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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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