PRESS RELEASE – Honor Kitchen & Cocktails has announced the appointment Ben Baehrend as their new Executive Chef. Baehrend will enhance the restaurant’s menu while maintaining the venue’s signature contemporary California gastropub offerings prepared with quality, seasonal ingredients and using refined cooking techniques with a focus on the grill.
Chef Baehrend, 41 years old and a native of Boston, was classically trained at Newbury College/Culinary Department in Massachusetts. He worked at several Boston restaurants before moving to the Bay Area and cooking in San Francisco and Berkeley thereby gaining a full appreciation for the bounty of fresh, seasonal ingredients and the seafood of the West Coast. In 2006, entrepreneurial opportunities prompted Baehrend to relocate to Crested Butte, Colorado to open the first gastropub in that city.
Notable items on the current Honor menu include Bone Marrow Brûlée ($12.00) with bulgogi jalapeño and garlic confit; Bourbon Maple Chicken Lollipops ($11.00) with buttermilk fried confit chicken legs, tomato-bacon jam, and a bourbon maple glaze; Bucket O’ Yard Birds ($17.00) with buttermilk fried chicken, macaroni salad, sausage biscuit and housemade hot sauce; Honor IPA Cheese Fondue & Crudité ($18.00) with aged Dutch Gouda cheese, baby carrots, assorted baby squash, cauliflower, Granny Smith apples and broccoli florets; and Pot of Brandade ($8.00) with house-cured salt cod, cornichon gastrique and crostini. Honor also has an in-house butcher who makes hand-cranked sausage and charcuterie. A signature offering is his “Whole Beast” specials that utilize locally raised free-range animals.
The bar at Honor, headed up by Eric Grenier, serves an acclaimed selection of classic, contemporary and signature cocktails prepared with artisanal products and housemade syrups. There is a rotating choice of Coravin™ dispensed limited quantity library wines available in 3 oz. and 6 oz. pours. Among the cocktail favorites are the Broken Halo ($11.00) with vodka, spiced pear, ginger shrub, honey, lemon and cinnamon bitters; Bleeding Monarch ($11.00) with bourbon, Campari, passion fruit, orgeat, balsamico and amaro; and Cortez the Killer ($11.00) with tequila, mescal, heirloom tomato water, lemon, celery bitters and chili tincture.
Since it opened in 2012, Honor has come to be known as a popular addition to the East Bay nightlife scene with residents, as well as commuters, who make the venue a regular after work destination due to the relaxed atmosphere, late-night kitchen, and friendly service. Décor highlights include vintage art, old metal signs, antique ice boxes, a red granite bar top and welcoming community table. The Honor Wall provides guests with the opportunity to individually personalize the space.
Kitchen Hours:
Mon-Thurs: 4:30 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.
Fri/Sat: 4:30 p.m. – Midnight
Phone:
(510) 653-8667
Web:
Address:
(Free off-street private parking is readily available).
Feature Image: EastBayLoop