Chill Vibes, Fresh Drinks

Bonito Bar, within the renovated Frida’s, is the ultimate neighborhood spot

Written by JESSICA ROGEN

Serene dark aqua walls. Moody blue bar underlighting. A flock of tiny plastic birds hanging from a gold curved gold ceiling. The new Bonito Bar is the perfect backdrop for a bright cocktail.

“It’s a lot of fun,” co-owner Natasha Kwan says. “People love it. They’re really enjoying the drinks, hanging out, saying they’ve never seen anything like it. You know, the vibe is cool.”

Kwan and her husband Rick Roloff (Station No. 3, Diego’s Cantina) opened the figurative doors to the new bar within their renovated restaurant Frida’s (622 North and South Road, University City; 314727-6500, eatatfridas.com) last month. Long a vegan restaurant,

[FOOD NEWS]

Gotham and Eggs to Open

The new breakfast and lunch spot will take over the longtime City Diner space

on South Grand

Written by RYAN KRULL

There’s good news for South Grand denizens with an affinity for diner food. The comic book- and superhero-themed Gotham and Eggs is planning to open in late July or early August in the heart of the storied dining strip.

“We’re taking our time because we want to do it right,” owner Shanisah Knight says. “We’re not rushing into it.”

Gotham and Eggs is moving into the

Frida’s reopened at the same time as a pescatarian concept.

“We’re more California cuisine now,” she says, noting that they carried forward the top sellers from the original Frida’s menu.

“People are loving it. They are old City Diner space. That diner opened in 1992 and was a mainstay in the area, serving classic fare for 30 years before closing last August.

Knight says that when she and her husband, Jason Knight, have Gotham and Eggs up and running, they plan to serve traditional diner food for breakfast and lunch, with a few specials on offer to mix things up as well.

She adds they also plan to be open for dinner a few nights a week. “We’re going to be a family environment, and morning hours don’t always work with kids being at school,” Knight says.

The diner’s theme stems from Jason’s superhero fandom and his cache of collectibles, which will feature prominently in the dining area.

“We have a variety of memorabilia that will be there, from Lego figures to hats to pop figures and posters,” Knight says. “We hope it’ll be just a different environment to visit.”

Knight says the smaller seating area be- putting salmon on everything.”

When Kwan and Roloff closed for renovations, they knew reopening with a bar presence was a priority. Before, people were often surprised that Frida’s sold drinks since there was no bar in

Now, there are no more surprises. The curved bar is immediately visible when entering Frida’s. The aforementioned gold ceiling and flock of birds adorn the area, which is filled out by a handful of high-top two seaters. The full food menu is available at the bar, and the full bar menu is available in the dining room.

Bonito and Frida’s offer a wide selection of cocktails and a smaller menu of wine and beer. Like at all of Kwan’s and Roloff’s restaurants, the cocktails tend to feature fresh juices.

“We do everything in house,” she says. “Our signature cocktails across the board with all three are margaritas and Paloma.”

The bar menu also holds a nice selection of mocktails, something that was important to Kwan because more people are choosing not to drink — but she still wanted them to be able to get something special to go with their food.

That’s certainly more than possible now, and guests can do so in a chill space that evokes the owners’ travels to Miami, Mexico and Latin America.

“We want our neighborhood folks to just come in, to be able to walk in and have a drink,” Kwan says. “It’s been really great to see a lot of our regular customers, new faces, people from our other restaurants coming in and hanging out.” n tween the main dining area and the patio will be set up for community crafters and artists to come in and show their work.

We’re trying to bring the outside in,”

Knight

“We really want to have a connection to the community beyond just providing good food and a good environment.”