Gourmet eats don’t always have to come with hefty price tags. Jack and Natalie Skilliter do high-end service with casual and affordable meals at Corner Kitchen at 613 East Fifth st. in Dayton.
Natalie met Jack while attending The Ohio State University. They then moved to New York where Jack attended the Culinary Institute of America and where they both worked in the restaurant industry. Once they got restaurant experience under their belts, they moved to Washington D.C. and opened a restaurant called Ris, where they served politicians and celebrities alike.
Once they wanted a relaxed lifestyle, they moved back to Dayton to be closer to family. Now, they entered the restaurant business again, this time in the Oregon District.
“We call ourselves ‘a finer diner,’” Natalie Skilliter said. “We have upscale casual diner food. Meatloaf is on the menu, but it’s better than your mom’s. In the Oregon District, there is a lot of great bar food and higher-end food, so we wanted to be some place in the middle. Really affordable, value driven. Nice sized portions. You can wear sweatpants or you could wear a cocktail dress and no one would think twice.”
Skilliter’s favorite dish, which currently isn’t on the menu, is the “Chicken Dinner,” which is made from local chicken breast and prepared simply, with a few fresh ingredients.
“It’s served with vegetables and mashed potatoes, with a sauce made of butter and white wine,” Skilliter said. “It’s so simple, it seems boring, but it is the best chicken you will ever have. I think that’s because of the freshness and the fact that it is so well executed.”
Their desire for simplicity and affordability spreads to their cocktails, where they use midrange liquor and fresh ingredients to create cocktails that are enjoyable without hurting the wallet.
“Our guiding philosophy is ‘No pretense,’” Skilliter said. “We focus on really good ingredients, really good execution and it speaks for itself.”
Their current menu features high-end meals like Duck Carbonara, and diner fare like Chicken Pot Pie and Burgers. To drink, students can purchase cocktails, beers in bottles and cans, and a large selection of wines by the glass.
Corner Kitchen is open from 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 4:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. For lunch, students can checkout CK Take Away, a lunch grab-and-go market that follows the same food philosophy as their parent restaurant.
Photography: Colton Shrader
