Café des Architectes Goes Cave-to-Table
Farm-to-table, sea-to-table, and market-to-table are prominent practices in Chicago restaurants, but what’s not so common is the chef who goes the extra mile by conceptualizing his own market of sorts. Chestnut Provisions is that market and Greg Biggers is that chef. The executive chef at Sofitel Chicago Water Tower’s Café des Architectes has released a new passion project focused on enhancing the menus at the restaurant and its adjoining Le Bar.
Considering Café des Architectes’ penchant for seasonality and locality, not to mention Biggers’ and pastry chef Leigh Omilinsky’s proclivity for seasonal cookery, Chestnut Provisions was a seamless new rung in the ladder. The chefs have taken matters into their own hands by augmenting their local sourcing with housemade cheeses, charcuterie, jams, and preserves, all for the intent of accentuating the dining menus at the restaurant and bar, along with private dining and amenity programs. For locavore diners, this progression is a dream come true, minimizing the path from source to table so much so that products are crafted literally steps away, rather than miles.
While Chestnut Provisions is a seamless addition to local dining protocol, it wasn’t necessarily a seamless effort to achieve the dream. The laborious endeavor required achieving HACCP (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points) certification for the hotel and its dining operations. Further licensing enables Biggers to can products, dry-age meat, and use sous vide cookery. At the end of the day, the kitchen was able to acquire a license to become a Dairy Manufacturing Plant, a strenuous process that demands strict standards. Now equipped with a cheese-production facility and a temperature-controlled cheese cave, Chestnut Provisions became a reality.
Hence, the initiative features an assortment of cave-aged cheeses, charcuterie, jams, and preserves. The repertoire will only expand over time, as longer aged cheeses make their debut and seasonal produce gets the pickling treatment.
Café des Architectes
20 E. Chestnut Street, Chicago
(312) 324-4063
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