That is the question I had walking up through the labyrinthian library set-up on the way to Stacks' rooftop bar. Shelves upon shelves greet diners until they finally arrive at a flamingo-adorned "Palm Springs spring" set-up. With the dining room closed Monday, the Esca pop-up night had an almost "reverse speakeasy" vibe, located not in a basement but instead overlooking downtown Valpo.
Esca Kitchen & Company and Stacks have had a long and fortuitous relationship, which is why the one-time restaurant and now pop-up event company has been operating "surprise" dinners there exclusively over the past year and a half, owner Ryan Hecimovich said. "This space is top-tier beautiful," Hecimovich said. "The owner of Stacks is actually my mentor.
We kind of put together a restaurant from scratch in 36 hours every time (we host a pop-up)." That includes bringing the old band back together: The chef, Erik Cruikshank, and servers from the original brick-and-mortar Esca restaurant, as well as the "wonderful women" who run the rooftop bar at Stacks, Hecimovich said. This is Esca's fifth pop-up at Stacks, which has ended up being roughly a quarterly event.
After hosting six-course menus in the past, this spring event was a change of pace, presenting an a la carte affair that featured some of Esca's original favorites, as well as hand-made pasta and Hecimovich's "super good" chili (More on that below.). Cruikshank, for his part, was excited to put new touches on the dishes, such as honey chevr.
