Restaurant news: Pierogi Kitchen in Wicker Park among 11 notable openings and closings around Chicago
Brisket pierogi, a pierogi Benedict and a flaming absinthe cocktail inspired by a dragon in Krakow, Poland, may not be what your babcia made. But they’re just a few highlights on the menu at Pierogi Kitchen. The new Polish American restaurant just opened in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood on Jan. 1.
Chef Artur Wnorowski co-owns the business with his wife, manager Gosia Pieniazek.
“It’s our newest baby,” Pieniazek said. She’s originally from Rzeszów, in the south of Poland, and he’s from Kwidzyn in the north. “And it’s just very close to our hearts.”
Some of the pierogi may be more modern, but the dough is traditional. The recipe has been made by generations of family, Wnorowski said, and passed down to them. They do make classic pierogi filled with potato and cheese, as well as sauerkraut and mushroom.
And then there are the more personal pierogi.
“We do smoked brisket pierogi, duck confit pierogi, truffle pierogi and sweet ricotta with strawberry sauce pierogi,” the chef said. “And there’ll be more seasonal pierogi in the summertime. We will pick some sour cherries in Michigan and do a ricotta sour cherry pierogi.”
They also have a history of smoking meats at their other restaurants, Earl’s BBQ and Ella’s BBQ. Plus the current space was previously their third barbecue restaurant, Firewood BBQ.
“So not only pierogi, but smoking, which is part of Polish culture as well,” he added. “Smoking is a big thing back home.”
The brisket pierogi has become an early fan favorite, Wnorowski said, with potato and cheese popular on the traditional side.
“We are using our 14-hour smoked brisket that we smoke in the house here,” the chef said. He chops the brisket, adds vegetable broth, then seasons with dry rub, before wrapping the filling with freshly made pierogi dough. They’re boiled to order, then sauteed in onions, leeks and butter.
“And it comes with a side of sour cream,” Pieniazek said.
“So it’s an explosion of flavors,” Wnorowski said. “Not only from the smoked brisket, but also the veggie broth. We have an eight-hour veggie broth that’s a base for a lot of dishes.” That includes the fermented beet soup barszcz, finished with mini pierogi.
And then there’s sausage.
“We sold out of sausage a couple times already,” the chef said. He paused, then added. “I’d rather call it kielbasa, because it is traditional kielbasa made with pork shoulder, a little bit of chuck roast, garlic, pepper, just cured and then smoked.”
In Chicago, you need to clarify that it’s kielbasa and not a Maxwell Street-inspired Polish sausage at a hot dog stand.
“It’s totally different,” Wnorowski said.
Also different is his pierogi Benedict.
“We use our potato and cheese pierogi as a base for Benedict in place of English muffins,” the chef said. “We do poached eggs on top with hollandaise, smoked paprika and a bit of green onions on top. And it comes with crispy, spicy breakfast potatoes.”
Speaking of spice, the Chicago-style, Polish American drinks offer some unexpected smoke and fire.
“Especially the 1856,” Wnorowski said. The name refers to their address on North Avenue, and the drink has Żubrówka Bison Grass Vodka and apple juice. “That’s like a typical drink, but that’s too typical for us, so we give it a little bit of Chicago love with some Malört and smoked tea.”
He also just added a new cocktail called Smok Wawelski, a call back to the Wawel Dragon statue in Krakow.
“The dragon spits fire every hour or so,” the chef said. “It’s a big cultural event in Poland. We’re talking back from the ‘80s and ‘90s when there were no fireworks and everything was boring.” He grew up in communist Poland, he said, so he understands how that was the only entertainment for local kids back then.
He mixes absinthe and Spirytus, a 192 proof Polish spirit, sets it all on fire, before serving on ice.
But the focus is still on pierogi, so much so that they hope to launch pierogi making classes sometime after Easter.
“We’re working on a space in the back of the restaurant,” said Wnorowski, who hopes to get their kids involved in the family business. “But they’re very busy right now, because they’re teenagers.”
After all, they’re teenagers in Chicago, who have more than teens in Krakow, who once had only fire spitting dragons.
1856 W. North Ave., 773-799-8273, pierogikitchenchicago.com
More new and notable restaurant and bar openings, in alphabetical order:
Akahoshi Ramen
Mike Satinover, aka Ramen_lord on Reddit, finally has his own restaurant. Akahoshi Ramen, his highly anticipated shop in Logan Square, quietly opened last November. Slurp on the signature Akahoshi miso with house-made crinkly Sapporo-style noodles and pork chashu, a classic shoyu with clear soup or aburasoba, a soupless bowl with extra thick noodles and garlic.
