Read Gemini’s New Menu as the Lincoln Park Gem Reopens This Month

Gemini Bistro has been slumbering since January, as Ryan O'Donnell and Pauly Graves’ Lincoln Park restaurant undergoes interior, menu, and name changes to rejuvenate their eight-year-old neighborhood gem. The team is closer to reopening, however, and they’ve shared their new menu. The revamped restaurant, now known simply as Gemini, should reopen the week of April 17 at 2075 N. Lincoln Avenue, according to a spokeswoman.

In the past year, O’Donnell has worked with The Gage’s Billy Lawless to open Coda di Volpe in Lakeview, but he’s now turning his eyes back toward Gemini. Gemini Bistro opened in 2009 under the guidance of chef Jason Paskewitz who later opened The Blanchard nearby. Paskewitz now finds himself in River North at Ocean Cut Chicago.

Chef Miguel Ortiz has since taken over. It’s a reunion of sorts for Ortiz, who worked at Rustic House, O’Donnell’s now-shuttered restaurant, also in Lincoln Park. He left to work with chef Danny Grant at Maple & Ash, the plush steakhouse in Gold Coast.

Ortiz’s new menu is tidier. There are still steak frites and a burger, though the burger now comes topped with crispy pancetta. Highlights include hand-rolled oxtail agnolotti and a foie gras mousse. It’s certainly not tweezer food as the menu includes duck confit nachos.

There’s also a quality selection of draft craft beers. Not many restaurants have brews from Tighthead Brewing Co., located in Mundelein. The list also includes brews from Clown Shoes Beer out of Massachusetts and Lincoln Park’s own Local Option. Wines by the glass and six signature cocktails—even one on draft—are available.

Though the opening date will either fall under the sign of Aries or Taurus, Gemini management remains excited about the reopening. Check out the menu below.