8UP Elevated Drinkery and Kitchen is coming to Downtown Louisville. It's set to open this coming Monday, November 10, 2014 at 350 West Chestnut Street, on the eighth floor of the Hilton Garden Inn. The hours for 8UP will be:
8UP combines the talents of Executive Chef Russell Kook (who received his culinary degree from Le Cordon Bleu), Mixologist Sean Thibodeaux (previously of St. Charles Exchange) and General Manager Len Stevens (previously of Milkwood and L&N Wine Bar). The menu will be "progressive American" and feature items like the bacon chop: a pork chop with Broadbent bacon attached that is braised, smoked and grilled over 8UP's wood fire oven. Chef Kook says he is "extremely thrilled and honored to be in the center of such a vibrant culinary hub with so much talent and appreciation for good food."
There will also be an artisan cocktail program (because really, why open a restaurant in Louisville without craft cocktails? It would almost be blasphemous) featuring "seasonal cocktails with a culinary focus," like Thibodeaux's signature butternut squash daiquiri.
The 90-seat restaurant will afford diners a great view of the Louisville skyline, and there will be an indoor and outdoor bar, with seating available outside among four fire pits. The 14,000 square foot space was designed and developed by Atlanta-based restaurant group Concentrics Restaurants. Concentrics' page for 8UP says the restaurant will be serving a large variety of small plates and a bourbon-centric cocktail menu.
