Owners of George Bistro + Bar launch new, fast-casual restaurant Pearl & Horn downtown
The locally loved owners of George Bistro + Bar are confident their success will continue as they prepare to open their newest venture, Pearl & Horn, in the popular outdoor food hall at The Garden at Palafox + Main.
The enclosed restaurant, nestled behind the row of outdoor vendors neighboring the Perennial Patio Bar, is able to host guests for dine-in or carryout service.
The "gourmet fast-casual" restaurant envisioned by Chef George Lazi and wife, Luba, has been years in the making, and highlights flavors inspired by the best of both the land and sea.
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"When you think of a pearl, you think beautiful, classy, elegant ... and then it comes in this not-so-perfect shell. It's made with so many layers of grit and hard work. But it also represents all the seafood. We love seafood, we love oysters," Luba Lazi said of the company's name.
The second half of the company's name — the horn — represents a traditional drinking vessel from the Republic of Georgia, embodying the beliefs of hospitality embodied in his culture, George Lazi said.
The name Pearl & Horn reflects not only these philosophies, but also the food that is featured in the location at 3 W. Main St. Some of the main dishes include seafood choices like oysters and lobster, while also offering foods from land, such as meat and dairy.
The couple is getting close to opening day with finishing touches and construction.
The menu will be small but packed with intricate care and detail, the showcased item being freshly shucked oysters that will be served baked, broiled or raw, with a squeeze of lemon. Other take-away items will be lobster rolls, the signature steak sandwiches, smashed burgers and lobster bisque.
The goal will be to source the seafood as locally as possible, with game meat such as elk, bison and venison coming from farther up north.
The gourmet-casual items can be accompanied by a fully stocked refrigerator's worth of beverages, including kombucha, sparkling waters, canned wines, French sodas and Luba's favorite — bubbly champagne.
Due to the more relaxed style of the restaurant, menu items will be priced at about $20 or less.
Though the couple was hands-on with the carefully designed menu, both through George's experimentation and Luba's taste testing, dishes will be executed by former Fish House chef and Pensacola native Eddie Johnson.
There is an ample selection of bar and dine-in seating available inside the cozy space, but the emphasis is placed on creating a menu that could primarily function as gourmet carryout.
Inspired by changes during the pandemic, George Lazi said he had to creatively reconfigure how to package dishes typically plated for a dine-in setting, only to realize that the quality of food remains the same, eaten at the dinner table or on the go.
"I never created food to pretty much be boxed up," he said.
As far as Luba Lazi is concerned, restaurants do not need to have a stuffy or intimidating atmosphere to serve good food. Instead, they should be loud, fun and a celebration among friends and family.
By infusing the classy interior design feature, such as the pearl-styled hanging lights and oyster garnished mirrors, with the playful backsplashes and wallpaper that fill the space, she hopes the restaurant embodies a welcoming feel.
"I want it to be a very funky, eclectic, modern space," she said.
Hours are not yet set, but the new restaurant will be open at The Garden location for lunch and dinner most days from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and might add an evening happy hour on Friday and Saturday in collaboration with the Perennial Patio Bar.
The birth of Pearl & Horn
The significance of the restaurant’s namesake resonates deeper than just the menu, but stems from George's roots in the Republic of Georgia, a country bordering Turkey and Russia.
"In Georgia, there's no 'let's sit down and just eat,' there always is more of a set-up. Any gathering is a celebration, pretty much," he said.
When family did get together, you knew it was going to be an all-night event, he said. It also was not uncommon to break up the multi-hour meal with music and dancing in between courses, his wife chimed in.
As a part of the drinking culture synonymous with celebration, came the passing of the toast. The host of the evening raises a horn-shaped drinking vessel, or "kantsi," to say a few words, before passing the horn to the next guest to make their own toast and drink.
"Even if it's four, six, eight people around a table, there's always a person that becomes the orchestrator of the event. That person then is labeled as 'tamada,' ... a person who starts the first toast," George Lazi said. "It's very common that when you have a birthday that you get a horn as a birthday present. It's passed down to generations."
Passing the horn around the table and finishing the drink was the expectation, and you had to drink the whole thing, since it could not be set down on the table.
Toasting was more than a tradition. It also was a sacred form of hospitality and a blessing to the people in one's company, according to George Lazi. That's a sentiment he wanted to share with everyone who walked through his new restaurant's doors: an automatic warm welcome and an extended invitation into the family.
In the restaurant, you will find physical reminders of that culture throughout, from antler-shaped chandeliers to horns engraved in the wooden tables. If you’re lucky, you might even see the gigantic drinking horns that held the wine from the couple's wedding day, gifted from George's father.
More information on the new restaurant can be found on both the Pearl & Horn website and Instagram page.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: George Bistro + Bar adds fast-casual gourmet restaurant Pearl & Horn
