Imagine getting a taste of local flavor through small plates and cocktails, with the option of jumping in between a sports lounge, tasting room and a social bar—all in one place.
Battle Born Social is bringing that variety to Carson City, as the restaurant celebrated its soft opening Monday night at 318 North Carson Street, along with members of the Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Bob Crowell, and other invited supporters.
Crowell claimed the restaurant to “bring out the social in Carson City”.
“We have a long way to go still,” said Owner and Executive Chef David Stern. “There’s that desire to live up the expectation of what people want and what we provide. We want to live it up to a consistent basis and build clientele, and we already have so much support from local chefs.”
Stern remodeled the building—formerly Mystique Restaurant & Lounge—into a combined restaurant, sports lounge, and tasting room.
Decked out in state colors of silver and blue — with a modern, yet casual industrial ambience — it offers a place to drink and eat socially. Stern’s ingredients are from Nevada soil and 90 percent of his family-style meals are gluten-free.
Next to the social bar is a tasting room for those who like to pamper their taste buds, featuring beverages from Carson City’s top breweries and distilleries.
The basement down the hall is the sports lounge which includes televisions, a pool table, and enough space for fans to root for teams.
In the future, the Stern family will debut outside seating.
“With a combination with all of the restaurants and bars in the area, this is great,” said building owner Jeff Shaheen, of Shaheen Beauchamp Builders, LLC.
Each room will feature small plate selections from a price-conscious menu created by Stern, including cigar options cooperated by Carson Cigar Company. One of those items include incorporating ingredients with his C3 Pork Chop dish, roasted with apple butter, sauteed kale, and bacon-tomato jam.
Stern won’t be running the restaurant alone, as his mother and father—Theresa and David Stern, Sr.—are ambitious to be a part of his new journey.
“This is a family-based thing for us,” said Stern Sr. “We want to bring something different but casual to Carson City. It’s a team effort.”
Stern has quite the culinary history, since the age of 15. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in New York City, he didn’t return to his home in Vista, Calif. Instead, he accepted a chef role at Charlie Palmer’s Steakhouse in Reno.
His culinary career skyrocketed when he became chef at SoDo, a restaurant and bar in downtown Reno, with owner Joel Giandalia.
After SoDo, Stern relocated to Centro Bar & Restaurant —also in Reno —as executive chef.
From there, he then hailed as an executive chef for Mystique. As the creator behind the former restaurant’s brussel sprout snack, he’s bringing it back to Battle Born Social, along with blue cheese-stuffed meatballs with wildberry barbecue sauce.
Some of the other goodies on the menu are Lo’s Po’Boy with spicy aioli, toast ponte, and jicama slaw; and deserts such as deconstructed cannoli, macerated with blueberries; banana cream pie, and anisette toast.
“It just seems like yesterday everything was under construction,” Stern said. “We’ve received so much support, even before the soft opening. We’re looking forward to seeing everyone here.”
Battle Born Social’s grand opening to the public is 11 a.m. Wednesday.