A new seafood-heavy chic restaurant, spearheaded by the culinary brains behind the popular Mirra in Bucktown, is about five weeks away from opening in the Loop.
Set to open on May 6, the upcoming restaurant — dubbed Mariela — is something of a sequel to Mirra, a Mexican-Indian fusion spot that opened not even two years ago and quickly landed a Bib Gourmand distinction from Michelin, Chefs Rishi Kumar and Zubair Mohajir told Crain’s.
But the setup, hours and menu will all be distinct from their award-winning venue in Bucktown, the pair said.
Mariela will be housed at 1 W. Washington St., in the Reliance Building, and directly connected to the boutique StayPineapple Chicago hotel. Service will run seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. for breakfast and lunch, with dinner hours from 4 p.m. and 10 p.m., Kumar said, in contrast to Mirra, which is only open for dinner hours and brunch on weekends.
The hours were an important choice, Kumar said, given that Mariela intends to serve breakfast for StayPineapple Hotel guests and lunch to the downtown Chicago business crowd.
The menu is largely inspired by both chefs’ South Asian roots — Kumar is from Singapore, and Mohajir grew up in India and Qatar. But they’re deliberately sprinkling in flavors from all over the world, given that they’ve both cooked and learned from chefs on multiple continents, the pair said.
“We’re calling it ‘global coastal cuisine,’ ” Kumar said of the yet-to-be-finished menu. “At Mirra, the growth and success has made us think of more outlandish ideas. So this next one is more of travel and how migration . . . how cultures come together.”
That means fans of Mirra can expect inventive plates at Mariela inspired by the international cooking experiences of Kumar and Mohajir. Kumar said the two of them have been working on a “global spread,” which is going to range from grilled octopus and crab ravioli to seafood chorizo and Indian curry dishes, along with classics like Cornish hen and grilled steaks.
“I want to bring that experience of the chef’s experience of traveling or the stories they come through from the east to the west. It’s heavily influenced by coastal cities,” Kumar said. “At Mariela, we want to lean heavier to the seafood side.”
Mariela will also offer a specially curated cocktail menu from the restaurant’s third partner, bartender David Mor, who has crafted “both classic and unexpected offerings” for customers, with a focus on “cocktails, coastal wine regions, creative (non-alcoholic) drinks and an elevated coffee program,” according to a press release. The drinks are all also going to continue the coastal theme, Kumar said.
“(Mor is) going to be paying homage to the Singapore sling from the Raffles Hotel, the Sazerac from New Orleans,” Kumar said.
There’s also more than twice as much space for gastronomes at Mariela as Mirra, the two said: Seating for up to 100 inside Mariela and another 20 on the outdoor patio, compared to maximum seating for 55 at Mirra.
“We’re both South Asian, so we always get texts blasted from all our friends and family, like, ‘Hey, can we come in with 16 people?’ The answer has always been no. Now finally I can say, ‘Hey, yeah, man, come on in,’ ” Zubair said.
Kumar and Zubair said the entire concept behind Mariela came together quickly after they conceived of it just last October, and the pair said the lease and renovations — which pushed back their original opening date of April 22 to May 6 due to construction delays. But they’ve finished the project under budget, with costs running below $500,000 prior to opening, they told Crain’s.
Fans of Mirra can make reservations for the May 6 opening of Mariela via OpenTable, Kumar said, though Mariela is not yet live on the website. He added that more updates will be provided to their fans through the team’s social media posts, including Mariela’s Instagram account.
The part about Mariela’s opening the two are most excited about is to bring more literal flavor to downtown Chicago.
“We’ve known how iconic Chicago Loop area is, and the lack of food that is exciting. We all go to the loop and we just succumb to like, yeah, whatever, we’ll eat, whatever. So that was another motivating factor,” Kumar said. “We want to make a splash in our own city.”