Ben Twingley/btwingley@pnj.com
Chef Alex McPhail will open Restaurant Iron at 22 N. Palafox St. around Christmas Day.
Downtown's dining scene is getting one heck of a Christmas present, as Chef Alex McPhail is just a couple of weeks away from opening Restaurant Iron at 22 N. Palafox St. McPhail is bringing most of his seasoned staff with him to his new venture in the space that formerly housed Elise Coastal Dining and, before that, Cafe 22. Assuming timely inspections and completion of remodeling, he says he expects to open just before Christmas, with a somewhat irregular schedule through the holiday week.
Regular dinner hours will be 4:30 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 4:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday. McPhail said he hopes to cultivate a happy hour clientele in the early evening and offer a fine-dining experience, including his famous eight-course tasting menus and a new five-course vegetarian tasting menu. He will be expanding his menu beyond the offerings at Marcus Pointe, using his new kitchen — which he said is "like a Ferrari" — to increase the number of a la carte offerings.
McPhail said anyone seated by 10 p.m. will be served Tuesday through Thursday and that the tasting menu would cut off at that time throughout the week, but copious offerings will be available late nights.
And he said his immediate focus is on perfecting the fine-dining experience at dinner service, but he plans to eventually bring that experience forward into the lunchtime hours.
I couldn't be more excited to have one of the area's hottest young chefs moving into the News Journal's neighborhood. Iron is just steps from our new headquarters at 2 N. Palafox St., and I plan to visit our new neighbor frequently.
Restaurant Iron's website, which has not yet been updated with info on the new location, is www.restaurantiron.com. Check it out for an idea of the goodness that's ahead.
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