2340 N. California Ave., akahoshiramen.com
BSL Soul
The Baton Show Lounge, home of the longest-running drag show in the city, revealed an intimate cocktail bar and soul food experience. BSL Soul danced into Uptown on Jan. 11 (Block Club Chicago first reported news of the opening). Say enchanté to owner and performer Toni Rodgers, onstage as Lady Toni Valentino, and her “soul food with a sexy twist” menu featuring a Sexy Soul Burrito, Sexy Wangz and Touch Yourself Sweet Potato Pie.
4703 N. Broadway, 312-527-9643, thebatonshowlounge.com/bsl-soul
Honey Butter Fried Chicken Glencoe
Chefs and business partners Christine Cikowski and Josh Kulp have added a suburban location to their flock. Honey Butter Fried Chicken hatched in Glencoe on Jan. 16. You’ll find the classic combos with fried chicken, corn muffins and honey butter, of course, plus the return of their dump cake, and this month’s special is cherry with cola whip.
668 Vernon Ave., Glencoe; 847-744-8367; honeybutter.com
Maxwells Trading
Executive chef Erling Wu-Bower (Pacific Standard Time, The Publican) and his Underscore Hospitality partner Josh Tilden (Lettuce Entertain You, One Off Hospitality Group) named their new restaurant after the former’s son, but do note it’s plural, not possessive. Maxwells Trading launched its Chicago-inspired menu on the Kinzie Industrial Corridor on Dec. 30. Chef Christopher Jung is cooking French onion griddle bread, paired with dips that they call dunks, plus clay pot rice with pork belly, Chinese lap cheong sausage and Koshihikari rice from the Yamagata prefecture in Japan.
1516 W. Carroll Ave., 312-896-4410, maxwellstrading.com
Ramova Grill and Taproom
Chili is back. Ramova Grill reopened its legendary doors at last, along with a new taproom, in Bridgeport on Jan. 3. Chef Kevin Hickey and his team from The Duck Inn nearby are not re-creating the old Ramova chili, but still making it Midwestern-style with ground beef and spices, plus a weekly pork chop suey special, all to pair with beer by Other Half Ramova, cocktails or a pink Pepto-Boozemol shot.
3520 S. Halsted St., ramovachicago.com
Signature Bar
Chef Stephen Gillanders (S.K.Y., Apolonia, Valhalla) and Israel Idonije (Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions) have teamed up for what they’re calling an “elevated sports bar” and restaurant. Signature Bar kicked off in the South Loop on Jan. 24. Tackle game days and date nights with their Signature burger and fries, rapini and ricotta flatbread or wagyu croquettes.
1312 S. Wabash Ave., 773-572-1622, signaturebar.com
Turner Haus Brewery
A Black family-owned brewery on the South Side, brewing beer with their ancestors in mind, naming them all after women in the extended family, has opened a taproom. Turner Haus Brewery celebrated its grand opening in Bronzeville on Nov. 30. Meet co-owners Steven Turner, Blair Turner-Aikens and Nathaniel Aikens, along with Helen, a grapefruit lager; Eliza, a cherry oak-aged saison; and Queen’s Legacy, a Caribbean-style stout aged in Uncle Nearest whiskey barrels, the beer named in honor of Victoria Butler, master blender and great-great-granddaughter of Nathan “Nearest” Green, who taught Jack Daniel distilling.
78 E. 47th St. (located in Sip & Savor at the Rosenwald Courts), 773-805-9272, turnerhausbrew.com
Restaurant closures, in chronological order:
Passion House Coffee Roasters, which weathered the worst of the pandemic by giving away brew and beans to hospitals and the Red Cross, will close its cafe in Logan Square after seven years on Jan. 31, but its sibling on Goose Island remains open, and a new long-awaited cafe is expected to awaken at the roastery in Garfield Park this March. 2631 N. Kedzie Ave., 773-698-6649, passionhousecoffee.com
Big Kids, the sandwich shop voted Best New Restaurant in our Readers’ Choice Awards in 2021, opened by chefs Ryan Pfeiffer (Blackbird) and Mason Hereford (Turkey and the Wolf in New Orleans), will close after three years in its prominent corner in Logan Square on Feb. 4. 2545 N. Kedzie Blvd., bigkidschicago.com
Jade Court, the Chinese restaurant founded by late restaurateur Eddy Cheung in 2016, rising from his dim sum palace Phoenix in Chinatown, will host one last Lunar New Year feast to herald the Year of the Dragon with chef, owner and dutiful daughter Carol Cheung and chef Art Smith on Feb. 11, then close in Hyde Park on Feb. 29 (Eater Chicago first reported news of the closure). 1516 E. Harper Court, 773-966-4106, jadecourtrestaurant.com
In memoriam
John Latino, co-owner of The Bongo Room restaurants, the culinary godfather of the beloved brunch destinations founded in 1993, a pioneer in the art of the creative morning meals that had generations wait longingly in lines to seek sustenance, died at 58 on Jan. 11 (Block Club Chicago first reported the news). Services have been held.
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