Todd Stein still remembers the way molten cheese rested upon the croutons in his favorite childhood restaurant’s french onion soup.
A desire to learn how that dish’s recipe led him to spend a day in Highland Park’s now-closed Shrimp Walk kitchen as part of a middle school assignment. But getting an intimate look of how the entire menu was crafted inspired Stein to become a chef in more than a dozen kitchens across the country.
Decades later, Stein, 53, has returned to his hometown area to open a restaurant of his own — a modern and American brasserie-styled sit-down eatery — with his childhood friend Josh Kaplan. The two opened Deere Park, 200 Green Bay Road in Highwood, on April 8 and began accepting reservations on May 31.
“We wanted a place that people felt comfortable and could have fun in. It’s not this stuffy restaurant. We’re not trying to be pretentious,” Stein said. “The food is definitely elevated, but again, it’s roasted chicken and branzino and salmon and things that people are familiar with.
“We want people to have a place to come to that’s not a far drive for them and really be able to unwind and relax and eat, drink and be with their friends.”
The menu at Deere Park, open from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and to 8:30 p.m. on Sundays, boasts a range of American fare with French, Italian and Asian influences, with dishes such as lobster dumplings and rigatoni. Reservations are preferred but walk-ins for the 200-seat dining room are welcome.
Stein went to college in Texas after graduating from high school but returned to Illinois after one semester. He then worked in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Foodstuffs in Evanston. Around gourmet food again, he started cooking more at home and decided to enroll in culinary school.
Just a month into his studies at Kendall College, Stein recalled being shocked when a career advisor asked his class if anyone wanted to work in the Gordon, a three-star boutique restaurant in Chicago, and he was the only student to put his hand up.
Little did Stein know, the executive chef there would soon be replaced by Keith Korn from Washington D.C., who hired Stein on the spot. It was his first job as a line cook, but Stein was already exposed to the most luxurious ingredients and the best mentor he could ask for.
Thus began a long career in different kitchens. Stein bounced from the Moulin de la Vierge bakery in Paris to the Park Avenue Cafe, the Hudson Club and the mk in Chicago. He also cooked for TWO urban licks in Atlanta, the Sans Souci in Cleveland and the BANK restaurant in Minneapolis.
But after earning multiple accolades and becoming the culinary director for the Ballyhoo Hospitality restaurant group, Stein wanted to do something he had yet to accomplish: open and operate his own local restaurant.
When you sit down at your table … everything kind of, I don’t want to say evaporates, but you become part of the ambience, and your table is really the centerpiece.”
Todd Stein, owner of new Highwood restaurant Deere Park
He then connected with Kaplan, who worked as the general manager of mk and whom Stein had known since the two were 6 years old.
Stein said they wanted to provide a menu of familiar American food sourced from the best quality ingredients and served with a slight twist. For example, Stein took a common branzino recipe and he butterflies the fish and garnishes it with pea tips, a sprout common in Chinese cooking.
Inside the pair pursued an intimate setting with lots of wood, cement and earth tones. The design echoes a hospitality ethos that focuses on the diner’s entire experience, not just the food — something Stein said he learned from the Chicago chef Michael Kornick at mk.
“When you sit down at your table — and there’s these beautiful lamps on every table so when it gets dark, it’s easier to read and see — everything kind of, I don’t want to say evaporates, but you become part of the ambience, and your table is really the centerpiece,” Stein said.
“Yes, there’s people around you and all of that, but everything kind of disappears a little bit, and you’re in your own little world.”
Stein’s excited to have already served repeat customers since opening, but he emphasized the difficulty of running a restaurant. Eight days or even eight weeks of training can’t prepare his staff of 30 for live service in a business that strives for a home run every guest, every plate of food, every night, he said.
The head chef said he’s otherwise looking forward to opening the restaurant’s outdoor patio, starting a happy hour and adapting Deere Park’s menu as the seasons change. The restaurant already plans on offering four new cocktails and two new entrees this week, over which Stein said he enjoys having complete control.
And after working in the culinary industry for so many years, Stein said he’s employing lessons he’s taken from other kitchens when it comes to making Deere Park place his staff and customers want to return to: Smile and be nice, even when it’s hard; The answer to questions is usually yes, it’s just a matter of how.
“You know, people have been very receptive to what we’re doing,” Stein said. “We’ve been busy. It’s been fun. It’s been exhausting. There’s been a lot of laughing. It’s been a wonderful beginning.”
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