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Three months after launching late-night vegan lounge Workshop Food + Drink, chef Aaron Adams is shifting the direction of the cuisine.
Starting May 19, the restaurant at 1407 SE Belmont St. will begin exclusively offering a chef’s tasting menu experience, scrapping the lineup of small plates. As with every project Adams helms, the food will remain vegan, and you can expect Cuban-inspired fare that was Workshop’s focus from the start—a nod to the chef’s roots.
If it sounds like Workshop is transitioning into Farm Spirit 2.0, Adams’ original prix fixe restaurant, well, your assessment wouldn’t be entirely wrong. The fine dining restaurant that was originally located on Southeast Morrison Street, later moving to Belmont, closed at the start of the pandemic. Adams’ self-dubbed “beneficial bacteria emporium” Fermenter lives on in the Belmont space, which is right next door to Workshop.
Adams told subscribers in an emailed newsletter that he was “very hesitant to revive any service evocative of Farm Spirit,” but after an outpouring of requests from the community, he has decided to reintroduce the multicourse menu.
“Recently, I received a lot of feedback from our guests,” Adams stated in the note. “Whether in person, via social media, by emails or even handwritten letters, folks asked us to consider bringing back Farm Spirit.”
Adams went on to emphasize that he is not reviving Farm Spirit—just a plant-based chef’s tasting menu. The move also allows Adams to offer employees a less rigorous schedule without cutting pay.
“We really did the math and realized that we would be able to afford to run three services a week and still make the necessary income for our team,” the letter continued. “They’ll make the same but work less services, which is a definite quality-of-life improvement for all of us.”
When the new service launches later this month, you can expect vegan caviar service—a salty delight that was a highlight on Workshop’s original menu—as well as koji-fermented vegetable charcuterie and a vegan cheese dish. In all, each dinner will be around five courses with beverage (wine, cocktails or zero-proof cocktails) pairings.
The regular tasting will cost $75 per person, and there is the option to upgrade to a chef’s counter experience for $100, which includes additional food and prime seating. Both options will be held Thursday through Saturday.
You can still taste Workshop’s original slate of snacks, like lion’s mane empanizado, pincho de tortilla and pasta de bocadito with brioche, through May 7. The restaurant will be closed from May 8 through 18 in order to give the team time to transition. Reservations are already available online for prix fixe service.