Popular Krog Street Market watering hole Ticonderoga Club is back after closing late last year due to a flood in the kitchen.
In April, the James Beard-nominated bar-restaurant began selling cocktails and Spiedie sandwiches out of a walkup window. On Friday, it will reopen for full service.
Co-owner Paul Calvert, who opened Ticonderoga Club in 2015 with partners Greg Best, David Bies, Bart Sasso and Regan Smith, said the closure gave the team the opportunity to revisit the restaurant’s menu and its overall spirit.
Calvert said the group went back through old menus and realized “we’ve put out some really great stuff over the past seven-plus years.” That prompted the decision to reopen with a “shut up and play the hits” menu of “solid, reliable” dishes.
Patron favorites like the Cobb salad, steak tartare and clam rolls will no longer be rotating specials. Instead, they will be menu fixtures.
“We’re embracing the club’s ethos as a tavern, a place you can go and always know what you can get,” Calvert said.
The cocktail menu will expand to nearly two dozen drinks, featuring house classics, as well as a pre-pandemic wine list of 12-13 wines by the glass ,and a selection of beers.
Ticonderoga Club will continue to use the reservation model it adopted over the past year for its dining room, but its Krog Street Market-facing patio will be open for walk-ins. Opening hours are 5-10 p.m. Fridays-Tuesdays, with the bar open until 11 p.m.
Just a few months ago, Ticonderoga Club’s renaissance seemed like a far-away plan. A leak from a hot water heater before Christmas caused major damage to the kitchen, upstairs storage space and part of the dining room.
Calvert said much of the reopening delay was due to waiting for the insurance company to replace damaged kitchen equipment.
During that time, the restaurant held several pop-ups at Inman Park restaurant Bread & Butterfly. Until April, they also managed to pay staff and provide health insurance, a benefit offered to Ticonderoga Club employees since 2021.
Calvert said the outpouring of support from restaurant regulars, and restaurateurs like Bread & Butterfly owner Billy Allin and Shay and Karen Levi of the Third Space was crucial in weathering the proverbial storm.
“There’s been incredible generosity,” Calvert said.
Ultimately, the unexpected closure will likely make the restaurant a stronger version of itself.
“We always made things a little too complicated for ourselves before,” he said. “We’re excited to be stable, reliable and solid and not reinvent the club every other month.”
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