NEWPORT NEWS—The space next to the movie theaters at City Center at Oyster Point in Newport News will soon have a new occupant for the first time since Travinia Italian Kitchen & Wine Bar closed its doors in 2018.
The new tenant will be Steak & Tonic, the third local restaurant offered by chef/owner Kenny Sloane following the success of Fin Seafood in the Port Warwick section of Newport News and Fin & Tonic in Suffolk.
“Steak & Tonic is going to focus on unique meats such as kangaroo, camel, ostrich, escargot, quail, and others,” said Sloane. “We’ll be featuring a lot of items you don’t normally see on menus here.”
Steak lovers can rest easy that beef will also be on the menu, including hamburgers, tenderloin, and wagyu, along with Mangalista pork and duck. There will also be “exotic” burgers such as duck confit with foie gras, goose burgers, and a four-way meat mix of bison, boar, elk, and wagyu beef.
“We’re just trying to do something different, something unique,” said Sloane. “But we’re also going to have a cool bar menu with normal items, so if you want to come in and get a meatball or a spring roll or empanada or little Philly sliders, we’ll have something for everyone.”
In addition to the restaurant space, the new location will also offer a speakeasy area similar to what Sloane’s Fin & Tonic restaurant offers in Suffolk.
“I took pretty much half the restaurant and built a bar in it with sexy black wallpaper, chandeliers, red chairs, and a bunch of mirrors, and there is a secret door to get in,” said Sloane. “You have to walk through a wine case to get into it. People won’t know it’s back there unless they’ve been told it’s there.”
So, now the secret is out.
Sloane noted that he also will be doing a “killer” Sunday brunch once the restaurant is fully up and running.
“I don’t do brunch at the speakeasy in Suffolk, but we’re going to do it at Steak & Tonic,” said Sloane. “We’ve got that big outdoor patio for eating outside, we’ve got the restaurant space, and we’ve got the speakeasy, so diners have several options on where to sit.”
The restaurant is still awaiting its ABC permit, which should be approved by July 19. Once that is in place, the new restaurant is expecting to open the following week with a friends and family event on Monday, July 25 and a full opening to the general public on Tuesday, July 26.
The Sloane group of restaurants is a family affair. Sloane’s son is coming in to help run Steak & Tonic while his daughter is the manager at Fin & Tonic in Suffolk. He’s also bringing some of his employees over from the other restaurants while his mixologist from Fin is working on a cocktail menu and drinks for the speakeasy. Sloane is still looking to fill a number of positions, especially quality line cooks.
Steak & Tonic will be located at 11810-A Fountain Way in Newport News. For additional information, visit its Facebook page. For reservations, call 757-690-8474 after the restaurant officially opens.
