“When Matt and I were in culinary school we spent countless nights dreaming about our future in the restaurant industry as chefs,” said Nikki Thompson, chef-owner at Nook. “We would create menus and play our own version of Iron Chef, just us two. Every menu and all of the details we dreamed up was dinner. Our original business plan was dinner.”
However, the restaurant space changed the duo’s plans.
“When we found the space for Nook we saw breakfast and lunch, and we fit a missing niche for affordable and fresh brunch downtown, and we ran with it,” she said.
While Nook has kept up breakfast, brunch, and lunch the past three-and-a-half years, the Thompsons haven’t abandoned their dreams of dinner service and evening ambiance.
Nook announced plans to serve dinner beginning Saturday, September 15. Dinner hours will be 5 – 10 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.
“We’ve dabbled in the idea of opening another location,” Nikki said. “We tried our hands at turning someone else’s dream into our own, but when it all comes down to it, Nook is our baby and it’s time to grow up.”
The menu features the approachability of comfort food with some Asian and tropical influences as a result of the chefs’ time in Hawaii.
One last surprise — Nook is also working on revamping their patio with upgrades on the furniture and garden.
“We are so excited for this next step and I can’t wait to show Tucson that we are more then just breakfast chefs,” Nikki said. “The food will speak for itself.”
Nook is located at 1 E. Congress St. For more information, call (520) 622-6665 or visit nookdowntown.com.
