The Brass Monkey manages a retro theme without succumbing to kitsch.
Review: The Brass Monkey
401 N. Morgan St. 312-763-3316
Rating: !!! (Out of four) Off to a good start
I came for the fish sticks. And not necessarily to indulge in my delight to see those two words (I’m grimacing out of habit as I type them) on The Brass Monkey’s menu, but more out of skepticism. The fish sticks of my childhood have left a dark stain on my perception of all breaded fishy things, particularly of the oblong persuasion. There was something odd about that fishing duck on the box, not to mention the lingering smell, and though my mother will tell you I ate them with reckless abandon (before I knew better), I only remember filing them away in the “questionable” food category, next to bologna, canned cheese and tater tot casserole.
But here I was at The Brass Monkey ready to set those past notions aside for the Atlantic cod “fish styx” off the ’70s-inspired munchies menu. The restaurant and bar, which opened in early February in West Town, is like a disco ball mated with a French brasserie and yielded some funky fusions and tastefully ’70s decor. I know, “tastefully ’70s” might sound like an oxymoron, but there wasn’t anything kitschy about The Brass Monkey, save for the bathrooms, but more on that later.
No shag carpet here
With the restaurant so dimly lit, it’s easy to overlook some of the subtleties, but you can’t miss the brass discs adorning the front door, the mirrored ceilings and the overlapping screens of brass and steel that have been laser-cut with circles and diamonds over the front windows. The floor mimics this pattern with muted brown and gold tiles. That, paired with tunes by Grateful Dead, The Rolling Stones and Steely Dan, my smartphone was the only indication that I was still in the right decade.
Owner Marc Bushala said the concept was an evolution, beginning with an American brasserie, but he was struggling with how to pull it off in the large space. It hit him while watching “American Hustle,” inspired by the film’s wallpaper, clothes, music and carpet. “It’s such a rich period for design,” he said. “We’ve said in the past, ‘the decade that taste forgot,’ but it’s far enough in the past where people are looking back on it and saying there’s a lot of really great stuff that came out of the ’70s in terms of design.” But he didn’t want to be cliche, so he nixed all things shag carpet, lava lamps and bell-bottoms and drew upon the era’s more sophisticated design. The idea to take menu items from that period followed.
Got the munchies?
Bushala didn’t want to pigeonhole the restaurant into one kind of cuisine, and the result is what he calls an American brasserie with some traditional French offerings and twists on French dishes. “Our version of a cassoulet is nothing like the French cassoulet,” he said. The main menu also features foie gras torchon three ways ($16), classic lobster bisque ($8-12) and squid ink linguini ($26). A separate Hits of the ’70s menu elevates comfort food, such as lamb sloppy joe sliders ($12) and a TV dinner ($24) with salisbury steak, mushroom-port gravy, peas, mashed potatoes and cream corn. “I didn’t really know what would resonate most, but [it’s] the fact that you can go to a place and can go highbrow and lowbrow and have fun with it,” Bushala said. “Like if you wanted an amazing duck dish or … you wanted tater tots with Velveeta, you can go either way.”
My date and I veered toward the retro menu, and along with the fish sticks ($12), we tried the cheese ball (yup) and truffle-mushroom French bread pizza ($18). Those much-anticipated sticks were indeed fishy, but a little lemon and tangy tartar sauce goes a long way, and I didn’t have flashbacks of the ducky box of my past. The cheese ball ($12), which was creamier than the standard store-bought party food, was served with Ritz crackers (how classic) and a light and spicy red-pepper jelly to dress it up. The truffle-mushroom pizza was a bed of pillowy French bread and arugula that I wanted to lay in and cover myself up with the melty cheese blanket. I’m sold on the throwback bites, and the restaurant has since expanded that menu with cheese fondue, bologna sliders and other suggestions from diners.
