Rich Sweeney Named Chef Partner At New Southpaw

For Southpaw Social Club, their newest East Village project, Good Time Design is tapping the talents of Rich Sweeney, a former Top Chef contestant and the chef/owner of Hillcrest's R Gang Eatery.

Sweeney will be the chef partner at Southpaw, where he's crafting the menu and helping to oversee the kitchen. He'll continue to operate R Gang as usual, and has another collaboration with Good Time Design in the works, a San Diego brewpub with TailGate Beer whose location is still undecided.

The food at Southpaw Social Club will delve into the cuisine of the nation's best baseball towns; expect comfort food-minded regional American specialties, a melting pot that may feature a New England lobster roll and a Chicago-style Italian beef sandwich. Sweeney shared that he'll highlight local ingredients on the shareable menu, which so far includes charred green beans with bean leaf pesto, orange-lavender hush puppies, root beer-braised rib tips, seasonal flatbreads and a grit cake whose toppings, from meat ragu to a vegetarian tomatillo sauce, will change daily.

Owner Ty Hauter told Eater that "Good Time Design is extremely excited to be co-producing Southpaw's kitchen offerings with Mr. Sweeney! The Southpaw Social Club project and our December opening of The Blind Burro hopefully show the San Diego restaurant community that Good Time Design is taking a seriously social and fun approach to serving up fabulous food."
· All Southpaw Social Club Coverage on Eater [~ESD~]
· R Gang Eatery [Official Site]