Go All In on All Together Now, Ukrainian Village’s Charming Wine-and-Cheese Cafe

The Menu Is Small But Mighty

Overseen by chef Abigail Zielke since the beginning, the kitchen at All Together Now has consistently turned out a menu that offers something for everyone. Small but impactful, it relies largely on local produce and essentials with a twist. Zielke has a fine dining background (Elizabeth, Next) that, coupled with her Midwestern roots, is the driving force behind a menu that feels familiar but executed in a thoughtful way.

Take, for example, the cheese curds, one of the best-selling (and most delicious) offerings. Made from goat cheese from Wisconsin’s Blakesville Creamery, they come with a cherry bomb pepper honey and fresh herbs, taking a standard Midwest dish and adding a signature flair to it. “If people are inclined to look closely or think hard about the menu, they’ll find a lot to chew on,” said Weber, who credits Zielke as a “wonderfully talented human with a clear vision.”

And if you just want to enjoy the food without dissecting that, you’ll leave plenty satisfied. The menu, which works for lunches, happy hours, and dinners alike, features plates both small (rosemary potato rosti) and large (heirloom tomato panzanella), which tend to shift with the seasons; a killer lineup of sandwiches ranging from beef brisket dip to smashed white bean; meat and cheese board options; and sweet treats like chess pie and almond cake.

All Together has also expanded their catering offerings, including drop-off meals that feature fan-favorites like their grazing tables, for which they build snack landscapes in homes, offices, or other venues, in addition to events catering with full wine pairings.

The Cheese Counter Did Not Come to Play

The vision for All Together Now always included a cheese counter. The goal was for guests to have an approachable way to get to know cheeses more deeply, and to provide an educational component beyond what’s simply on the menu. The counter is stocked, both with the best examples of more familiar cheeses—like a Manchego made by a farm that feeds baby sheep muesli while playing them mariachi music, and a benchmark English bandaged cheddar that has been made with the same set of cultures for decades—and some truly unique offerings that will likely be new to most—like Rogue River Blue, a cow’s milk blue from Oregon wrapped in pear brandy-soaked Syrah grape leaves, or Blakesville Creamery’s Artze, an award-winning soft sheep milk cheese with Espelette pepper flakes and a geotrichum rind. This selection typically includes at least 30% domestic offerings, said Weber.

All of the cheeses at the counter are cut-to-order, which allows the team to give samples and talk freely about the wares. Weber is passionate about this, adamant that both her team and her guests feel welcomed into a culture of curiosity, where asking questions and trying new things doesn’t feel intimidating. Though All Together Now is a small team running a shop that’s open six days a week, Weber tries to make as much time as possible for staff education, including staff visits to cheese producers and encouraging the team to taste anything and everything. “We can talk about what it means to have a different milk type or rind style but without the sensory experience to tie it in, it escapes,” she said.

The cheese counter is supplemented by an intimate pantry section, which Weber lovingly refers to as a “friends of cheese” shelf, packed full of crackers, pickles, preserves, and honey, some of which is made in-house. Weber’s rule? If it couldn’t go on a picnic, it doesn’t go on the shelf.

The Wine Lists (and Shelves) Hit

Wine is a foundational part of the mission at All Together Now. Offering bottles for sale as well as a dynamic by-the-glass list that gets swapped out several times a week, Weber and her team offer an accessible experience for beverages. “We want everyone to feel like [wine] can be easy and fun,” she said. Any bottle on the shelf can be enjoyed alongside a meal or snack with just a $20 corkage fee, significantly less expensive than your typical restaurant experience.

Much like at the cheese counter, guests will find a variety of different styles on the shelf.  “Natural wine is a fraught, undefined term with cultural connotations, deserved and not, but to us, it represents people who let grapes and place set the tone rather than the other way around,” Weber said. “We want bottles with a story, a thread people can grab onto and relate to.”

Both old world and new world wines sit on the shelves at All Together Now, and Weber’s favorites range far and wide. On the more familiar side, she loves the Clos du Tue-Boeuf ‘Vin Blanc,’ which she calls the ultimate “table white,” made by a referential family winery from the Loire Valley. You’ll also find easy-drinking rosato-style wines from Central Italy, and more unique offerings like Mendall ‘La Barrica de Thierry,’ a natural Catalan Cariñena (Carignan), which Weber recommends pairing with anything that cooks low and slow; and a Le Mazel ‘Cuvee Charbonnieres,’ an aromatic dessert wine with hints of candied citrus and marzipan.

Last but not least, the fridge and shelves are also stocked with ciders, beers, and non-alcoholic beverages that range from local to far-flung. Chicago beers from Hopewell sit next to ciders from Las Mujeres, a Wisconsin-based producer that makes natural ciders and wines with fruit from the Driftless region.

The Party Continues Next Door

“The four walls of All Together Now can only hold so much,” Weber said. That’s why, in 2025, All Together Now took over a space a few doors west that had previously been a vintage shop. In the same hands-on, it-takes-a-village way that they dove into All Together Now, the crew threw themselves into reimagining the space to be a hub for events, hand-building the space as a team in collaboration with Liv Dehaan of Albe Shoppe. The illustrated crown molding was done by general manager Krissy Singer, Weber’s mom sewed the curtains, and her dad hung hardware.

The space, which is flexible and can be formatted into different layouts for occasions ranging from seated meals to casual receptions for groups of up to 65, is full of the same colors, textures, and energy that has made All Together Now a fan favorite. “The space [is] meant to feel like  a really cool living room where you can hang out, but not have to do the cooking and cleaning,” said Weber. Aside from private events, Present Company also partners with local creatives to host classes like natural dye workshops and basketweaving afternoons. “It really allows us to play with more people in more ways,” said Weber.