Aaron Adams Eyes May Opening For Farm Spirit

After six years of running Portobello, his popular vegan restaurant, chef Aaron Adams was ready for a change. Specifically, he wanted to return to his roots in fine dining. So he sold Portobello. And come May, that change is gonna come when Adams opens the doors to Farm Spirit, a fine-dining restaurant with an entirely plant-based menu.

Here's how it'll work: If you want to dine there, you'll need to purchase a ticket via Farm Sprit's website. Once you do so, you'll be one of 14 people seated around a chef's counter, watching as Adams and his team prepare each of the 12 courses you'll be dining on. Each dinner will feature suggested wine pairings, but there will be wine, select beers and fresh-pressed juices by the glass, too, as well as tea and tisane services.

But Adams says Farm Spirit's main focus will be hospitality—genuine hospitality. "When people come in here, we want them to feel respected," he says. "We want them to feel like they're going to be really taken care of."

That's why he's instituting guest-friendly policies. For instance, there will be only one seating a night, so guests won't feel rushed. Substitutions, especially if you give him and his team some advance notice, are politely accepted. And the space will be run democratically: There will be no servers or dishwashers, just cooks who'll do all of the above when they're not guiding you through each course.

No word on the menu yet. Construction on the space is still underway. If everything falls into place, Adams expects to seat his first guests by mid-May.

Farm Spirit, 1414 SE Morrison St.