Not beating around the bush about Bird in the Hand: It's good

Kurt Janowsky's offering in Elkhart is worth a visit — and read on for the return of Quick Bites

Before Kurt Janowsky opened Bird in the Hand on July 1, he had ideas about what it would be but wasn’t locked in on any of them.

He knew it would serve chicken sandwiches on the ground floor of the new Riverbend building at 240 E. Jackson Blvd., Elkhart.

Dave Weaver had approached Janowsky, who has been in the restaurant business 44 years and operates a company with 400 employees, eight bars and restaurants, including Artisan in Elkhart and Cafe Navarre in South Bend. In addition, Navarre Hospitality Group has six catering venues not including almost daily service at Notre Dame. 

During the construction of the building, he and Weaver, who oversees the building as part of the weImpact Group, decided to add a bar on the fourth floor. The Jackson has seating for 20 at an inside bar, but at sunset, you want to be on the spacious outside deck for the best view of downtown Elkhart.

Plans to add a tent for the last few months were scuttled, as was the plan to close after the New Year’s Eve party on December 31.

Five days before opening, Janowsky decided to add smash burgers to Bird in the Hand. He brought over the way of making them from Coach’s, which he operated for a time in South Bend, though the buns aren’t toasted with salted butter and mayonnaise as they were over there.

“This was borne out of tremendous respect for Dave Weaver and his partners and now my partners who are trying to invent the River District,” Janowsky told me as we sat in Bird in the Hand last week.

I’ve never worked in a building that had its own restaurant, much less a restaurant on one floor and a bar on another. My office at the Community Foundation of Elkhart County is on the second floor of Riverbend. Weaver’s weImpact Group has offices on the fourth floor. Bird in the Hand is on the lower floor.

In fact, the rug on the floor of my own office is marked by Bird’s green goddess dressing I spilled as I lunched at my desk. I tried to clean it up, but the stain seems to be alive somehow. I’ve apologized to the office manager and the landlord.