When's the last time you saw a restaurant inside the Loop serve a steaming bowl of jasmine rice congee loaded with local mushrooms and bacon and topped with a poached egg? Or a bowl of Gulf clams bathed in a Singaporean chili of fermented black beans? Or fried Massaman-curry spiced potatoes? Or even an old school Monte Cristo sandwich dusted with powdered sugar?

These disparate delights, and more (egg salad and caviar spread tea sandwiches, anyone?), are flying out of the kitchen at Night Heron, the quirky new Montrose restaurant and bar at 1601 W. Main. From the owners of Agricole Hospitality (Revival Market, Coltivare, Eight Row Flint), Night Heron has alighted on the former Lowbrow space with a physical transformation as stark as winter to spring. The dark space has been washed in a fresh coat of pistachio paint with a minimalist wooden banquette running along the back walls and white metal lattice chairs dotting the dining room floor. The look is light and inviting. And it happened quickly: The restaurant was announced in early January and opened Feb. 5.

Executive chef Jacob Pate, a former line cook at Coltivare who went on to work as sous chef at Nobie's, has created a menu of full-flavored bar snacks in various sizes. The munchies run from Agostura-flavored nuts and marinated olives to slow-roasted jerk chicken on a kohlrabi and pickled pineapple slaw and a smoked cheddar burger on an everything bun served with curry fries. In between guests will find bowls of smoked cheese dip, chicken mousse, fried curry spiced potatoes and Singaporean chili clams. There are buttermilk-marinated turmeric-spiced chicken bites served with fries; salt and pepper pork ribs served with a lemon marmalade; a shrimp Caesar salad with black garlic dressing; jasmine rice congee; and pan-roasted 44 Farms sirloin served with a cold noodle salad.

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"I've got a love of spice from my father. He loves spicy food and cooks spicy food," Pate said.

Beginning the weekend of Feb. 17, Night Heron will begin serving brunch Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Some of the regular menu's items will be available along with black pepper honey biscuits, tea sandwiches, that aforementioned Monte Cristo, roasted pepper taquitos with fried eggs, a sesame croissant sandwich with ginger pork sausage and scrambled eggs, and a shakshuka featuring fried eggs and meatballs in a stewed tomato sauce with tabbouleh and feta.

And then there's the cocktails. Building on Agricole's way with spirits, Night Heron is offering a bill of fare that is both familiar and surprising. Good wines by the glass, craft beers and sparklers are met by an imaginative cocktail list that presents iconic drinks in new light. The Tom Collins, for example employs grappa along with gin as the base but gets a sweet and fruity twang from almond, lemon/lime curd and hibiscus molasses. The Gin Tonic races past familiar juniper and quinine flavors to embrace elderflower tonic, lavender and orange blossom. The margarita goes uptown with its blend of sotol, grapefruit, lime, tarragon, vanilla and an egg white froth. Order an Old Fashioned here and you'll get a familiar merger of bourbon, sugar and bitters, but with a woodsy undercurrent of pine from a tincture made from pinon tree resin. A truly time capsule drink is the house Salty Dog that gets contemporary consideration as a delicious merger of honeysuckle-flavored vodka, grapefruit juice, vanilla, and black pepper in a glass frosted with pink Himalayan salt.

Agricole partner Morgan Weber said he didn't want to present a cocktail list of reworked classics with clever names. Instead, the iconic drinks bear their familiar names along with historical reference. They are then passed through the inventive eyes of bartenders seeking elevated flavor profiles using ingredients both new (a caramelized orange ice cube in the Negroni) and old (a measure of Madeira in the Manhattan).

Ask general manager Julie Rogers, formerly of Coltivare, about beer. She's a Certified Cicerone (beer sommelier) who can lead guests through the draft options and extensive bottle list.

And in case you were wondering about Agricole Hospitality's other projects on the books, yes they're still going forward. Pera, Weber and their partner Vincent Huynh will open three concepts in EaDo – Indianola, Miss Carousel and Vinny's – that are schedule to bow in May.

Night Heron, 1601 W. Main; agricolehospitality.com/night-heron. Open weekdays (except Tuesday) 2 p.m. to midnight; Friday 2 p.m. to 2 a.m.; Saturday 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.; Sunday 11 a.m. to midnight.