Everything You Need to Know About Bar Parisette, Logan Square’s Nouveau Bistro

They’re aiming to redefine the French bistro

“Many people think of bistro as a set of dishes, like escargots and onion soup, but our perspective is that fundamentally, a bistro is a place that proposes an exceptional level of quality for the price, as well as a comfortable place to gather for great wine and cocktails,” Sussman says.

They intend for Parisette to be an affordable regular hangout for wine lovers, industry friends, and neighbors, a concept they assert is in short supply in the city. “There isn’t any French food at all in Logan Square,” he says. 

It’s worth it to order wine by the bottle 

Sussman offers a number of excellent wines by the glass, but you’ll find the best values by the bottle, where he’s proud to offer outstanding producers for roughly half the normal restaurant markup. Most bottles of wine are priced under $100, including some great grower Champagnes. If you’re feeling indecisive or particularly adventurous, head down the steps behind the host stand and pull something at random from the “grab bag” cooler of one-off bottles.

“We’re treating the wine list as a way to market ourselves and distinguish ourselves from literally any other place in the city,” Sussman says. “I want our bottle list selection and pricing to make Bar Parisette the best place to drink wine in Chicago, and for that reputation to drive a significant piece of our business,” Sussman says. “You can drink really great wine here, but you aren’t paying that much more than what you’d find at a retail shop.” The lower markups are more akin to what diners would find in Paris or Montreal. “But I understand that for a lot of visitors, cocktails or glasses of wine will make more sense for the group. Frankly, that helps our margins quite a bit, so it’s not disappointing at all,” he says. 

Durrant is a true Francophile 

While some chefs open a restaurant based on a country they’ve visited only in passing, Durrant is a Francophile through and through. She took French from kindergarten through college, and has traveled there extensively, starting as an exchange student in high school. 

Bar Parisette is Durrant’s first restaurant as executive chef, and a broad reflection of her experiences in France, including lesser-known regions such as Franche-Comté and Jura. “French food is something that I have always skewed toward in my menu development in various restaurants I’ve worked in over the past 10 years,” she says. “So I’m really excited to be able to dive into French food on a deeper and more specific level with this project.”

The menu is lighter and more vegetable-forward than you might expect 

After a recent bistro tour of Paris, Durrant noticed that Parisian bistros often serve lighter food than what the French bistros in Chicago and around the country tend to portray. “I’ve been trying to write a menu that feels lighter and more vegetable-forward, and I’m definitely looking toward southern regions that have an Italian influence,” she says. Here, she’s using less meat and animal products overall, so the menu has plenty of delicious options for vegan and vegetarian diners.

Durrant’s housemade veggie burger has already proven itself as a major hit. It’s a proprietary blend of grains, beans, and dry-roasted root vegetables with tomato paste, a spice blend, and mushroom duxelles for umami. The patty is gluten-free and fried like a falafel, then smashed on the flat top so it stays crispy and doesn’t get mushy or soggy on the bun. “It’s not just something that feels like a substitution,” Durrant says. “I’m really proud that we’ve had a lot of guests that are definitely not vegetarian come in to enjoy it.”

The menu will change seasonally. “Looking forward to the fall menu, we’re developing a very regionally specific dish called ravioles,” Durrant says. “These are really tiny thumbnail-sized ravioli filled with turnip greens and Comté, the cheese of that region. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it on a menu in the United States. It’s something that’s really nostalgic for me.” In the meantime, she’s wrapping up summer with market-driven inspiration, and doing a lot of Provençal-style cooking. “We have great access to produce from Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, so I’m always inspired by that,” she says. 

Brunch will be a banger

Brunch hasn’t launched yet, but it’s in the works, and it’s going to be epic. Expect less regional focus, and less eggs than what you might be used to. “There won’t be 10 dishes with poached and sunny-side eggs,” Durrant says. “One thing I feel the neighborhood is lacking is a solid breakfast sandwich, so we’ll have some options on housemade sourdough and English muffins, with pork belly and vegan sandwiches, as well as a traditional croque monsieur.”

And you have to try the Grand Déjeuner, a lavish breakfast spread with breads, cheese, jams, oeufs mayonnaise, cured or smoked fish, veggie crudité, and more. “Sometimes breakfast in France is just a little snack,” Durrant says. “But when it is a sit down affair, it’s a whole tablescape.”

Amber Gibson is a Chicago-based journalist specializing in travel, food, and wine. Her work has appeared in Departures, Food & Wine, Saveur, Bon Appétit, and Travel + Leisure. Follow her here; follow Resy, too.