photo: courtesy dusek's board & beer

Named after Thalia Hall's original founder, John Dusek, the beer-focused restaurant is now pouring in Pilsen. 

Thalia Hall, the new Pilsen restaurant-and-bar-and-music-venue project from Craig Golden and Bruce Finkelman (Longman & Eagle), has news for a lot of different areas of arts journalism. But seeing as this is a dining blog, here’s the lowdown on the restaurant, Dusek’s Board and Beer (1227 W. 18th St., 312-526-3851), which preemptively opened last night.

The beer-pairing-driven menu at Dusek’s is designed by Longman’s Jared Wentworth. “Anyone can look at my girlish figure and see that I really like beer,” he says. He points to the ethos of New England fish-shack food and beer in summer as an ideal, one that Dusek’s will strive for with day fish from both coasts. Local meats from producers such as Slagel Family Farm make up the land-based options.

“Jared makes the best chicken dish in the world,” Finkelman says. Wentworth says the chicken is confited in duck fat, then roasted in a wood-burning oven.

On the opening menu, Wentworth is excited about Monterey sardines, cobia collar from the Gulf of Mexico, and choucroute.

Thalia Hall’s bar, Punch House, also opened last night, while the music venue will come along later, after restoration on the landmarked hall has finished. Nightlife, music, architecture, Pilsen, and Greek-muses writers, we have some phone numbers to pass along.