Chef Kyle Spina plates sushi at Hollywood Casino Aurora’s Tabo Sushi. (Kevin Beese/Chronicle Media)
The band is back together, and that should be sweet music to diners’ ears.
Chefs who made a name for themselves in the Chicago area have teamed up to provide food offerings to visitors to the new Hollywood Casino Aurora, which opens to the public Wednesday evening, June 24.
Stephanie Izard of Girl & The Goat, Rick Ortiz of Antique Taco, Rich Camarota and Shawn McClain of Five 50 Pizza, Takashi Yagihashi of Tabo Sushi, and Bill Kim of Urbanbelly are all providing fare at the Chicago area’s newest casino,
“It’s like going back home,” Kim said of being reunited with the other chefs. “We all kind of grew up together, so it’s really nice to see that we can come back and be with each other and work as a team.”
“There are a lot of ties,” he added. “To have all of Chicago’s best in one location is great. We’ve always wanted to expand. This is a great way. We get to be with great operators who think alike. It’s great to be here.”
The chefs all have their own individual stands in The Boulevard Food & Drink Hall, one of the casino’s food destinations.
“We loved working together back then,” McClain said of reuniting with his peers.
McClain, who has more than 20 years in the Chicago restaurant industry, said many of the food stands at Hollywood Casino Joliet were imported to the Aurora facility, with a few more offerings added, such as Kim’s Urbanbelly.
Pretty Cool Ice Cream, a Chicago start-up by pastry chef Dana Cree and Michael Ciapciak, is also part of the offerings at Hollywood Aurora.
Izard was McClain’s hot appetizers cook in an earlier time.
“There was a day when I was yelling at Stephanie to make more spring rolls and raviolis,” McClain laughed. “She used to talk to herself a lot and it sounded like ‘Rain Man.’ She would try to repeat orders to herself to remember them.”
Bill Kim stands in front of his Urbanbelly stand in the Boulevard Food & Drink Hall at Hollywood Casino Aurora. The casino opens to the public at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. (Kevin Beese/Chronicle Media)
McClain said Izard’s Lucky Goat will offer hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, signature fries and other fare.
“There is no just normal route (with Stephanie),” he said. “Everything is layered, unique, creative, beautiful food, kind of wrapped in her personality, which is just fantastic.”
Antique Taco’s Ortiz said he is happy to be part of the Boulevard Food Hall.
“We already have some experience under our belt, and this is going to be even better,” Ortiz said.
McClain said it is a thrill to have great Chicago food names together in the suburbs.
“Not everyone has routine access to the city,” McClain said. “More life has started to grow and take root in the suburbs. To be able to expose (the restaurants) all under one roof, this is amazing. It is a feather in our cap that they trust their brands to us.”
He said visitors have one-stop shopping for quality food with the casino’s offerings.
To be able to tap into the Aurora and Naperville markets is a highlight of the Boulevard Food Hall, McClain noted.
Ben Jones, who oversees cuisine at the casino’s sports bar and Red Lotus restaurant, shows some of the sports bar’s food offerings. (Kevin Beese/Chronicle Media)
“There are so many communities in every direction here,” he said. “We realize the bar has been raised across the board with food and beverage. We really appreciated how PENN (Entertainment) was looking for the next level up. When they knew they were building a property, they wanted to be on the front edge of food and beverage.”
He said he appreciates being back with noted chefs who worked as line cooks like he was coming up the ranks.
“To see their successes is just amazing,” McClain said. “We thought, ‘Why not just focus and bring the best of Chicago together?’ To have the personal relationships is kind of the cherry on the top. It’s not a business relationship. It’s friends getting together to do something cool and to have a vision together. We’re thrilled the way it came out.”
Chef Ben Jones oversees the culinary offerings at both Hollywood Aurora’s sports bar and Red Lotus restaurant.
He joins Hollywood Aurora after stints in fine dining restaurants, hotels, resorts and a casino in Milwaukee.
“I fell in love with casinos the minute I got into one,” Jones said. “I couldn’t believe that I missed out on this through the last 30 years of my career.”
“More challenges than I’ve ever had in my career,” he said of casino work. “Every single day you walk in the door and if you’re not positive, if you don’t have an optimistic outlook, you’re done. I really walk in every day, bringing that to the table for my team, for my co-workers, for my employers. It’s really about that passion for me, about being optimistic.”
kbeese@chronicleillinois.com
