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Why should return guests to Ravinia

be excited about the rejuvenated

Dining Pavilion?

There’s a lot more to offer and there’s

more accessibility. And wherever you

go you can get your drink in a to-go

cup and take it into the park. We have

a third restaurant now, the Lawn Bar,

which will be casual with regional

American cooking like lobster rolls, a

bucket of mussels, barbecue, and more.

I broke it down into regions and styles:

New England, Midwest vegetables,

Cali–Pan Asian, Tex-Mex, and Deep

South—we’re also playing with this

regional American thing as part of the

micro-seasonal idea. I hope people

will appreciate my cooking style. The

chef who I replaced was brilliant, but

his passion was Mediterranean, so the

venues had a heavy Mediterranean feel.

I’m trying to give our restaurants a more

American feel.

How would you describe your culinary

style?

“Less is more.” I was raised with

traditional French cooking style and

came up when guys still shouted at you

in languages you didn’t understand.

This was before there was music in the

kitchens, tattoos, and short sleeves.

It was old school. One of the things I

picked up from my mentors, like Jean-

Georges Vongerichten, is you don’t need

a ton of things to make a presence on a

plate, but you do need focused flavors.

I want you to come here and see what

you just saw at Green City Market.

Sensibility and simplicity is a big thing

for me in my cooking.

You really got your start cooking at

Katzinger’s Delicatessen in Columbus,

OH. How did that shape the chef you

are today?

It was the first time I was exposed to

a kitchen that made everything from

scratch. Everything that seemed simple

still took a long time to make, like

chicken stock made daily, matzo balls

rolled out daily, etc. We would bake

bread all day and all of it was hand-

sliced. We just slung food out all day

with a line out the door. I was 21, 22 at

the time, and I would work a 10-hour

day and the place was never slow. The

owners always thanked me for being

there and for my hard work. I learned a

lot about management and how much

people matter. It made a big impression

on me. To this day my most valuable

assets are the people who are next to me:

my dishwashers, prep cooks, all of them.

What’s your ideal dinner to cook at

home for friends or family?

I’m a master of the one-pot dinner. The

other night, my oldest daughter, who is

18, came over and I met her boyfriend

for the first time. I made a pork loin

roast with vegetables and chunks of

sausage and bacon, and it roasted in

one pan. I served a big salad with crusty

bread and butter. When you cook for

living, you like to cook for your family

but not spend all the time cleaning. The

perfectly roasted chicken is a big deal in

my house.

What was one of your most

memorable or “a-ha” meals you had in

your life?

The most memorable meal … I think

I was 24, and my girlfriend and I ate at

Lutèce. I saved all my money for weeks

and I had like $189.70—every penny I

had with me. Mind you this was in the

early ’80s, the go-go ’80s with lots of

money flying around. They walked us

downstairs through the parlor to the

main dining room. The whole place

stopped and looked at us. They gave us

the crappiest table in the restaurant. My

menu had prices and hers didn’t. They

gave us a huge wine list, and that was the

first time I ever experienced continental

service, so there was a different person

for every task. They gave us each a roll

and I knocked mine off the table, but

I picked it up before anyone noticed.

But later the chef, André Soltner, came

out and I got to shake his hand. In that

moment, I knew I wanted to be a chef. It

was such a cool experience.

Ari Bendersky is a lifestyle journalist specializing in

food, wine, spirits, and travel who was the founding

editor of

Eater Chicago

and has written for the

New York Times

,

WSJ

magazine,

Men’s Journal

,

Wine Enthusiast

, and

Crain’s Chicago Business

. A

Highland Park native, he has seen countless shows

at Ravinia and has even been on its stage twice—

for his middle- and high-school graduations.

RAVINIA MAGAZINE | JUNE 1 – JUNE 17, 2018

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