Tell anyone you’re from Chicago and they will immediately crack a joke about winter. You know what those mild temperate dwellers miss out on though? Meals that are better than blankets. While they are off sitting on a patio every season of the year eating eggs Benedict and floppy pancakes, Chicagoans now have the added perk of doing brunch British style and this means Sunday Roast. Thanks to Hawksmoor, the award-winning London steakhouse, now spanning the globe, the traditional Sunday Roast is Chicago’s newest brunch trend and, personally, I hope it sticks.
Inside Hawksmoor is all warm wood paneling, bronze fixtures and lighting that feels like a fireplace is roaring nearby. It is upscale, yet not overly prim, it’s comfortably classic, the perfect setting for cashmere and gravy to meet. And every Sunday as of their first Sunday Roast launch on September 29, they will. The Sunday Roast is a British tradition, done, as you may guess, every Sunday dating back to the 15th century. It began with religious roots, as many abstained from meat the rest of the week and came together for a special meal every Sunday. The tradition lives on today as families each week gather and bask in the comfort of each other’s company and Sunday supper style cuisine.
While at Hawksmoor, I spoke with co-founder Huw Gott, who was in from the UK for the launch of the Sunday Roast here in Chicago, and he hopes that this too will become a Chicago tradition. Filled with the memories of mothers, aunts and grandmothers gathering to cook the meal as cousins played, this is something so ingrained in his culture and upbringing, it is astonishing it isn’t global already. Coming from a long line of butchers and Welsh farmers, Gott knows meat, and after spending each Sunday eating the traditional British fare he is the perfect expert to be creating this new tradition across the pond.
The Sunday Roast is the equivalent of Thanksgiving every week, with a rump roast, Yorkshire pudding, and crisp potatoes. The trimmings keep going with roasted carrots and garlic with steamed cabbage, all to be topped with bone marrow and red wine gravy. There’s still more to add depending on your appetite. The extra fixin’s of cauliflower cheese, British stuffing, and roasted cippollini onions are a bonus feast in themselves. Despite being a steakhouse, the attention didn’t just land on the meat, everything down to the carrots, usually something easily phoned in and ignored, was cooked perfectly, held their own in flavor, and wasn’t an afterthought of health amongst the decadence.
It wouldn’t be brunch without a cocktail and Hawksmoor’s menu boasts everything from superior nonalcoholic options to the smooth brown butter old fashioned and spicy bloody mary. There’s even a malort martini if you want to keep it super Chicago. I’m personally looking forward to returning the second I see a wet snow coming down and making this the new brunch of the season. As the patrons next to us said before ordering the caesar salad, it’s not cold enough yet. You just wait, friends. It will be soon. Before you know it, those cold weather jokes will ring true, and we’ll still be underdressed yet never complaining as we fill our bellies with a meal worthy of no jacket.
Hawksmoor is located in River North at 500 N LaSalle Drive. For reservations and more information, visit thehawksmoor.com.