Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Asian Outpost Plans New Concept for Ole Hardwood Space

In case you don't read our message board, Blarger posted an interesting link to a Chicago Magazine post yesterday:
Asian Outpost (1315 S. Wabash Ave., no phone yet), a rustic Asian mid-priced spot with between 90 and 100 seats, is scheduled to open midsummer on the elevated first floor of the space that housed the short-lived barbecue joint Ole Hardwood (which closed after a fire in December 2010) and Exposure Tapas Supper Club before that. 
Lois Lee says rustic Asian—not two words you see together often—means dishes such as a soy-braised black chicken. “Part of it is like the recipes our parents had, and part is what David and I do at parties,” she says. Creative maki created by the chef behind the namesake cool sushi, Pheeraphat Phisuthiarpha, will also be available.

If the name Lois Lee (and/or her husband David) rings a bell it's because they're the owners of the Hot Woks Cool Sushi restaurants (see image above from their restaurant up on Michigan Avenue by Millennium Park).  Clearly they've had some success, so it's nice to see them venture down to the Sloop for this new concept.

Best of luck and hopefully they have a better go of it than the previous two restaurants (here and here).

(Hat tip: Blarger!)