Across the street from the massive Lincoln Square construction site on the Western Brown Line stop (check out the piece of the Berlin Wall inside), and behind an unassuming storefront exterior, is the new home for Atelier (“workshop”) restaurant, recipient of one Michelin Guide star in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
The restaurant formerly known as Elizabeth, a few blocks north of the current location, Atelier, which opened on November 4, 2025, is still helmed by Tim Lacey, a leader in Chicago’s craft cocktail movement, who also lives in Lincoln Square. Executive chef Bradyn Kawcak collaborates with beverage director Ali Martin to create curated drink pairings from mostly female producers like Ashanta Wines, Responsible Hedonist, and Hirsch Vineyards throughout the tasting menu.
The delightful, mostly locavore, seasonal and globally inspired menu of multiple courses takes a while, so plan time to savor (i.e., not a pre-show spot or a place to go before any event with a tight deadline). Martin starts the progression with an heirloom pineapple Amaro Spritz, a smooth and drier aperitif with some roasted tang. The Larder course starts south of the border with “Viva Mexico,” a quintet including sassy pickled nopales escabeche (cactus pads); and aquachile (“chill water”) with kampachi crudo (Baja, Mexico yellowtail amberjack), a mighty morsel with curlicues of fermented peppers that “takes cues from Meso-America…balanced by the aguachile of husk cherry tepache” (fermented indigenous drink).
The infladita gobernador is a puffy fried tortilla filled with smoky and nutty salsa macha and the creamy foam gouda espuma, along with ground pumpkin seed pipian sauce over maitake (hen-of-the-woods) meaty mushrooms. The final dish of this course is carnitas tacos arabes, a fusion of Middle Eastern shawarma techniques with Mexican ingredients, along with sauces like yogurt salsa. Lovely, edible flowers garnish many dishes.
Another flavorful fivesome follows with the Kitchen course. Minnesota kale is served with apple, puffed rice, cultured cream, alongside a 2020 Brandini Alta Landa Metodo Classico Brut, a crisp and refreshing autumnal sip to mediate this “texture bomb.” The 2022 Laila “Love Letter” red Lebanese wine, tart, yeasty, and acidic to temper the garlic flavors (with a strikingly non-Western mouth feel), accompanies the marraaqueta. The crispy outside, light inside, Chilean bread is surrounded by a palette of sauces: a ramekin of spicy and bright chimichurri, creamy herbal Peruvian aji verde, Colombian garlic salsa de ajo, and black garlic butter.
The Lake Superior miso butter-poached walleye bite is made with rutabaga and dense, but not too spicy, kimchi on a buckwheat crepe, served with a 2023 Noble Dry Chenin Blanc from Willamette Valley, Oregon. Foie gras is served on Parmesan focaccia with pizza spice, tomato, and sports pepper jam, with a 2022 Little Trouble Grist Vineyard carbonic Zinfandel from Sonoma, with raspberry and bramble notes. The final nosh is tender bison teres major from Illinois’ Triangle B Ranch with sunchokes and fermented cherry jus, alongside a 2022 Stranger Wine Abigail’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from Lake Michigan Shore.
The final Pantry course proffers a delightful, cool palate cleanser of coconut and lemon verbena sorbet with Thai green curry sprinkles; watermelon foam and watermelon rind panna cotta that tastes like bubblegum; and a chestnut pear ganache opera cake, served with the herbal Spanish sherry by El Maestro Sierra.
Atelier is intimate, but finessed and mindful. Some of the walls are hand-painted, including whimsical mushrooms in the bathroom (by “@apainternamedmo”), cute white or black petite tasting plates (most look like shells), rustic and solid iron tableware with curlicue handles, and comforting handmade ceramic cups (by Little Fire Ceramics). The whimsical ceiling chandeliers are composed of paper recipe cards. The L-shaped kitchen is visible to interested diners directly or via a mirror. Scented warm towels are offered between each course, and when I visited, the music was bumping Boomer tracks, including “Baker Street,” “Go Ask Alice,” and “Don’t Fear the Reaper” (and yes, there was enough cowbell).
Atelier is located at 4544 N. Western Ave., open Tuesdays through Thursdays 5:30-9 pm, and Fridays and Saturdays 5-9 pm (closed Sundays and Mondays). For parties of five or six, or to book a private event, email to reserve (six-person party maximum). Atelier can accommodate vegetarian, pescatarian, and no red meat diets with 48-hour notice (vegan and dairy-free options not available).
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