You will be able to find Table 128’s classic Brussel Sprouts Salad featuring prosciutto and marcona almonds at Pritchard’s new East Village spot.
Writer: Karla Walsh
Mark your calendars, Des Moines. In advance of Table 128 2.0’s opening this spring, chef-owner Lynn Pritchard on Feb. 8 will debut a totally new concept—503: A Drink Lab and Tasting Room—at 503 E. Locust St in the East Village. (The location most recently housed Dobre Tasting Room.)
Pritchard tells dsm magazine exclusively that the super-speedy opening date is so couples can swing by for their inaugural visit during the week of Valentine’s Day.
The menu will focus on appetizers and small plates as well as a range of cocktails. For details, watch for the website and social media pages in the next week, but until then, Pritchard is giving us a sneak peek of what to expect: “We’ll have two hold-over recipes from Table 128,” he says, noting that loyal fans will be able to nosh on the Brussels sprouts salad and irresistible chocolate chip-sea salt cookies.
Other featured dishes will be on a two-week rotation, he says, while the drinks menu will have three sections: “classics; on the edge, [which will be] much more rotational; and a zero-proof selection for those of us who would like a cocktail, but not the alcohol.”
The concept for 503 “has been in the back of my mind as an answer, ‘If I could do X what would it be?’ ” Pritchard says. “This place will act as a beta ground for cocktail menus and tasting menus at Table 128. It’s going to be intimate, romantic and dim—a prelude to date night or a spot for after-dinner cocktails.” (I can already imagine the epic spring and summer snack crawls from Purveyor to 503 to the New Northwestern to Clyde’s Fine Diner …)
“This project has come to fruition so organically,” he says. “We’ll be able to begin bringing staff back to work even earlier than expected [11 of the core 14 team members at the original Table 128 have signed on], cross-utilize the kitchen as a catering space for lunches and have a ‘testing’ facility to try out new dishes before introducing them at Table 128.”
503 will be open Tuesday through Thursday from 4 to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 4 to 11 p.m. or midnight. “It’s going to be fun,” Pritchard says. “I was mopping and scrubbing the floors this week and feel the good energy in this space already.”
