Drawing on a childhood spent hopping the pond between New York City and a small village in England, Out to Lunch Hospitality founder Andrew Miller worked to capture the feel of a welcoming neighborhood pub with his new Chicago supper club, Good Fortune.
“There’s an old pub on every corner in England. It’s a huge part of the culture. Nowadays, there’s a lot of that real estate waiting to be scooped up, so you have these intimate, lovely little village pubs being run by young, hungry, talented people,” Miller says.
Good Fortune’s split-level space is warm, fostering a dinner party–like atmosphere with an eight-seat bar in the front and a 44-seat dining room in the back. Guests in the plush, back-room booths are adjacent to an open kitchen centered by a wood-burning oven, lending a feel to the room that Miller says is residential, like dining in someone’s home. It’s an impressive feat, especially given that the concept’s genesis was as a temporary pop-up.
In contrast to the space, Good Fortune’s food-and-beverage offerings are far from that of a typical English pub. Instead, the creators opted for a blend of Mediterranean and Midwestern cuisines.
The menu is fairly small, with around 20 items, and encourages sharing among guests, with dishes like marinated beets with fennel, olives, orange, and a pine nut crumble, and crispy half chicken with apple dumpling, roasted carrots, cabbage, and jus.
Groups can sample almost all of the menu by ordering a few plates and then passing them around. “A lot of inspiration came from my dinner parties, everyone eating, sharing, laughing, proverbially breaking bread. At the end of the day, the takeaway is the experience. The food is a vehicle that helps people innately create memories,” Miller says.
Constructing a community-oriented dinner experience in a massive metropolis like Chicago might seem like a challenge, but Miller says the city feels like a patchwork of individual neighborhoods. To that end, Good Fortune was able to home in on Logan Square and bring people together over good food and a convivial atmosphere.
“We’re going to be warm, we’re going to have ingratiating service, we’re going to make the guests feel like they belong and like they’re part of our family,” Miller says. “Everyone who comes through the door is at first a one-timer, then they visit again and become an acquaintance, then they keep coming back and become friends and then family.”
