Chef Douglas Keane and partner Nick Peyton of Cyrus opened Shimo Modern Steak late last year in order to bring a high-end steakhouse concept to downtown Healdsburg. As Keane tells the Scoop today, the pricier end of the menu, with shared meats like the $195 48-ounce dry-aged Allen Brothers Porterhouse for four or the $128 Tomahawk ribeye for three, hasn’t caught on. Meanwhile, he added a noodle bar section to the menu, with a bowl of ramen or soba noodles and your choice of broth running you a mere $8, with various add-on options like a slow-cooked egg ($3), prime rib tonkatsu ($4.50), and pickled ramps ($2). And now that the ramen’s been such a hit, and the shared-steak thing was not, Shimo is morphing into a full-time noodle house as of tonight. Keane and Shimo chef Kolin Vazzoler are keeping meat on the menu, with a 24-ounce ribeye for two, but they’re also adding a few less expensive dishes, like a 42-hour short-rib dish ($18). See the full (.pdf) noodle bar menu here. [Scoop, Bauer’s earlier rave]
