Brabo Begins

Restaurant press releases are usually pretty straightforward. Especially the ones about soon-to-open restaurants. They usually focus on where the new place is, what kind of food it'll serve and a bit about the chef's resume. Maybe it's just because Chef Robert Wiedmaier (Marcel's, Brasserie Beck, jacket-and-tie enthusiast) needed so little introduction that the early release about his newest venture Brabo by Robert Wiedmaier devoted a sentence to the chairs selected by designer Vicente Wolf.

"The restaurant also features three types of seating: banquets made of leather backs and mohair seats, classic style barrel chairs and a unique twist on the Windsor spindle-back chairs."

The chairs in all their multi-colored glory. (Julia Beizer)

After a visit earlier this week, it's easy to see why the chairs merited a little attention. The different varieties will be mixed and matched at tables throughout the room. I'd hate to be the girl stuck at the spindle-back seat at this table.

But let's talk about what you really want to know about Brabo, named for a Belgian statue. The 105-seat restaurant opens today inside a new Kimpton Lorien Hotel complex in Old Town. Expect Belgian- and American-inspired plates like crispy skate wing with candy-striped beet, curry-cayenne duck sausage and braised pork shank. Also at the same address, but accessed through a different entrance is the 45-seat Brabo Tasting Room, which offers a more casual experience -- think tarts, mussels and frites.

In honor of his newest restaurant, we asked the chef to tell us about some of his favorite places around town in a Go Out List. Check out Wiedmaier's selections here. We knew the chef loved seafood; we just didn't know quite how much he loves the water.

-- Julia