By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — A new bistro with a focus on vegan choices while offering options for all tastes has opened at Riverview Inn & Suites, the former Cliffbreakers.
Oak & Embers Bistro, 700 W. Riverside Blvd., sets out to create an inclusive dining experience that celebrates the beauty of the oak riverfront view, said executive chef Robert Phillips. The small dining room, with seating for about 35, overlooks the Rock River through a wall of windows just inside the hotel and banquet center’s main entrance.
The restaurant is open Tuesdays through Saturdays for happy hour and dinner.
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The bistro’s plant-based options include aloo gobi, an East Indian dish made with potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, curry and a variety of spices. It’s served with basmati rice and herb flatbread. There’s also rigatoni vegetable bolognese and an impossible burger served with non-dairy cheese.
The vegan swap chicken sandwich is served with cucumber, roma tomatoes, sundried tomato and basil hummus.
“It’s all plant-based chicken breast and it’s delicious,” Phillips said. “Same texture, and the flavor is very similar to chicken.”
Carnivores have their options, too, including sirloin steak, duck confit, pork schnitzel and fried walleye, among other choices.
“We’re going to cater to both demographics,” Phillips said. “I don’t want to alienate a certain demographic just because we want to staple a few plant-based items. I feel like we can offer both sides of the spectrum and make everybody happy.”
Maverick Hotels and Restaurants added the 84-room hotel and banquet center to its portfolio 13 months ago, making it a part of the Ascend Hotel Collection.
It put a focus on reviving the events and banquets at the facility, which features 30,000-square-foot event space capable of hosting up to 2,500 people.
The banquet hall has hosted multiple nonprofit and charity events and weddings since the change in management.
Missing was something that would create daily activity at Riverview Inn & Suites. Now, the new bistro is open five nights a week, and you don’t have to be a guest at the hotel to eat there.
“It’s going to definitely bring light back with something that’s needed over on this side of town,” said Amanda Gore, director of sales and marketing for Riverview Inn & Suites.
Local restaurateur Jimmy Vitale opened Cliff breakers in 1993, and it built a reputation as one of the city’s top upscale restaurants. A hotel was added about four years later.
Vitale sold Cliffbreakers in 2006, and the business suffered when the Great Recession hit two years later. Cliffbreakers filed for bankruptcy protection before it was foreclosed on in 2012. Then Aries Capital, a Chicago-based real estate investment company, took over. It went through several management changes before becoming part of the Ascend Hotel Collection in October 2023.
About | Oak & Embers Bistro
Where: Riverview Inn & Suites, 700 W. Riverside Blvd., Rockford
Hours: 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas