After several delays and much anticipation, Daisies, Joe Frillman’s vegetable-focused, pasta-driven restaurant, opens doors for dinner at its brand-new location at 2375 N Milwaukee Ave on Wednesday, March 29. On the heels of announcing Radicle Food Group, a newly formed hospitality collective alongside partner and nationally acclaimed pastry chef Leigh Omilinsky (Swift & Sons, TRU, Nico Osteria), the new iteration of Daisies continues to take inspiration from the seasonal bounty of the Midwest, directly tapping into Frillman Farms, his brother Tim’s 30-acre farm located just outside St. Joseph, Michigan. Daisies’ menu will once again be centered around handmade pasta, in-house fermentation, and diligent up-cycling practices–an approach that’s allowed Daisies to earn numerous accolades including a Jean Banchet award and a MICHELIN Bib Gourmand ranking.
Now settling into the former Radler space just minutes down the street from the original location, guests can look forward to an expansive new 5,500 square foot restaurant, which includes a day-time coffee bar and pastry counter, as well as a full roster of fresh new programming on the horizon.
“The old space will always be part of our history, but we were bursting at the seams with the newly created outlets we needed to find a new home for,” says Frillman. “We’re opening this new location to not only sustain the programs we have in place, but allow us the room to build and expand upon what Daisies can offer to our awesome guests, the neighborhood and the staff.”
Bright and airy, the newly renovated space, designed by Rachel Crowl of Chicago-based architecture and design firm FC Studio Inc, offers guests an entirely new way to experience the longtime Logan Square staple. Described by Frillman as the “Mothership”, the new Daisies will present a sprawling daytime coffee bar (set to open soon after the dining room in early April), including a partnership with La Colombe Coffee, plus all-new pastry creations from Partner and Executive Pastry Chef Leigh Omilinsky. There is an entirely new “pasta and pastry production” room that can be used for pasta/pastry classes, marketing and content creation or a quieter option for dinner service.
Daisies’ will kick off dinner service with an expanded menu that builds upon their dedication to simple, handmade pasta, seasonal vegetables, low-waste production and Midwestern flavors. Menu highlights include the hand-rolled Strozzapreti with lemon, swiss chard and cranberry beans and the Lamb Shank for Two served alongside Iroquois white polenta and an herb and red onion salad. Plated desserts prepared by Omilinksy will draw on her roots in traditional French and Italian patisserie with confections like the Lemon Ricotta Tart with candied pine nuts and lemon crema and a Pistachio Budino with butter braised pineapple, frosted pecan and vanilla marshmallow. Beverage Director Katherine Sturgill (Blackbird, A10, Bellemore) spearheads the predominantly low intervention, domestic and Italian wine offerings while Bar Manager Seth Marquez (Mother’s Ruin, Sportsman’s) mixes up “garden cocktails” with plentiful N/A options that utilize vegetable-forward ingredients and repurposed kitchen scraps to produce house-made syrups, shrubs, and infusions.
Daisies 2.0 also allows the team to roll out several new interactive experiences including cooking and pasta-making classes for guests, collaboration dinners, and charity and community events including partnerships with nationally renowned chefs visiting Chicago, book signings, as well as local community-focused activations kicking off this summer.
Daisies’ original location at 2523 N Milwaukee is currently closed for renovation and will eventually transition into a full-time grocery, farmstand and lunch spot. A permanent extension of the restaurant’s wildly popular Sunday Market concept during the height of the pandemic, it will support fresh seasonal produce from his brother’s farm, as well as an expanded selection of small independent purveyors from around the region such as Spence Farm, Catalpa Grove, Mick Klüg Farm, and more.
