Dutch-Indonesian de Quay Planning Late-Spring Opening

How many Dutch-Indonesian restaurants can you name? David de Quay, chef/owner of the forthcoming, eponymously-named de Quay, might just be the first to merge the two into one singular concept in Chicago.

Located in the space that formerly housed Dillinger's, de Quay, who spent the past twelve years as the executive chef at the Hinsdale Golf Club, recently returned from a working and research trip to both countries. He says that Holland is just now starting to blossom in the same manner that Scandinavia did a few years ago.

If there's one cultural hybrid cuisine de Quay, who is of Dutch descent, would compare his still-gestating menu to, it would be of the French influence on Vietnamese cuisine. "If I do this the right way, bring in the right people, and do something small and keep it really good, fresh and simple, I might have something here," he says.

Operating from a smaller-scaled menu, de Quay will cook dishes that would fall under the term rijsttafel ("rice table"), small meat and/or vegetable dishes that were served originally at Dutch colonial banquets and were brought back to the Netherlands once Indonesia gained its independence. De Quay also plans on serving his version of nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice), but combining a protein more Dutch in nature (venison for example) paired with an Indonesian flavor profile. The menu will be changed every season, perhaps even more frequently.

Expect seating for 60 and an extra 20 seats at the bar, along with a "semi-open kitchen" holding a small staff of "five or six." As someone who notices a spike in the volume at newer establishments, de Quay plans to work hard to keep noise levels to a minimum. The lease is expected to be signed this week and de Quay is hoping for a late-May, early-June opening.
· de Quay [Official Site]
· All Coming Attractions [-ECHI-]
David de Quay / Dillinger's [Photo: LinkedIn / Loopnet]