Urban Butcher is back this week to its regular operating hours with a new look and a new menu.
The Georgia Avenue favorite had been open only Thursday-Sunday while undergoing a renovation that produced an interior color scheme that’s heavy on deep red and black, combined with warm hardwoods.
The walls now feature new artwork, including a number of painted skulls, that owner Raynold Mendizábal described in a statement as “the canvas for bold urban art that fully actualizes my dream of an ‘alternative steakhouse’ in a truly authentic space.”
The menu includes new starter dishes such as roasted bone marrow with gooseberry thyme jus, charred globe artichoke accompanied by picatta butter with panteleria capers, whole sardines simply grilled with olive oil and herbs, and cucumber and strawberries with horseradish, arugula, orange, red onion and goat cheese.
Mendizábal has added several seafood entrées as well, including a crab cake with herbs, arugula, and lemony roasted garlic aioli, grilled swordfish served with a hazelnut romesco, pine nut and parsley pistou, and whole colossal prawns with a crustacean mayonnaise.
In addition, patrons can order a whole branzino, served tableside for two.
Many of the familiar beef dishes remain, including the Meat Mountain for two, along with three lamb entrées. Gone, however, are dishes such as empanadas and meatballs (though Mendizábal said they would be offered as “hush dishes” upon request.
In addition, the $35 three-course prix fixe dinner formerly only available at certain hours on Sundays has been renamed the Butcher’s Dinner. It can be ordered at any time, every day.
Finally, the restaurant is offering the culmination of a four-year project called The Ossabaw Ham Project.
Mendizábal describes it: “We cure legs from the Ossabaw Island hog, a truly American castaway survivor of Spanish shipwrecks and descended from ancient Ibericos, living on the island for the last 400 years. We rub these hams with sea salt and lightly smoke them in applewood and hickory for three winters, so the cure shows hints of toasted nuts, sweet barley and raw molasses. The legs will be sliced by hand and served tableside.”
Urban Butcher is located at 8226 Georgia Ave. and is open at 5 p.m. daily except Mondays. Happy hour selections and pricing is available from 5-7:30 p.m.
Top photo, the front refrigerated case has been replaced by bar seating where diners can watch the action in the kitchen. All photos by Mike Diegel. (Click the images below to enlarge.)