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New Jacksonville Restaurant HOBNOB Meshes Art and Food

Lindsey Kilbride
/
WJCT News

 

New dining options continue popping up in Jacksonville’s Brooklyn neighborhood, with the latest restaurant HOBNOB, opening next week.

 

 

Credit Kristen Penoyer
HOBNOB Beverage Manager Marlon Hall Prepares Pomegranate Nojitos.

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.

Credit Kristen Penoyer
Jacksonville University art Professor Brian Frus, along with a student, made more than 100 glass bubbles now installed at HOBNOB.

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.

Lindsey Kilbride was WJCT's special projects producer until Aug. 28, 2020. She reported, hosted and produced podcasts like Odd Ball, for which she was honored with a statewide award from the Associated Press, as well as What It's Like. She also produced VOIDCAST, hosted by Void magazine's Matt Shaw, and the ADAPT podcast, hosted by WJCT's Brendan Rivers.