A bartender, sleeves rolled up to expose some intricate tattoos, is pouring red wine. He’s partially blocked by, well, heads – heads tipping back in laughter, eager patrons sporting long bushy locks, streaked side-swept bangs or gleaming cue balls. I’m standing just inside the door to Ginger, about to secure a two-top next to the front windows. It’s Saturday night, and a packed house.
That is undoubtedly what Julia LaLoggia was hoping for when she closed her organic-leaning, Fifth Ward restaurant Barossa in 2007 (the locale that brought chef Jan Kelly local fame), then reopened the spot last fall as the casual, tapas-style Ginger.
For LaLoggia, whose businesses include Stonefly Brewery in Riverwest, Ginger is simplification 2009. LaLoggia, who says she “makes no claims to be a great chef,” works the line in the kitchen. Some of the menu items are things she cooks at home. Partner Rose Billingsley often tends bar. Ginger, whose name LaLoggia likes in part for the spice’s rep as a palate-cleanser, underwent a face-lift, imparting a retro/repurposed look.
Gastronomically speaking, this place doesn’t follow a certain formula. The owners update the menu biweekly, and with cost a consideration, run a small selection of apps at reduced prices during happy hour (5-7 p.m.). Along with a cioppino (an Italian seafood stew) and green coconut curry, the menu sports mac and cheese, Tater Tots and hot wings.
Ginger is just a short walk from the sovereign of small-plates, La Merenda, and it’s hard not to compare the two. Ginger doesn’t serve as many small plates, and the culinary theme doesn’t have the complexity of La Merenda’s. The menu tiptoes into different areas (Italian, Thai), but winds up being more or less American. La Merenda succeeds by making the small seem substantial.
Ginger doesn’t give me that same kind of goosebump satisfaction – and attention needs to be paid to service, which was very slow on more than one occasion – but I like the concept. There are instances in which the small version of something big feels right, like the chickpeas with spicy sausage ($7), a stewy mix of garbanzo beans, onion, sun-dried tomatoes and plucky hot andouille. And the Mayan chicken ($8.50), which defines itself by its subtly sweet sauce, the juices from the thigh and drumstick mingling with orange juice, capers and rich, fruity olives. Even the mac and cheese – spiral noodles in thick béchamel sauce – trills with the piney flavor of fresh rosemary ($7.50) and works very well.
But tapas dining can be a slippery slope. A small plate can too easily feel like a small, overpriced plate. For instance, I’d have liked more vibrancy, and more flavor, from the cioppino, which also skews skimpy with its one shrimp, two small scallops and a few calamari rings in a saffron/tomato broth ($9.50). And the salmon in martini sauce (vodka cream and green olive) is surprisingly bland ($9). I want to love the citrus salad – field greens with grilled asparagus, calamari and sliced blood orange, grapefruit and naval orange in a citrus vinaigrette ($9.50). But the vinaigrette lacks punch. And in this economy, I think it’s a mistake to charge $5 for a handful of two-bite triangles of grilled flatbread served with herb-infused olive oil.
That being said, dining small and mindfully – do we really need that much food? – is a concept that might endure, even in a city obsessed with large portions. LaLoggia is a seasoned entrepreneur who probably closed Barossa at the right time. Ginger has some evolving to do, but its Saturday night crowd suggests it may be catching the current mood of diners.
Ginger,235 S. Second St., 414-220-9420. Hours: Tues-Sun 5 p.m.-10 p.m. (11 p.m. on weekends). Prices: $4.50-$16. Dress: casual to dressy. Service: needs honing. Handicap access: one step and a heavy door. Ask for assistance. Credit cards: M V A DS. Smoke-free before 9 p.m. Reservations: yes.
