Cold Storage Brings Casual Chef-Driven Seafood to Boka's Hotspot Steakhouse Tomorrow

Following a delay, chef Chris Pandel and the Boka guys are ready to unveil the second and final prong inside the Fulton Market steakhouse Swift & Sons. Cold Storage, the inner seafood restaurant connected to the main restaurant's foyer, is set to open for lunch on Thursday with a menu full of raw shellfish, simple cold and warm small and large seafood items, and a selection of sandwiches that are mostly affordable and more casual than the main steakhouse.

The food menu, which isn't reinventing the wheel, is broken into four sections: Seafood towers (in three sizes; $20-75), cold plates, warm plates, and sandwiches; also expect daily fish specials available with your choice of preparations. Many of the items are in step with those offered at seafood-driven restaurants and steakhouses (raw bar items, shrimp cocktail, steamed mollusks, steak frites) yet some add twists and incorporate international flavors. A salmon skin chicharron snack ($3) and beer-battered smelts ($7) are comfort items that push the envelope a little, while some sandwiches ($10-15) incorporate tzatziki sauce or a banh mi setup.

Five cocktails ($11 each) utilize some liquors not often seen in a steakhouse setting and the beer and wine lists aren't standard yet won't confuse customers either. Desserts focus on pastry chef Meg Galus' sundaes, shakes and malts that include fun ingredients such as root beer cake and Cracker Jack that should satisfy your inner child.

The space, inspired by refrigeration and ice storage rooms from the historic meatpacking plant it inhabits, is supposed to feel like where plant workers might gather after their shifts. It seats 60 at a marble half-moon bar, high-tops, and leather banquettes. Check out the full menu below for a restaurant that could be a simple seafood haven for Google workers, neighborhood residents, and food enthusiasts alike that aren't in the mood for the steakhouse experience at Swift & Sons.

Cold Storage, 1000 W. Fulton Market interior, (312) 773-9420, open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.