Chef Brian Howard Returns Downtown at the Huntsman

Former Comme Ca chef Brian Howard spent 2015 unable to launch his 4,600-square-foot urban lounge Harvest & Larder in the Arts District. Four months after its demise, Howard is now confirmed to return to the neighborhood as a partner in the Huntsman urban lounge on the ground floor of former vintage clothing store, The Attic. The project has also previously attached the name Wolf to the restaurant.

First revealed by Eater Vegas in December, Huntsman is located a third of a mile north of the anticipated spot for Harvest & Larder and occupying a smaller 2,649-square-foot, rectangular footprint. Officially registered as a bar where food is served, the concept is described as embracing an "American Heritage" theme, "celebrating the past and present of the American culture tradition of meat, through the use of old world flavors in a modern manner."

The decor is imagined to resemble "an old root cellar with rough saw wood accents, brick and exposed block contrasting with ceramic tiles and stainless steel." On the walls, graphics and art "embracing the iconography of an American butcher," plus "dried herbs, preserved vegetables and cured meats." There will also be an open display of the wine selection.

Guests will enter from Main Street, on the right side of the building, passing a patio with 14 seats. They will then walk through the narrow, 60-seat tavern, with the left hand wall occupied by a charcuterie cooler, a butcher section, the kitchen and a bar with six stools.

At the rear of the property, a 670-square-foot patio will feature 12 seats on picnic tables, where guests can view an "iron cross" and a "meat swing," explained to be "unique cooking rigs that date to the 18th century will evoke the scents of burning juniper wood and Heritage bred meats."

Diners will be directed to use public, on-street parking on the surrounding streets. If the Huntsman opts for the name Wolf, it will be joined by another animal motif bar as an adjacent neighbor on the ground floor, the King Hippo lounge. Local developer Addison Thom is behind both taverns, building King Hippo behind a door on the left side of the building. It will also offer a backyard patio, with a performance stage separated by an eight foot wall from the Huntsman, a few feet away from the hanging meat.

The 11,000-square-foot building had originally sought permission to create one of the patios on the second-floor roof with promised "great views of the city and Strip."

The Huntsman project has yet to be officially announced, nor have they released a timetable for its arrival.