Revival Food Hall ( 125 N. Clark St., RevivalFoodHall.com ) aims to make quite a dent in the Loop lunch scene with what could be called a "culinary collage"a compendium of some 15 vendors that sell everyone from tacos and catfish to health juices.
Vendors include Aloha Poke, Brown Bag Seafood Co., The Budlong, Smoque, Graze Kitchenette, Furious Spoon, Danke, The Fat Shallot, Harvest Juicery, Antique Taco Chiquito, Black Dog Gelato and others.
And diners will have plenty of space to roam, as Revival is located in 24,000 square feet of The National, a historic space in the Loop.
A soft opening was held Aug. 10and there were some standouts among the items we tried:
The Budlong ( which launched in May in Lake View at 2928 N. Broadway ) served a Nashville hot chicken sandwich that was spicy and even a little sweet.
Brown Bag Seafood Co.'s crispy shrimp roll with lobster sauce was fantastic.
Antique Taco's crispy fish tacos really worked, thanks in part to the fish and also because of the sriracha tartar sauce.
Harvest Juicery had several items that impressed, including the pear juice and Green Juice #1: "Straight Forward Green." ( However, be warned that a bottle of each of these juices goes for $10. )
Revival Food Hall will officially open Thursday, Aug. 18, at 7 a.m.
Staff changes
Michael Battocletti is the new executive chef of Mon Ami Gabi, 2300 Lincoln Park West. After beginning his career as a chef in his hometown St. Louis, Battocletti moved to Chicago and worked as the chef de partie and then sous chef at Next Restaurant before taking over at Mon Ami Gabi this summer. Among other things, Battocletti plans to introduce a new charcuterie program and spearhead a chef-driven happy-hour series.
Sable Kitchen & Bar, 505 N. State St., has announced the promotion of Mike Jones to head bartender. John Stanton has stepped down for his post to accept the position of head bartender at the soon-to-open Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa in Grand Cayman. A Midwest native from Cleveland, Jones brings more than 20 years of industry experience.