NEAR WEST SIDE -- Two things people may not know about James Beard Award-winning chef Paul Kahan: He's a huge Blackhawks fan, and he makes a mean chicken finger.

Both of those were on display late last week at the Blackhawks Ice Center, 1801 W. Jackson Blvd., when Kahan, a partner in One Off Hospitality, previewed the restaurant group's two new dining spots that are now open to the public as part of the facility's $65 million expansion.

Raise the Cup Café, on the ground floor of the Blackhawks' rink, formerly Fifth Third Arena, is an all-day hub serving Colombe coffee drinks, smoothies, Publican Quality Bread pastries and sandwiches. Raise the Cup is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.

Upstairs, Rocky's Table & Tap, a tribute to late Blackhawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz, features a full bar and a menu of gussied-up bar fare. Rocky's is open 4 p.m.-1 a.m. Monday-Friday and noon-1 a.m. Saturday-Sunday.

Both feature great views of the nearby rinks, which now total four after the Blackhawks added two Olympic-size ice rinks to the facility. It functions as the training facilities for the Blackhawks and visiting NHL teams, as well as the new permanent home of the Chicago Steel junior hockey league team.

Blackhawks

The center is open to the public for skating and stick and puck sessions and also hosts a variety of hockey leagues for all ages. The team also hosts public practices on occasion.

"Connecting to the community was a big part of the expansion," said Jaime Faulkner, Blackhawks president of business operations. "At its core is getting on the ice and skating, but we wanted to build a building that people could come to, connect with one another and have fun."

That's what led them to tap Kahan and One Off Hospitality, which owns and operates some of the city's most successful and popular restaurants, including Avec, Big Star and Publican.

At the event Thursday, Kahan -- a self-described "rabid Blackhawks fan" who was wearing the jersey of goaltender Spencer Knight -- recalled a lunch he had with Danny Wirtz, CEO of the Blackhawks and Wirtz Corporation, to discuss the then-upcoming project.

"I'm a chef and I had all these ideas in my head," said Kahan, who has known Wirtz for about eight years. "He pretty much said, 'We want to do stadium food, but we want it to be the best stadium food.' We're not trying to reinvent the wheel, but we're just trying to do it better than anyone has in this environment."

Big Star and Publican

The menu at Rocky's includes stadium staples like nachos piled high with black beans, pickled jalapenos and white cheese sauce; soft jumbo pretzels with beer cheese; and a Caesar salad with baby kale and romaine.

The encased meats used for the Chicago hot dog, chili cheese dog and jalapeno cheddar brat are made by One Off. Three tavern-style pizzas -- cheese, pepperoni and sausage -- have a cracker-thin crust with that essential crunch.

Meat from Illinois' Kilgus Farmstead in Fairbury is the star of the smashburger, topped with American cheese and grilled onions.

"We go the extra mile in sourcing from farmers who we've established relationships with over the years," Kahan said.

Chicken fingers, available in a bucket with french fries or as a sandwich, are hefty pieces of juicy white meat. From its crispy exterior, you'd never know that the breading, created by One Off's head of culinary, Perry Hendrix, is gluten-free.

One Off Three

"We're just bringing it up a notch and having a lot of fun with it," said Kahan.

The kids' menu at Rocky's, which includes frozen treats from Logan Square's Pretty Cool Ice Cream, is a necessity considering the number of pee-wee hockey players and teams using the center.

The ceiling of Raise the Cup Café features long wood beams that resemble hockey sticks. Upstairs at Rocky's, oversized trading cards of Blackhawks players from the past line the room's columns.

The facility features free parking and is also available for private events, including a soon-to-open outdoor patio with views of the Downtown skyline. Want to hold your wedding or corporate party on an ice rink? Specially designed flooring keeps the cold out.

Centennial Hall, which is free to check out, features 100 years of Blackhawk memorabilia, with photos and hockey sticks from each year -- including six red ones from championship wins.

Pretty Cool Ice Cream

"This was built for and with the neighborhood," Faulkner said.

Creating food in sports-centric spaces isn't new for One Off. The company has supplied food to the Chicago Fire since last year and also cooks for the Chicago Stars.

"We've created this niche," Kahan said. "We're not feeding the Blackhawks yet, but we hope to."

Connecting to the community was a big part of the expansion.

The wider picture

Openings get the attention, but it is the second and third year that decide whether a restaurant becomes part of a city's routine.

Key takeaways

  • NEAR WEST SIDE -- Two things people may not know about James Beard Award-winning chef Paul Kahan: He's a huge Blackhawks fan
  • Both of those were on display late last week at the Blackhawks Ice Center, 1801 W
  • Raise the Cup Café, on the ground floor of the Blackhawks' rink, formerly Fifth Third Arena, is an all-day hub serving Colombe coffee drinks, smoothies, Publican Quality Bread pastries and sandwiches
  • The center is open to the public for skating and stick and puck sessions and also hosts a variety of hockey leagues for all ages
  • "Connecting to the community was a big part of the expansion," said Jaime Faulkner, Blackhawks president of business operations

The bottom line

None of this settles the wider question. It does make one thing harder to ignore: the pressure in the dining room has shifted, and others will have to respond to it.