In December, Epic overtook a former mill building in River North. With an industrial look that incorporates reclaimed wood, exposed brick, glass, and steel, the 14,000-square-foot venue can host cocktail receptions for 600.
A first-floor lounge area holds 40, and looks onto Hubbard Street through floor-to-ceiling windows. With a 58-inch flat-screen TV for presentations, a mezzanine area hosts seated dinners for 50. Above the second-floor dining room, which seats 115, another semiprivate mezzanine seats 60.
Chef Stephen Wambach offers a menu of contemporary American fare. For events, he can prepare passed hors d'oeuvres such as duck rillete with croutons and pickled mustard seeds, platters of buttermilk fried calamari and Moroccan-spiced lamb sliders, and entrees such as Chilean sea bass with caramelized cauliflower. Pastry chef Christine McCabe, a Charlie Trotter's alum, can prepare passed sweets such as almond tea cakes with candied kumquat-cranberry preserve and red velvet cupcakes with walnut-cream-cheese icing.
This spring, the restaurant will debut a 3,000-square-foot rooftop lounge. The space will have its own menu and will likely host receptions for 175 and seated dinners for 100, though final numbers may change when it opens.



