A Bold New All-Day Brunch Spot Arrives in the South Loop 

Restaurant news out of the South Loop typically goes one of two ways. It’s either hope that South Loop will someday be a culinary destination in its own right; or despair as restaurants close, condemning the neighborhood to never rise to the reputation of an area worth visiting to dine. This isn’t for lack of effort by local restaurateurs. South Loop residents have seen a revolving door of exciting openings and disappointing closures in recent years.

But thanks to anchoring venues like McCormick Place and Wintrust Arena ensuring regular visitors in need of convenient restaurants and catered event spaces, businesses south of Roosevelt and closer to Cermak might finally be gaining a foothold. Past 18th Street, places like Apolonia, Burger Point, Southern Chicago, Batters and Berries, Il Culaccino, and Momentum Coffee have been giving the neighborhood walkable culinary destinations, variety, and hope for the future. Now there’s a new breakfast and brunch spot, Brûlée Chicago, set to open on Michigan Avenue on Thursday, November 6.

Brûlée is chef Emani Roberts’s passion project. The Chicago native sharpened her cooking skills at Walt Disney World and then earned a reputation as a popular event chef, catering dinners and private events across Chicago. “My clients were like, ‘When are you opening the brunch restaurant?’” says Roberts, who’s been hunting down a space for three years.

In January, Roberts had almost given up hope of finding something when she was approached by her realtor about a location. “From the moment we saw it, we knew,” she says. Roberts sees potential in the South Loop. “We’re right by McCormick Place, the Wintrust Arena, and right before you get into the heart of downtown, so we have a lot of conventions and hotels over here,” she says. “We’re right next door to an Airbnb that’s booked out all the time from the conventions … We just wanted to bring to the neighborhood a nice luxury brunch spot.”

Prior to Brûlée, the address was home to a crab boil restaurant. Roberts has completely reimagined it as an elegant restaurant, adorned in black and white with marble and gold flourishes and a wide bar. Velvet couches and bold light fixtures give Brûlée a cozy, modern feel, while a floral wall installation invites customers to snap selfies.

Chef de cuisine Kennedy Bufford will help lead the kitchen. She brings experience from her role as lead line cook at the Nobu Hotel. Brûlée’s up-leveled comfort food menu includes items such as fried catfish filet, served over smoked Gouda grits with a Cajun crawfish cream sauce, and the lobster and sweet potato waffle — an aesthetically pleasing plate piled high with fried lobster tails atop a waffle drizzled with salted caramel praline sauce and vanilla cream. Elements of Chicago inspiration are infused into the Virgil Special, which offers either chicken wings or fried catfish drizzled with hot honey sauce, served with a side of candied yams and braised collard greens. There’s also the Michigan Avenue Breakfast, which comes with your choice of two eggs any style, breakfast meat, potatoes or grits, served with a honey butter biscuit or whole grain toast. There are lunch options as well, including burgers and a brisket grilled cheese.

The team is trying to hit many notes in a single all-day breakfast restaurant, open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., to meet the needs of people dining in the neighborhood. “We’ve got your day-to-day breakfast — you can come in and get your coffee and your pastries, or you can come here for brunch with your friends and have a nice birthday brunch. We have a full bar,” Roberts says, adding that there’s also a coffee and espresso drinks with pastries. In the evening, Roberts hopes to open the space to private events. “You can come and do a nice birthday dinner,” she says.

“I want people to know that you can feel at home here,” Roberts says. “I want people to feel like you’re in grandma’s kitchen. Like, ‘Man this food is good!’ I want to touch your soul. Literally, our slogan is come hungry, leave obsessed. I want you to come here and be like okay, I want to go back tomorrow.”

Brulee Chicago is located at 2036 S. Michigan Avenue. Opens Thursday, November 6. Open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Tuesday; closed Wednesdays.