Acclaimed Nepalese Chai Tea Cafe Opens on the Chicago Riverwalk

The Riverwalk gets a new chai tea and Nepalese food option

Chiya Chai, the acclaimed Logan Square Nepalese restaurant and tea hotbed, is now open on the Chicago Riverwalk. The new location offers seven chai tea flavors including mango coconut and blueberry lavender, as well as lassi drinks, coffee, lemonade, and South Asian food options such as samosas, masala chicken savory pies, and bowls. It’s located at the Riverwalk’s new Michigan Avenue Marketplace and is open from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. daily.

Chicago Chefs Hall of Fame announces 2019 inductees

The Chefs Chicago Culinary Museum and Chefs Hall of Fame will induct four people in 2019, and all of them are women. Sarah Grueneberg of Monteverde, Ina Pinkney of the late Ina’s, Boka pastry chef Meg Galus, and Illinois Restaurant Association executive vice president Mary Kay Bonoma will join the hall during a ceremony and event at Joe’s Live in Rosemont on October 16, a news release announces. $75 tickets are available here.

Local winery restaurant chain Cooper’s Hawk gets huge investment for expansion

Suburban Chicago-based winery restaurant chain Cooper’s Hawk already has opened 35 locations in Illinois and other states since its founding in 2005, and now its poised to open even more after selling a portion of the company to private equity group Ares Management Corporation. Restaurant Business reported last week that the deal is for a whopping $700 million, and while the official announcement yesterday did not reveal a sale price or specific growth plans, founder Tim McEnery, who will continue to lead the brand, said in a statement that “we believe together we can accelerate our growth trajectory.” Its first city of Chicago location is slated to open in the former Del Frisco’s space in the Gold Coast this fall.

Hyde Park hotspot starts neighborhood’s first afternoon tea service

And finally, Bibliophile, the Hyde Park restaurant and cocktail bar known for its boozy desserts, starts lunch and afternoon tea service on Monday, July 29 and management believes it’s the first in the neighborhood or the South Side in general to offer afternoon tea. Available seven days a week, the tea service will include a choice of two pastries, savory bites, or fruit-based desserts for $40 per person. The restaurant will also start brunch service this weekend, management announces. Check out the tea and lunch menus below.