The Oakville Grill & Cellar, a new concept from Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants, will open spring 2023 in Fulton Market District

Chef Max Robbins and Wine Director Richard Hanauer are bringing a taste of Napa Valley to Chicago

The Oakville Grill & Cellar, which aims to bring the ethos of Napa Valley to Chicago’s Fulton Market District (163 N. Green St.), will open this spring. The Oakville Grill & Cellar, from Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants, will be a collaboration between Chef Max Robbins (former Culinary Director and Managing Partner at Land and Sea Dept., and Executive Chef of Longman & Eagle) and Wine Director Richard Hanauer, Partner at RPM Restaurants.

Chef Robbins recently joined Lettuce Entertain You as Culinary Director, assisting in concept creation, menu development and chef training. The Oakville Grill & Cellar will mark his first opening with the restaurant group.

Channeling the sensibility and mindset of wine country, the menu is inspired by the team’s partnerships with farms, ranches and wineries throughout California and the Midwest. The Oakville Grill & Cellar will focus on simply prepared dishes made with expertly sourced, seasonal ingredients, with an emphasis on live-fire cooking. The menu will feature grilled meats and seafood, seasonal vegetables and more.

“The Oakville Grill & Cellar combines Northern California’s charm with Chicago’s classic neighborhood dining,” says Chef Max Robbins. “Our team celebrates these two regions with approachable and uncomplicated cooking alongside a fantastic wine program. From light and crispy Buttermilk Fried Chicken to Coal-Roasted Salmon with stone ground grits and ramps, the menu highlights thoughtful and familiar plates alongside seafood, oak wood grilled and vegetable dishes.”

The Oakville Grill & Cellar will boast the largest, exclusively California wine list in Chicago, with more than 750 wines hand-selected by Wine Director Richard Hanauer and his team of sommeliers.

“Oakville is the quintessential wine town, debatably the heart of Napa Valley,” says Wine Director, Richard Hanauer. “With this project, we want to celebrate the diversity of Californian wine by focusing on iconic regions like Napa and Sonoma enhanced by lesser known appellations like Lodi, Ballard Canyon and Willow Creek, to name a few.”

A first-of-its-kind, the Cellar Door, a tasting room at The Oakville Grill & Cellar, will bring a personalized wine-tasting experience to Fulton Market District. Each month, Hanauer and the team will partner with a California winery and perform their current tasting room menu in The Oakville Grill & Cellar’s private tasting room, giving guests the opportunity to purchase any of the wines and join the winery’s mailing club, just like they would at the vineyard. Reservations will be offered for up to six people. The team is excited to kick off these one-of-a-kind tasting experiences with the first winery that will be featured at the Cellar Door, Robert Sinskey Vineyards.

The restaurant is located at the base of 167 Green, a newly built 640,000 square foot office building. The space is inspired by the vineyards, tasting rooms and rustic comfort of Northern California and was designed by Lettuce Entertain You’s in-house Interior Design and Architecture teams led by Design Director Avril Zayas and Director of Architecture John Cinelli, in collaboration with Weiss Architects. The restaurant is composed of two floors connected through a sculptural staircase. The first floor includes the main dining room and outdoor seating in The Mews for up to 250 guests, and the second floor opens up to an all-seasons terrace and full-service bar.

In addition to the restaurant, Lettuce Entertain You has debuted 167 Events, on the 17th floor of 167 Green in Fulton Market District. The office amenity space is acclaimed as one of the most innovative floors in the country complete with a Town Hall that doubles as a full size, professional basketball court, Sitting Room, Game Room, and Terrace with views of the city’s skyline. This venue is perfect for both social and corporate events and can host groups of 20-400 people in a multitude of independent spaces. The events menu features the best of Lettuce Entertain You’s culinary offerings, as well as offerings for both on-site and off-site catering. For more information contact 167greenevents@leye.com.

The Oakville Grill & Cellar will open in spring 2023, for more information, visit www.theoakville.com. Be sure to sign up for the newsletter to receive opening updates and information. Follow the restaurant on Facebook and Instagram at @theoakvillechicago.