The new concept restaurant designed by Howe & Brown Hospitality has maritime inspired food and craft cocktails that will prove to be a delight for travelers and locals. Using locally-sourced ingredients, the cuisine emphasizes technique and texture to highlight the exuberance of in-season seafood.
The menu features products from the local farmers market, including a 20 oz. grass-fed steak for the dry-aged organic ribeye, served with potato rosti, black kale and porcini jus. Other local ingredients include salmon, scallops and halibut.
Executive chef Chris Garasic uses his creativity and extensive experience cooking with locally sourced products and seafood to create a Navy Proof Food & Spirits menu that is based on maritime tradition yet is modern and filled with flair.
“We are trying to start something here in Downtown Long Beach that not only appeases the in-house guests but calls in the local crowd as well,” Garasic says. “There are so many opportunities for creative dishes because we are focusing on port-style cuisine.”
Garasic is from the Pacific Northwest where “you couldn’t get fish any fresher” and studied at Western Culinary School in Portland, Oregon. His previous job was at Malibu Farm Lido, a local farm-to-table restaurant.
“I’m excited about this beautiful location,” Garasic says. “The lobby is extremely gorgeous, so we are looking to match the ambiance of the area in the menu.”
The venue, designed by Houston Tyner Architects and Vanrooy Design, is meant to represent the property’s golden California coastline with sand-white marble floors. A three-story sculptural chandelier hangs above, and a larger-than-life 32-by-20-foot plant wall greets guests.
Navy Proof Food & Spirits has a distinct cocktail program with local brews and rare spirits. Guests will be dining well with tableside cocktail service and unique drinks such as the Bargaining Table, made with 12-year-old rum, averna amaro, coffee liquor and sour cherry bitters. Groups of two to six can take on the Cult of Sailors, made with white rum, lime juice, almond syrup and grapefruit juice.