Well, that was fast.
Randall Doetzer, chef and co-owner of Restaurant Adarra, confirmed that reservations go live this Thursday, Dec. 12 for the Basque restaurant’s opening the same night. Most of us thought the new spot in the old Mamma ‘Zu space at 501 S. Pine St. wasn’t going to open until the end of the year.
For now, Doetzer says they won’t accept walk-ins. “In order for us to do the best job we have got to get this right.” The crowds that show up for other openings would cause too much chaos for the debut of this carefully crafted new project.
Of course, it hasn’t been all that fast for Randall and co-owner Lyne Doetzer.
They announced their plans to move from their OG home in Jackson Ward to Oregon Hill nearly two-and-a-half years ago, and have been renovating the building ever since.
They’ve added an addition to the new kitchen—replete with shiny, stainless-steel equipment. Doetzer will cook—look for a newly expanded menu—over a state-of-the-art custom grill visible from the dining room, and a long stack of oak firewood runs down the back of the building. Even the lighting system, handled by an iPad, has 24 zones that can be customized.
Doetzer continues to work with local farmers for ingredients and other supplies. He says his aim isn’t to replicate Basque cuisine, but to acknowledge the influence of its flavors and to cook in a similar way he saw food made in northern Spain. The chefs, he says, demand higher quality and that means, “Being very, very specific to your area. The rest of the world could explode, go away or whatever, and the food there would still be good.”
It’s the guiding principle for Restaurant Adarra, says Doetzer. “Those guys are hardcore,” he says. “[Basque chefs] are using the things that exist around them, and that’s what we’re going for here.”
Restaurant Adarra is opening in their new location at 501 S. Pine St. on Thursday, Dec. 12. Reservations can be made online. Keep up to date with the Doetzers on Instagram.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly mentioned a parking lot addition.
