CHICAGO
The New Vanguard: Six Chicago Chefs Reshaping Windy City Kitchens
By Jamie Dutton | June 18, 2025
AUTHOR BIO: With family spread across the Midwest and a job that has her in airports regularly, Jamie Dutton finds herself across the center of the U.S. regularly. She’s partial to BPTs a Bell's.
You can tell a city’s future by watching who’s sweating on the line at 9 p.m.—not the guys collecting awards in tuxedos, but the ones still scrubbing down their own prep stations.
Chicago doesn’t lack for big-name chefs, the kind who’ve turned tasting menus into TED Talks. But this isn’t about them. This is about the chefs building something—often literally, from Craigslist equipment and Instagram hustle—who are putting out food that feels personal, surprising, sometimes a little chaotic. The kind that makes you stop halfway through a dish and think: “Wait, what is this?” Then eat it all anyway, just to be sure.
These six up-and-coming chefs are making Chicago’s dining scene feel new again. You may not know their names yet. But you will.
Damarr Brown
Chef de Cuisine, Virtue
Chicago locals may already know Damarr Brown as chef de cuisine at Virtue, but Brown isn’t satisfied settling for recognition. After training under Erick Williams at mk, he became the 2023 James Beard Emerging Chef. He blends Black Southern heritage with modern precision, elevating comfort food—think pimento cheese soufflé or fried chicken with unexpected spice—into something deeper. Brown’s food hits both heart and head, and he isn't slowing down.
Dominique Leach
Pitmaster & Owner, Lexington Betty’s Smokehouse
Dominique Leach is rewriting the BBQ script in Chicago. Owner of Lexington Betty's Smokehouse, Leach brings barbecue rooted in her grandmother's recipes, grit, and Chicago swagger. A winner on BBQ Brawl, Fire Masters, and Chopped, she leans hard into bold flavors and Black, queer identity—turning smoked meats into stories. Heated by adversity (a food truck fire led her to brick-and-mortar success), Leach is a force bringing heart, heat, and honesty to every bite.
Zubair Mohajir
Chef, The Coach House
Zubair Mohajir walked away from a stable consulting career to launch Wazwan as a ghost kitchen, then The Coach House—a tasting-menu destination hidden behind a curtain. His cuisine blends Tamil traditions with fine-dining polish and laid-back swagger, yielding something that’s genre-defiant and unforgettable. Every bite is a revelation—beautifully direct and meaningfully unexpected.
Mariya Moore-Russell
Chef, Connie’s Underground Supper Club
Mariya Moore-Russell made history in 2019 as the first Black woman to lead the kitchen of a restaurant that earned a Michelin star at Kumiko/Kikkō. She walked away to rediscover joy and now channels that into Connie’s, an intimate supper club honoring her late mother. No PR blitz, no press—just tight, Japanese-tinged tasting menus and Moore-Russell’s unmistakable voice. It's not just a comeback—it’s a reinvention.
Sahil Sethi
Chef and Culinary Director, Sifr
Sahil Sethi—formerly of ROOH, Bar Goa, and Indienne—partnered with mentor Sujan Sarkar to open Sifr in River North in 2023, a modern Middle Eastern restaurant built around a hearth fired by wood and charcoal. At Sifr, Sethi draws on his time in Abu Dhabi and travels across the Levant—Iran, Morocco, Lebanon, Jordan—to craft shareable mezze and hearty mains like lamb shank over Persian pilaf and Wagyu ribeye. The menu balances meat-forward bowls with standout vegan and vegetarian dishes—hummus from charred chickpeas, maitake skewers, hearth-roasted cauliflower—making it welcoming to all diets. It also earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand nod, proof that Sethi knows how to make refined food that people actually want to eat.
Jenner Tomaska
Chef and Co‑Owner, Esmé
Jenner Tomaska—fresh from a role in helping Next earn its Michelin star—is now co-anchoring Esmé with wife Katrina Bravo. It’s a high-end, gallery-adjacent experience, but more than that: an exploration of what community-focused fine dining could be. Each course is a conversation, every plate a piece of art made by Chicago creators. The food is intelligent but warmly personal.
