Take a look inside the new Pearl & Horn on Intendencia Street and see what's on the menu

Pearl & Horn was a passion project for George Bistro + Bar owners, George and Luba Lazi, who first opened Pearl & Horn as a gourmet, fast-casual restaurant in the outdoor food hall The Garden at Palafox + Main in late-2021.

The concept they created, combining the best flavors of the land and sea, would open their imagination to a world of untapped potential.

After saying goodbye to their cozy corner of The Garden in October to expand into the grand, former Alice’s Restaurant at downtown Pensacola's intersection of Barrancas Avenue and Intendencia Street ? the restaurant is ready to wow when serving its first guests for dinner service Thursday evening in their new home.

“Without them,” Luba Lazi said Wednesday of her management team, as the army of chefs, beverage directors, managers and servers worked quickly and in unison toward a mock service, “this vision would not be a reality.”

A voyage across land and sea

Playing to its original identity and theme, the restaurant has two uniquely decorated rooms that, as you may have guessed, are thoughtfully curated to reflect the atmosphere of both the land and the sea. The “Pearl” room has the timeless beauty of pearl necklace-strung chandeliers, grey and silver toned shimmering accents, and the room’s crowned jewel: a glass case oyster bar.

If you turn right when walking in, you’ll be led into the “Horn” room that takes you into a whimsical hunting-inspired parlor with wood-tones, dark green horseshoe-shaped booths, live plants, and a special vintage wood-carved bar where diners can slip inside to snap a photo.

If George was born in a different century, you would find him inside one of the Renaissance paintings on the wall of a hunter holding their prized game, Luba teased.

Both dining rooms carry their own charm and trinkets and invite you into the world of George and Luba’s design, with a menu that matches in intrigue.

“It’s extremely exciting, because I think we are traveling through all different regions and areas that we have a connection with ? backgrounds, traveling, holiday vacations and culinary foundations ? that all have meaning to me. A lot of depths of flavors and techniques that were done so many years ago and we’re just bringing those traditions to life, but doing it our way,” Chef George Lazi said.

What are the gems of Pearl & Horn’s new menu

The menu features popular favorites from the original Pearl & Horn, which the Lazis are now affectionately referring to as “Little Pearl,” like the warm and buttery Main lobster roll and decadent seafood fries.

But it also revives some of George Bistro’s founding menu items, like Squid Ink Spaghetti, topped with succulent grilled shrimp, squid, tomatoes, garlic and scallions, and the Tuna Carpaccio, a yellow fin tuna dish with avocado, jalapeno, cilantro and a sesame balsamic soy mayo.

The menu also ventures into more sophisticated sit-down dining options, like the Crispy Red Snapper with Hasselback heirloom fingerlings, adjika beurre blanc, fine herbs emulsion and a crispy kale chip on the “pearl” side, or the Bison Kabob on the “horn” side, paired with harissa mint yogurt and grilled flatbread.

The full menu is available on both sides of the restaurant, regardless of where you prefer to sit.

“It (the menu) covers a lot of different areas and definitely bringing a very dear to my heart Georgian cuisine, and some fundamental, basic flavor profiles like Georgian eggplant or adjika, which I’m mixing with the classic French beurre blanc sauce...put together with the Panhandle product, red snapper,” George said.

Another point of pride for George Lazi is the restaurant’s boutique oyster selection, which will always offer a regional oyster, one from the West Coast and one from the East Coast. In addition to the raw oysters, which are shucked in real-time in the dining room, they also offer them broiled with a variety of different flavors and seasonings. The signature Pearl & Horn way comes with parmesan and a house parsley garlic butter.

The seafood side of the menu also brings a special sturgeon caviar service with an optional champagne pairing.

The menu also comes with a variety of small plate dishes to share, ranging from crispy calamari with jalapeno cilantro aioli and sriracha honey to a short rib croquette with bechamel and horseradish charred scallion aioli.

“This is a great place to come for apps and drinks and try as many as you can,” said Emily Veal, Pearl & Horn’s marketing director. “It takes you on a culinary journey.”

A moment for the cocktails

We would be remiss not to draw attention to the restaurant’s bar menu, featuring over 40 varieties of wine, with a section dedicated to just the sparkling bubbles. There are also a variety of signature house cocktails and just as tempting zero proof mocktails.

One of the standout mixed drinks being The Pearl, which is a take on a George Bistro secret menu item made with pomegranate earl grey infused vodka, St. Germain elderflower liqueur, lemon and agave.

Another favorite is the Chef George Martini, which he considers to be pickled perfection, made with Reyka, Martin Miller’s Gin, Chef George’s Castelvetrano olive and cornichon and pickled okra bine, with atomized Carpano Antica Dry Vermouth.

Ready to try it?

For more updates, information and reservations, visit the Pearl & Horn website, Instagram and Facebook page.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pearl & Horn set to debut new downtown Pensacola location Thursday