A Q&A with Bohemian House Chef Jimmy Papadopoulos
Hello everyone! This week we visited Bohemian House in River North, Bistro Dre in Lakeview, and Uru Swati on Devon. I am half Eastern European – Lithuanian – and grew up with my maternal grandmother making pierogies from scratch, wurst and sauerkraut, and decadent potato pudding known as kugelis. Rich, hearty cooking has a special place in my heart. Despite a large Eastern European population in Chicago, it is not easy to find restaurants that focus on this type of cuisine. So I was thrilled when Bohemian House opened. It is definitely not your grandmother’s cooking as it has a modern twist, but it has the soul of the cuisine. This week I spoke with Chef Jimmy Papadopoulos and beverage director Danny Bautista of Bohemian House to learn more about their “BoHo” chic restaurant. Here’s what they had to say:
Q. I’m not sure you can get any more Greek than Jimmy Papadopoulos. What drew you to Eastern European/Czech cuisine?
Chef Jimmy Papadopoulos: I had been long yearning to shift my career into a more passion-driven direction. I had not intended or been looking for a concept that was guided by a specific cuisine…I just knew that I was at a crossroads in my career and wanted to begin working toward my dream. In making the decision to pursue a new creative route, I met the developers of Bohemian House, and it just clicked. Everything felt right. I could really see that they were passionate about bringing a concept to Chicago’s dining scene that was needed, and then I began realizing the autonomy to take this heritage and culture’s cooking to a new place while staying true to its roots.
Chicago has such an extensive history of being a major city to which Europeans immigrated to lay roots and start anew. They brought their heritage, their cooking, and their culture, which flourish throughout neighborhoods in Chicago today. It just all clicked for me, and thankfully is still clicking!
Q. You grew up drawing and have an artistic background. How does that inform your creative process when concepting dishes and on plating/presentation?
Chef Jimmy Papadopoulos: Without sounding shallow, a huge part of who I am is my love for aesthetics. When something is visually beautiful, whether it be a complex, intricate, and meticulous arrangement or an understated vegetable in its prime, I tend to really connect with the first impressions of food…the style. It sets the stage for the core of what makes food delicious and enriching. I always lean towards saying that our food has both style and substance, and I always look to find balance in both.
Grilled Chicken Paprikash at Bohemian House
Q. I’m part Eastern European and so the food at Bohemian House reminds me of my maternal grandmother’s cooking (but with a modern twist!). Many people aren’t familiar with this kind of cooking. What flavor profiles can people expect and what do you recommend they order?
Chef Jimmy Papadopoulos: Our cooking is rich…. and I don’t mean that in the sense of “richness” – meats, carbs, butter, creams, fats, etc. Eastern European cuisine tends to be packed with richness! I use the term in the sense of a “rich” heritage and an “enriching” experience. The quality of the products we source, and the technique and style we apply to creation of the dishes find a thread of inspiration from a European mindset. We combine this with our Midwestern sensibility.
Where and how we source the majority of our products, and how we cook through the four seasons of our region influences our menu. Our cooking is packed with beautiful vegetables through the summer months, and we tend to use plenty of pickles and preserves to sail us into the winter months. We butcher beautiful Heritage Breed Hogs and chickens that are raised here in Illinois. We produce our own sausages from old world recipes and make our own mustard and sauerkrauts. The Midwest and Eastern Europe have the same cycles of seasons. We really work hard to adopt convey a comfortable Bohemian vibe in the kitchen and in the style of the restaurant. The majority of our old world cooking comes into play and balances with a modern day mindset. We look for a balance and synergy between the two. Everything we put on our plates is produced in-house, and I really hope people can feel that when they spend their time with us. I recommend trying our Hungarian Langos, Goulash, Grilled Chicken Paprikash, and any of our Wursts to get a feel of the artisan, product-, and heritage-driven cooking that we are up to in the kitchen.
BoHo Spread at Bohemian House
Q. Czech beer is awesome, but the cocktail program at Bohemian House is definitely worth a look. Can you talk a bit about your beverage program and some of the cocktails you think are unique and/or perfect pairings for the food?
Danny Bautista: The direction for our beverage program is to always find the same balance and seasonality that Chef drives in the kitchen. When he is bringing in fresh stone fruits, berries, or beautiful herbs in the summer months, I am working them into our cocktails. When the winter season is shifting, I also begin shifting – towards darker richer flavors with dried fruits and heartier spirits. We look for inspiration not only from European spirits, but also from flavors that excite and surprise our guests. We rotate through a solid selection of European beers that are a perfect match for the cooking and culture of our cuisine, as well as a concise wine list that offers both old and new world selections that pair perfectly with an experience at BoHo.
I’ll see you tonight and stay tuned next week for three more great restaurants and some more inside dish right here!
Cheers,
Catherine
