LINCOLN PARK — Gaslight Bar and Grill, a cozy neighborhood spot on Racine, closed over the weekend, but a lively wine bar is scheduled to open in its place, its owners said.
The owners of Gaslight, the Four Corners Tavern Group, are already remodeling the interior of the building at 2426 N. Racine Ave., and hope to open the wine bar by early to mid November.
"We felt there is an opportunity to take the Gaslight location and take it up a level," said Ryan Indovina, director with the Four Corners group.
The new wine bar, Trellis, will feature a revamped, more upscale, food menu with flatbreads, Charcuterie, seafood and steaks cooked in a wood-burning oven.
The prices will definitely be higher than the former Gaslight's elevated bar food, but will remain reasonable for the neighborhood crowd in the $10 to $20 range.
"We know we aren't on Randolph Street, we aren't in River North. It's still going to be a neighborhood wine bar that's driven by people who can walk there," Indovina said.
The plan is to open a lively wine bar that will also draw in an outside crowd, Indovina said.
The group hopes to pull in patrons of performances at the new DePaul University Theater School, which opened last week at Fullerton and Racine.
The restaurant change was needed to bring in customers from outside the neighborhood to keep the business afloat, Indovina said.
"It's not going to be a sleepy wine bar," he said. "A wine bar doesn't have to be dark reds and candlelight. It can be upbeat."
Chef Sarah McDonnell, formerly of Fountainhead, is in the process of creating the menu for Trellis.
Longtime fans of Gaslight need not to worry, as the restaurant group is planning to reopen the bar in early 2014 in a new location.
Indovina said the Four Corners group has a location in mind for the new Gaslight and is working out some legalities before announcing it to the public.
"People will know the location," he said. "It's a fantastic location."
The Four Corners Tavern Group also owns Benchmark, Schoolyard, Crossing, WestEnd, Kirkwood, Brownstone Tavern and Sidebar Grille.
