Boka Group Bringing New Restaurant to Gold Coast Hotel

Chicago’s lauded Boka Restaurant Group is heading to the Gold Coast. The people behind stalwarts Girl & the Goat, GT Fish & Oyster, Boka, and more are building their first restaurant in the swanky Near North Side neighborhood, at the forthcoming Viceroy Hotel on the site of the longtime Cedar Hotel at 1112 N. State St., partners Kevin Boehm and Rob Katz say.

"(The Cedar Hotel space) is a property we’ve coveted for a very long time," Rob Katz says. "We think it’s time to bring the Gold Coast back."

Its target opening timeframe is late in the summer of 2017. Boehm and Katz aren’t revealing the concept, name, or chef yet, so expect that news soon.

Long known as ground zero for swanky Chicago nightlife and traditional high-end dining, the Gold Coast has seen more interesting concepts in recent years starting with One Off Hospitality’s upscale Italian hotel spot Nico Osteria and more recently the progressive steakhouse Maple & Ash. A new restaurant from the Boka Group, one of the most acclaimed chef-driven restaurant groups in town, should only add to the neighborhood upswing and resurgence.

Katz and Boehm say they’ve been working on the concept for more than two years. "This is the right time," Katz says. Stay tuned for more details.