Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and Daisies Partner on a Pickle Pastry Called ‘Dill-Co’

Concertgoers love an encore. Daisies set a standard in January with its croissant collaboration with Wieners Circle, as the Logan Square pasta power created a croissant filled with the familiar toppings of a Chicago hot dog. Partner and pastry chef Leigh Omilinsky has since teamed with the Chicago Blackhawks on a limited-time offering.

Daisies found an unlikely collaborator with Wilco, the Chicago-based alt-country band passionate about supporting small businesses. Starting on Friday, September 20 Daisies will sell a limited edition croissant that celebrates the band’s 30th anniversary and all things pickles. Tweedy and Omilinsky take Wilco fans on a nostalgic journey on social media using song references while Tweedy provides his rationale.

“Every song I’ve ever written is about pickles,” Tweedy deadpans in an Instagram video posted on Wednesday, September 18 announcing the croissant.

While the Daisies/Wieners Circle croissant included a pickle, nothing matches the pickled prowess of Daisies’ newest creation, called Dill-Co. The croissant will be available for a limited time and launch in conjunction with Tweedy’s upcoming appearance on Saturday, September 21 at Navy Pier, part of Chicago Live!, a free festival featuring more than 100 performances. Sales from the croissant will benefit the former Lakeview Pantry, now known as Nourishing Hope.

Daisies has long celebrated pickling and fermenting techniques in its food and drink, so pickles weren’t an odd request for Omilinsky. While the world of pickles is vast, Tweedy and his camp wanted pickled cucumbers. Knowing that Omilinsky needed something to hold the pastry together, and turned to Jewish delis for inspiration, opting for a dill cream cheese. She adds chopped pickles, giardiniera, dill, and dehydrated pickle powder.

This isn’t Wilco’s first food collaboration. They also partnered with Foxtrot in 2022 as the chain produced a snack mix with the band’s branding.

Omilinsky has spent the last few weeks at Green City Market in Lincoln Park, selling pastries on Wednesdays and Fridays. While they won’t sell the Dill-Co pastry at the farmers market, she says it wasn’t hard convincing Tweedy to collaborate: “People are pretty cool, and I think that’s a good thing to remember in this day and age,” she says. “All you have to do is ask.”

She adds she was taken aback filming the video at the Loft, the legendary practice space turned studio. Omilinsky says Tweedy had stories for every trinket inside.

Daisies co-owner Scott Goldstein and his brother-in-law, Dave Yakir, were again in charge of putting the video together, as their company Streeterville Productions specializes in such content. Goldstein says coming up with the pickle jokes was a challenge, but once he fixated on Wilco’s song, She’s a Jar, the floodgates opened. Goldstein was also very complimentary of Tweedy’s acting talents.

“It’s a crime we can’t play guitar and sing as well as he can tell jokes,” Goldstein says.

Dill-Co at Daisies, starting on Friday, September 20.