The Alston x STOCK
When a restaurant is this ambitious, the uniforms can’t be an afterthought.
When The Alston opened in Chicago’s Gold Coast, it set out to be something bigger than a steakhouse. A sprawling, theatrical dining room. A private members club. A place where dinner feels like an occasion. The design leans into layered glamour with velvet, brass, dramatic drapery, oversized chandeliers. It’s immersive without feeling heavy, indulgent without feeling gaudy. The uniforms needed to belong in that world.
The brief from the team was simple: old-school glamour with modern details. Translation: tasteful maximalism, formal but not stiff, and a touch of members-club swagger.
To kick things off, Fifty/50 Group partner Greg Mohr came to the Stock HQ and tried on the entire uniform program himself—suits, shirts, the whole thing. It’s one thing to approve fabrics and sketches. It’s another to actually move through service in them.
That process helped us dial in the proportions and details before the staff ever put them on.
The uniform program centers around custom suiting designed specifically for the room. Hosts and servers wear burgundy dinner jackets with black shawl lapels—a classic tuxedo silhouette that immediately signals occasion. The deep wine tone adds richness without overpowering the space, while the satin lapels catch the low dining room light.
Managers move through the room in dark tailoring and a deep green velvet blazer, a quiet nod to old supper clubs and grand hotel bars.
Looking good is one thing. Surviving service is another. Thus, the vests were designed with ample storage pockets so servers can carry the small tools of the job: pens, wine keys, service tools, without breaking the silhouette.
Under the jackets, staff wear our machine-washable Coolmax dress shirts, paired with stretch tech trousers that move comfortably during service while holding a clean tailored line.
Accessories finish the look: custom bow ties, pocket squares, and gold lapel pins that reinforce the identity of the house with subtlety.
In the kitchen, Chef Jenner Tomaska (Episode 139 of Joiners Podcast!) brings the precision of French technique to a menu built around luxury ingredients and theatrical tableside moments. Out in the dining room, that same sense of ceremony continues. An antique duck press from Abercrombie & Fitch sits ready for service. The caviar program reads like a dare. Champagne flows freely in the bar.
It’s not subtle, which is the point. The Alston unfolds through a series of dramatic spaces—from champagne bar to dining room to private club—each one leaning into the restaurant’s sense of occasion.
Like any good stage production, the costumes matter. At The Alston, the uniforms aren’t trying to steal the spotlight. They’re there to make sure the people running the room look the part.
