Chef Trevor Teich is coming back to Chicago, and plans to turn Claudia, the pop-up restaurant he ran for three years, into a full-time, bricks-and-mortar restaurant.
With a little help via Kickstarter.
Teich, who spent the past year working in Las Vegas (mostly at the heralded Twist by Pierre Gagnaire) launched a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter at midnight Wednesday. His goal is $30,000, which will let him turn Claudia into the restaurant he always wanted.
“It was exciting and a privilege to work with such talented chefs (in Las Vegas),” he said, “but Chicago is my home town. It’s where I want to be.”
The original Claudia, for those who missed it, served dinner two Sundays per month, two seatings per Sunday, and a maximum 16 guests per seating, in a rented space on the West Side. “It was like setting up and breaking down an entire restaurant every Sunday,” he said. “We operated on a shoestring, and achieved more than I expected. With a regular staff and a regular kitchen.”
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Teich has a location in mind, but won’t say where it is, except that it’s “between Lincoln Square and the lakefront.” Claudia will have 25 to 30 seats and will offer two seatings — an early, six-course menu and a more leisurely, 10-course late seating. Menus will change about four times a year, though each menu, Teich said, will be tweaked with minor changes here and there.
Like the pop-up, Claudia will be BYOB, though Teich said he hopes to offer wine service eventually.
Contributors to the Kickstarter campaign can qualify for various rewards, from petit fours at the $25 level to a private dinner for 16 at the $5,000 level. In-between contributions earn dinner for two, four or more.
“With everybody’s help and support, I think I’ve got a really good shot at it,” Teich said.
Teich hopes to open Claudia by March or April 2020; he said he thinks he can have Claudia up and running sooner, but “I prefer to under-promise.”
Find the Claudia Kickstarter campaign here. Just over $5,000 has been pledged at this writing.
pvettel@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @PhilVettel
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