by Andrew Morrison | I just took another look inside Wildebeest at 120 W. Hastings. Why again? Because the question I’ve been getting as often as “How are you?” lately has been “When the fuck is Wildebeest going to open?” The answer is that I don’t know exactly, but with inspections nearly all done and passed and the room, kitchen and downstairs wine bar coming together as nicely as I saw, I wouldn’t be surprised if the long anticipated restaurant from Josh Pape (The Diamond) and James Iranzad (Abigail’s Party) opened before this week’s end. But what’s another week after waiting ten months? While I was there snapping a few shots, Phoebe and Aren from local branding and design firm Glasfurd & Walker dropped off the menus for a last going over. Chef David Gunawan’s dishes appeared locked in and looked great, as did Pape’s cocktail list and Lindsay Ferguson’s wine selections. They read the light fantastic. Here are a few items that caught my tongue…

Crispy pork skin with blackberry jam
Sorrel gazpacho with sheep milk curd
Half dozen oysters with Ardbeg 10yr
Roasted organic beef tongue, mushroom marmalade, watercress, sherry jus
Poutine, roasted foie gras
Housemade cotechino sausage, flageolet beans, rosemary
Dry-aged Angus ribeye, roasted potatoes, hay jus.

Mmm. People are right to be excited about this one. I don’t want to give everything away before it launches, so what you see below keeps a good 80% of the reveal left to your imagination and opening day, which is real darn soon.

—————————————————————————————————————

ALL ANTICIPATED RESTAURANTS