He's Been Around the World—Through His Food
He's Been Around the World—Through His Food
Beard nominated chef Christian Hunter of Atelier explores global fare through his adventurous 12-course tasting menu, taking diners to the likes of France, India, Mexico and the West African region.
Fresh new culinary talent arrives in Chicago every week. They’re all eager with new ideas and concepts, hoping to make an impact on the city’s rich dining scene. It typically takes at least a few years to break through the ranks, but not for Christian Hunter, chef at Lincoln Square newcomer Atelier.
Armed with a respectable pedigree that includes a stint as executive chef at Community Table (He’s a 2023 James Beard finalist in the Best Chef: Northeast category) in Litchfield County, Connecticut, as well as cooking at The Weekapaug Inn in Rhode Island, the Lexington, Kentucky native arrived in the Windy City on Feb. 14. He saw Chicago as an exciting place to cut his teeth as a chef, plus he loved the idea of curating a unique tasting menu at the intimate Atelier, which holds only seven tables.
“[Owner] Tim Lacey was looking for a new chef to come into this space that was ready for something fun and new,” Hunter says about the venue that was previously home to the award-winning Elizabeth restaurant. “I wanted to curate something truly special for an entire dining experience. Those opportunities don’t necessarily come in a bigger restaurant experience.”
The result is Hunter’s 12-course interpretation of modern American fare that’s also seasonal and globally influenced. Through well-researched ingredients and solid relationships with local farmers and purveyors, Hunter is creating the dishes of his dreams—backed by a solid team of emerging food-and-drink masters. They’re a great support system as he strives to “evoke emotion” from his guests as they experience his food.
“When I’m talking about evoking an emotion, I think about the food that’s core to me, and it’s personal,” Hunter explains. “I think food is a very personal experience. Food for me gives me a certain feeling, whether I was sick as a child and my mother made chicken noodle soup from scratch or it’s the biscuits my grandmother used to make when I was a baby or it was the first time I had a really good crab rice.
“It gives me feelings that I want to share with everyone else. I want it to either tug as some sort of memory or tug at you as a new experience.”
A rundown of some of Hunter’s greatest hits at Atelier
Cardamom sourdough with sorghum butter.
“That bread resulted from a trip to New York City that I took when I was still at Community Table,” Hunter recalls. “The owners [of Community Table] are of Swedish descent, so we tried some pastries from a Swedish bakery while we were in New York. I wanted to meld my love of making bread with their memories of Swedish bakeries. That’s where that bread came from: very sourdough-enriched bread that has just enough sweetness and an aroma that comes from it when it hits the table. I just wanted to take them back to that moment.”
Lamb Gored Gored with berbere and niter kibbeh; Beets with harissa, feta, masabacha and duqqa granola.
“Food has always been a medium for me to express creativity because I come from very humble circumstances,” Hunter reveals. “I used food as an opportunity for me to travel. If I wasn’t going to be able to travel there physically, then my taste buds would be able to travel there. Wanting to know more about my [ancestral] background or wanting to know where even part of me could be from made me search out the flavor profiles [in these dishes]. The most important part was to be as correct as possible and come from a place of respect. I wanted to be as accurate as I could.”
Additionally, Hunter says, he wanted to highlight flavor profiles he didn’t see often on menus, particularly on fine-dining menus.
“I don’t see these flavor profiles often, and I want to use those kinds of flavors to express food, especially in a way that highlights local ingredients,” he says.
Foie Gras Crème Brûlée with quatre épice and crouton.
“I am very surprised at how well people have received it,” Hunter exclaims. “We went with a more pastry sweet approach to the dessert instead of doing a more savory one. We do a little bit of white pepper and ginger to bring the sweet profile in, finish it with whipped cream, then top it with chicken skin crumb that has a little bit of cinnamon sugar on it.
“When you have the fattiness of the foie gras mixing in with the custard, it all works out. And because it’s in such a small dish, you don’t feel like you’re overindulging. Keeping it the right size, yet giving it a bit of flair is the secret to [this dish].”
What’s fare is flair
That’s only a sampling of the types of dishes Hunter is whipping up, as he enthusiastically explores the rich and fabulous flavors and cuisines from the likes of France, Mexico, India, East Africa and West Africa. Next up for him is Peruvian fare, which he has never tasted before. “From what I have read about it, it seems very deep and very fun and just lively,” he says.
When it comes to his favorite food in the world, the answer is deeply personal. And super sweet.
“My favorite cuisine, honestly, is my mother’s food,” Hunter says. “It’s hard to explain someone’s mother’s food to someone else, but to me, my mother’s food is definitely my favorite cuisine.
“It just comes from a place of love and nurturing and I really appreciate the fact that while I can obviously cook, anytime I go back home my mother takes the time to cook anything I want. Her flavor profiles are just like mine. She’ll go Thai. She’ll go Indian. She’ll go Southern. She’ll go Midwestern. Everything she makes just comes from a really awesome place—and it’s always delicious.”
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Great article!