LINCOLN PARK — Lettuce Entertain You is opening a banquet hall off Lincoln Park.
Of course, Lettuce being Lettuce, its idea of a banquet hall might surprise.
The Chicago-based restaurant group announced this week that it will be opening Stratford on the Park as an event space for private parties at the Belden-Stratford, 2300 N. Lincoln Park West, in the former Intro space.
The elegant former hotel is a Lettuce hotbed, as it already houses Mon Ami Gabi and Naoki Sushi, as well as the new delivery-only "digital restaurant" ASAP Poke and the new delivery-and-takeout Chinese outlet Lucky Dumpling.
Stratford on the Park basically turns the tables on those last concepts, as it will not be an everyday restaurant but a venue for private events. Intro will be renovated to accommodate 150 seated diners or 200 for a reception-style event, although it will also be able to be broken down for, say, an executive dinner for 20 or a bridal shower for 50.
The menu will be under the direction of chef Andrew Acker, who has led the same Lettuce kitchen as Intro and L20.
The restaurant group is touting Stratford on the Park's proximity to the Lincoln Park Conservatory, already a favored stop for wedding parties, as well as Lincoln Park in general.
It's boasting that it will not charge a rental fee, just for the food and drink, although with price ranges yet to be set.
Other Lettuce restaurants play host to private events, of course, and Maggiano's Banquets at 111 W. Grand Ave. regularly holds City Club of Chicago luncheons, along with other affairs, but it's connected to a Maggiano's. Stratford on the Park joins the Ivy Room and Tree Studios as the group's other other private event spaces.
Stratford on the Park is already booking, with the first events expected to take place after Sept. 15.
