest, not revealing one dish — eight is the goal — on the prix-fixe menu, which costs $60 per person with an optional $30 beverage pairing.
With COVID-19 still a threat, Lieberman said he’s taking extra precautions, seating tables farther than 6 feet apart, which is the current state minimum.
There’s no seating at the tufted bar stools — green with brass supports — or in a private dining room, hidden in a way that’s reminiscent of the Prohibition era.
Austerely decorated, the color scheme offers white-washed brick, pinks and greens. The bar has been reworked, too, and the two wooden mermaids that bookended the giant mirror have been removed, Lieberman said.
There is now an a la carte menu as well as a house-assembled dinner for two ($75), which includes smoked and dryrubbed beef ribs, Hawaiian-style mac and cheese, lemon-braised kale, house-made rolls, pickled cauliflower and whipped butter, and a pint of homemade ice cream.
The ice cream mixture is carefully crafted, hand-stirred over an open flame, infused with natural ingredients, chilled overnight and churned the next morning.
“The whole thing with ice cream is the fewer the ingredients the better,” he said.
An example of the a la carte menu is the lamb shank barbacoa, brined for 24 hours, rubbed with a wet marinade, grilled for flavor and cooked in banana leaves for up to 12 hours. The shank is glazed with its own juice upon service.
The plate setup includes arroz verde, spicy chickpea puree and pickled golden raisins for $21.
“That’s one of our missions here, to give as much good food at a good value,” Lieberman said.
The burger is also given a few upscale touches. A mix of chuck, brisket and sirloin, it’s served on a house-made bun with traditional garnishes and “special sauce,”’ a blend of table-side condiments.
Lieberman likens it to a “sloppy delicious fast-food burger.”
The fries, meanwhile, are hand cut, blanched in water with baking soda and salt and deep-fried in pork fat, beef fat and clarified butter, and fried again per order.
“The whole thing about a French fry is it being fluffy in the middle and crispy outside,” he said. “That fat gives it flavor.”
Hours are 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. To make reservations for the tasting menu, visit resy.com. For more information, call 614-444-0917.
Swine and dine
Punk Pigs, pledging fealty to punk rock in both décor and attitude, is taking over the former Baba’s, 2515 Summit St. in the South of Hudson, or SOHUD, neighborhood.
An Oct. 2 opening is planned. Geared mostly toward carryout and delivery with some limited seating, Punk Pigs is a collaboration of Zach James (Paddy Wagon food truck), Mason Conway (formerly of Hyde Park Prime Steak House) and Dan Mccarthy (formerly of Tatoheads food truck).
The menu will include a variety of grilled cheeses, loaded melts, sandwiches and appetizers. Several vegetarian and vegan options also will be offered, such as a vegan grilled cheese and vegan sauerkraut balls.
Punk Pigs also will feature a curated list of wines and beers.
Dispatch restaurant reporter Gary Seman Jr. can be reached at onrestaurants@dispatch.com.