In three weeks, Chicago will get what may be its first restaurant owned by a blind chef. Laura Martinez, a chef who is blind and who worked at Charlie Trotter's, is opening La Diosa, a comfort food spot at 2308 N. Clark, according to DNAinfo.
Sightless professional cooks aren't as uncommon as you may think. One prominent blind cook, Houston native Christine Ha, won the third season of FOX's "MasterChef" and has released a cookbook.
Martinez had plans to open something similar in style to Trotter's, but changed her original plans to fit her finances. The restaurant, which sits in the space formerly occupied by the café Siena by Maria, is small, but suited for the style of food Martinez is planning. One of the reported dishes, fried chicken and potato gratin, is in honor of Trotter, who hired her straight out of culinary school, and was the dish she made when they first met. Martinez worked at Trotter's its final two years in business.
Expect reasonable prices and a food style that mixes French and Mexican cuisine when La Diosa hopefully opens in early/mid-November.