The Standard Grain Restaurant is set to open with a Valentine’s Sweetheart Dinner on Feb. 14. The restaurant will be located at 403 N. Walnut St., the former location of an event center called Topo’s 403.
Some menu options for the Valentine’s dinner include filet mignon and oven roasted duck breast. The dinner will have room for 80 people, but owner and executive chef Michael Pantall said they are taking reservations and spots are still available. A ribbon-cutting event for the restaurant is planned for Feb. 12 before it opens.
“The building has been renovated gorgeously, and now it's my job to bring it back to life,” Pantall said.
Pantall said he has been a chef for more than 40 years and his wife has been heavily involved in the fair trade retail industry, so the two wanted to combine their passions.
“Bloomington, being a very enlightened, very progressive city, is just the place to bring all that together,” Pantall said.
Pantall said since he was raised in New Delhi and lived in Madrid and the Caribbean, the restaurant will serve international cuisine.
The Standard Grain Restaurant will also offer a pet menu to benefit the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Pantall said the pet menu is specifically designed for animals, but can be eaten by humans. It will include smaller portions, more grains, roasted vegetables and grilled proteins. Pantall said 15% of the proceeds from the pet menu will go to local pet shelters in Bloomington.
Pantall said the restaurant will also sell fair trade art made by artists throughout the world. He said it benefits local communities because it supports where the pieces of art are made.
The name of the restaurant is a nod to the grain belt in Indiana, Pantall said. He said the name is a term used in agriculture to refer to different grains and sizing of grains.
“We are homegrown and we are grain oriented,” Pantall said.
