New dining options continue popping up in Jacksonville’s Brooklyn neighborhood, with the latest restaurant HOBNOB, opening next week.
HOBNOB Executive Chef Roger Regulacion says his menu is a melting pot, like Hawaii, where he was born.
Some dishes are more Italian, others are more Thai. Then there’s the pancit, a dish inspired by the chef's father’s heritage.
“It’s a Filipino version of what you would have like a lo mein with Chinese,” Regulacion says. “So it’s a Filipino version of that dish, of a noodle dish. But it’s really light and airy, and it’s made with our house-made longganisa [sausage] and grilled shrimp.”
There’s also ahi poke tuna and spicy lump crab tacos, "Hawaiian French toast" and sweet chili glazed board ribs.
The variety extends to 14 signature cocktail choices, which can be shaken tableside on a traveling drink cart.
In the loungey bar, a hand-blown glass installation shimmers on the ceiling.
HOBNOB commissioned it from Jacksonville University art Professor Brian Frus who, along with a student, made more than 100 rich blue glass bubbles.
“The light, the sparkle, the shadow, the casting of color. It just creates an environment that, it’s a little bit exciting, maybe a little bit bubbly,” Frus says.
HOBNOB opens Friday, March 25.
And art and food will also cross paths Wednesday evening in Riverside, when the Cummer Museumof Art and Gardens releases its cookbook, “The Chef’s Canvas,” featuring dishes inspired by its art.