Everything You Need to Know About Atelier, Serving Fine Dining Folk Cuisine in Lincoln Square
In Chicago’s crowded fine dining landscape, Atelier is something of a sleeper hit. Easily overlooked on an indiscriminate stretch of Western Avenue across from a McDonald’s, the warm dining room here is quietly serving one of the most interesting and delicious tasting menus in Chicago right now, focused on what could be described as “fine dining folk cuisine” (more on that in a minute).
After taking over the space formerly occupied by chef Iliana Regan’s Elizabeth, Atelier owner Tim Lacey has brought together a tight-knit team who are breathing new life into the space. Newly appointed executive chef Bradyn Kawcak is serving a playful menu rooted in local ingredients with surprising globally inspired twists. This year, Atelier plans to make more of a splash in the city, getting involved with more non-profit events, collaborations, and pop-ups. “Everyone is on board to be more involved with our community and get the word out there that we aren’t just a fine dining spot in Lincoln Square,” Kawcak says. “We have a lot more to offer.”
Here’s a primer on what to expect.
MORE FROM RESY
There’s a new executive chef.
If you don’t already know Bradyn Kawcak’s name, you will soon. While James Beard Award-nominated chef Christian Hunter remains a partner, Kawcak quietly took over the kitchen early last year and retained a Michelin star for Atelier in December. (“I won’t lie — it was nerve wracking, but I was confident,” he says about attending his first Michelin ceremony in New York.)
This is Kawcak’s first executive chef role, although he started as executive sous chef at the newly acquired Elizabeth in 2021 and helped with the transition to Atelier. The 30-year-old has proven he can handle the job with aplomb. “This type of restaurant and this atmosphere is exactly where I want to be,” Kawcak says. The menu is a constant creative evolution, and Kawcak aims to change a couple of dishes each week, so you can expect an entirely new menu every few months.
What exactly is “folk cuisine?”
The structure, ambiance, and aesthetic at Atelier hasn’t changed much since Kawcak took over from Hunter. “Christian and I share many of the same values,” Kawcak says. “The concept of folk dining is to bring [a sense of] comfort to a multi-course tasting menu. At the heart of it the use of local ingredients, and in finding inspiration in global cuisine,” he says. The biggest change for diners is a more precise plating style — Kawack prefers individual courses to Hunter’s hallmark, family-style shared plates.
So how does that manifest on the menu itself? Expect fine dining with a dash of whimsy. “Call it comfort or nostalgia, but I really was just this suburban kid eating pizza rolls and cheese curds,” Colorado native Kawcak says. “With 14-15 courses, I want to have that whimsicalness intertwined throughout the menu.”
One of the most memorable and fun courses on a recent menu was an ants on a log-inspired intermezzo with peanut buttermilk pudding, Cel-Ray granita, Concord grape jam, and peanut brittle. “We want to break the ice, and get you involved in the food to create memories, so you feel like you’re at your great aunt’s house. That’s the essence of folk cuisine,” Kawcak says.
The menu is divided into three sections — larder, kitchen, and pantry.
Kawcak’s 15-course tasting menu is divided into three acts, if you will. Kawcak makes a strong first impression with several bite-sized snacks presented all at once, incorporating fermented and preserved ingredients like pickles and terrines, resulting in dishes like a rutabaga dumpling stuffed with akaebi shrimp on a crispy einkorn koji cake.
Next comes a series of individual plates, with creative variations on the expected salad, soup, pasta, and protein courses. A sweet and spicy West African groundnut stew served with cassava crackers and spicy Haitian peanut butter was inspired by Kawcak’s time in Ghana. Salad comes in the form of a tower of root vegetable crudité atop a swipe of preserved lemon yogurt with airy freeze dried honey “croutons.” Pantry is the sweet conclusion, with an inverse twist on milk and cookies (chocolate chip cookie milk served beside a malted milk cookie), and grown-up fruit roll-up mignardise.
Order a beverage pairing.
Most guests at Atelier opt for one of three beverage pairings — wine, reserve wine, or spirit-free. “We absolutely keep the same ethos with beverages that we do in the back of the house,” Kawcak says. That means you’ll see sparkling wine from Illinois and Michigan available by the glass, along with local cider, beer, and unique non-alcoholic drinks all made in house. (Plans for an all-Michigan wine dinner later this year are already in the works.) A recent favorite was the zero-proof Sungold tomato juice and pepita orgeat concoction, which had all the bright acidity and a full body to match the red kuri squash and ricotta salata rotolo pasta with chestnut and black truffle.
Kawcak nerds out about local (really local!) farming.
Kawcak has bachelor’s degrees from the University of Washington in Seattle in economics and environmental studies, both focusing on urban agriculture. Although Elizabeth’s rooftop garden was shut down by their landlord, Kawcak is getting planters and looking for community garden space for this year. “I’m a nerd for flowers,” he says. “Edible flowers are fun, and I like using both the flower and leaf with calendula and nasturtium, for example. Sunflowers grow great here too, and we love Sungolds and cherry tomatoes. With Chicago’s climate and sunshine you can get a great tomato late into the year.”
Kawcak is also building close relationships with small regional farmers like Wild Trillium, Jake’s Country Meats, and Seedling Farms, whom he highlights by name on his menu. “A lot of this dead winter time is planning for what this growing season will bring,” he says. “Working more in partnership with our purveyors and products is really important to me this year. I want to help in whatever way I can, whether it be taking extra product off their hands, or if they are able to order seeds and grow something for us.”
Grab a larder box to go.
Atelier recently started offering larder and pastry boxes for pick-up on select weekends, as a way to boost revenue at a slower time of year. Popular bites like bleu cheese and bacon canelé make an appearance, along with venison pâté and crackers, caramel popcorn, and lavender lemon chamomile scones. Think of it as a Michelin-starred girl dinner. And there’s more to come: “This is the start of many ideas,” Kawcak says. “I have a great kitchen team right now so I have the freedom to do more collaborations and pop-ups or pastry boxes. We want to be a little more holistic about what Atelier is for the community.”
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.
