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NO. 484 | A JWC MEDIA PUBLICATION
COMPLIMENTS TO THE CHEF ELAINA VAZQUEZ OPENED WINNETKA’S TOWNE & OAK CAFÉ AND PRIVATE EVENT SPACE AMID A PANDEMIC BUT DESPITE THAT SETBACK, THIS SEASONED CHEF IS CELEBRATING THE CAFÉ’S FIRST ANNIVERSARY ON THE NORTH SHORE. exceptional presentation, in 2008. The idea? To bring restaurant-style food to catered parties. “I should have been nervous, but I wasn’t,” Celebrated chef Elaina Vazquez has trained says Vazquez of the 2008 Great Recession. “I wanted to create something of my own and at a few of the most notable Michelinknew it was time after reaching the pinnacle starred restaurants in the country, like TRU, with Joël Robuchon. I had zero expectations Avenues at the Peninsula Hotel Chicago, and and had nothing to lose.” the world-renowned Joël Robuchon at The Starting small with a team of one for the Mansion at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. A first year, the concept soon took off and, in graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, 2014, Vazquez expanded to a West Loop Vazquez says her love for cooking originally headquarters with a 4,000-square-foot stems from her Puerto Rican heritage. commercial kitchen and a private event venue, “Food is a huge part of my culture, and I loved growing up surrounded by lots of people BRIQUE. She slowly built a dedicated clientele on the eating really good food,” she explains. “I spent North Shore who appreciated the pairing of a ton of time at my grandmother’s house, Vazquez’s background in fine dining with her and she was an excellent cook. Since I was appreciation for casual entertaining. So, when five-years-old, I knew I wanted to be a chef the lease on her West Loop space came up in one day.” Having earned her chops at the highest level 2019, Vazquez decided to switch things up under famed chefs and hospitality concepts— once again. “Boutique Bites clients were always telling and having grown tired of the fast-paced us they wanted a place to stop and grab dinner restaurant life in Sin City—Vazquez had an on the way home, and our casual food menu idea to translate the beautiful food, attention of simple things done well really took off in to detail, and highest standards of quality to recent years,” says Vazquez. “I wanted to build catered events. a place where I’d want to eat every day. That’s She picked up a few odd party jobs from her one-bedroom apartment in Vegas as a side how I approach things, in terms of what I like hustle but ultimately decided to move home to and what I feel is missing.” That became the inspiration for what Chicago to launch Boutique Bites, a creative is now Towne & Oak in Winnetka, a and custom catering and events company 10,000-square-foot café and private event specializing in the mix of stylish food and space in the Hubbard Woods business district that is celebrating its first anniversary with a menu of easy and delicious grab-and-go items along with made-to-order favorites like salads, tartines, and more. Vazquez gut-renovated the former antique emporium—an eight-month process—and centered the Napa Valley meets Nantucket design aesthetic around the two living trees, standout skylight, and exposed beams that BY ALLISON DUNCAN
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Chef Elaina Vazquez celebrates the one-year anniversary of her Towne & Oak Café in Winnetka. PHOTOGRAPHY BY CRISTINA G PHOTOGRAPHY