Gimme little drink
The cocktail selection is rather expansive and still growing, Bushala said, with the help of the beverage director at his other bar, Untitled Supper Club in River North. I told my server I wanted the most creative cocktail on the menu. He gave me the Chicago River Water ($12), with scotch, gin, creme de violet, lemon juice and honey. It wasn’t my jam, but I’m not one for sweet and syrupy cocktails. However, the Tang cocktail ($12) my date ordered, with vodka, lemon juice, spiced pear liqueur and cherry heering in a glass with the orange powdered drink around the rim, was both delicious and dangerous, as we couldn’t taste the alcohol.
Bushala said the menu includes cocktails from the past, either kept as they are, such as the vieux carre ($14) and the old fashioned ($12) or with an interesting spin, such as the Harvey Wallbanger ($12), an iconic cocktail from the ’60s and ’70s. The Brass Monkey serves its version made with vodka, Galliano, creme de cacao and orange juice garnished with a striped straw made of white and dark chocolate—and it tasted like a dreamy milk chocolate-covered orange. The bar also features a hefty beer list and house wines by Denver-based Infinite Monkey Theorem, which isn’t served anywhere else in Illinois, I’m told.
A shot of rhythm and blues
At the very front of the restaurant is a room filled with boxes of vinyl by the hundreds, and guests can shuffle through the stacks of ’70s rock, jazz, blues, you name it, and pick albums out to listen on record players and headsets. Bushala said he had to reduce the size of the restaurant to meet zoning requirements, so his creative solution for the unused space was the vinyl library. “When I was a kid … you’d ride your bike to the record store and spend hours looking through stacks of records,” he said. He hopes to have a DJ spinning vinyl soon.
The bathroom is a private kind of place
The restrooms are one place Bushala allowed for some campy decor. There’s crushed velvet column seating outside of the individual stalls, which have giant burnt orange doors with gaudy brass handles. But before you get any randy ideas, there’s an escort who will show you to an empty stall. Do take advantage of the selection of colognes and perfumes in vintage-looking bottles, though.
The bottom line
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Unlike some of its neighbors in Fulton Market to the south, The Brass Monkey isn’t all fine dining by design, and it sure doesn’t skimp on the experience. From the decor to the menu to the vinyl library, each detail was meticulously well thought-out. It’s a bit of a time capsule with plenty of modern twists and a creative menu that’s fun for anyone who appreciates a blast from the past. Go for the fish sticks and lambwich; stay for the vinyl and trips down memory lane.
Reporters visit restaurants unannounced and meals are paid for by RedEye. [email protected] | @redeyeeatdrink
The rest
The Brass Monkey is just one part of a larger complex owned by MAB Capital Management, of which Marc Bushala is managing partner. Consisting of seven buildings, it takes up a whole city block and includes a massive event space and distillery behind the restaurant.
Rooftop: Come spring time, an 8,000-square-foot roof deck will open. “The views from this part of the city are spectacular. … There are no tall buildings between us and the skyline,” Bushala said.
Distillery: Though not up and running yet, the distillery—its working name Blind Pig Distillery—features custom-built equipment from Germany. The “Brass” in the restaurant name is partially a nod to the French word “brasserie,” which traditionally was a place that made beer and served food, so opening a distillery seemed to make sense to Bushala, who also owns Angel’s Envy bourbon in Louisville, Ky. He said the distillery will produce whiskey, vodka, gin, brandies and other spirits. It also will be open for tours and tastings, and Bushala projects that it will debut sometime this summer.
Event space: The event space, called Morgan Manufacturing, is housed in a building that predates the Chicago Fire. It’s been open for several months and has a “completely different vibe,” Bushala said. He described it as “industrial chic that’s playing off the manufacturing plant that was there” and incorporates repurposed industrial materials into the finishings, such as giant chandeliers made out of motorcycle bike chains and 30-foot walls of copper.
Innovation lab: The space on the second floor houses tenants such as local shoe designer BucketFeet and a Swedish digital marketing agency.
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