Former Carnivale Chef Mark Mendez Opening Wine Bar

While cooking Nuevo Latino cuisine for hundreds of people night after night at Carnivale definitely kept chef Mark Mendez busy, he's ready to take it down a few notches and focus on feeding a few dozen.

Mendez and his wife, Liz, announced they're working on opening a Spanish wine bar in the West Loop in the former Rushmore space at the corner of Lake and Carpenter streets likely this fall.

Uva, the 68-seat wine bar, will focus on smaller-batch wines and some on tap with a menu featuring traditional and more experimental tapas ranging in price from $3 to $32, but mostly hovering around $10.
· Grape Expectations [Dish]

Mark and Liz Mendez [Photo: Facebook]