About
Three good friends who left years of traditional fine dining to bring the fun, personal side back to hospitality.
Catalpa is three good friends who left years of traditional fine dining to bring the fun, personal side back to hospitality. We kept the cooking at the level a Michelin room demands and dropped the starch: no dining room, no investors, no sign on a door. We cook where you gather.
The food starts at local farms around Chicago, and the pairings spotlight small producers and women-led wine and spirits. The people doing the work get their names on the menu. From big farm dinners to intimate tastings and everything in between, the night is built around your table, not ours.
Executive Chef
Earned his Michelin star across a decade in Michelin kitchens, then spent years cooking his way around the world. Builds every menu from what the farms are pulling that week: the plan is written Tuesday, the market decides Thursday.
Sommelier & Experience
Level II sommelier and the reason the night flows. Ali owns the beverage side, the room, and the design of everything you can see, including this site. Will explain the Jura producer, briefly. We promise.
Operations
The guy with the spreadsheets. Contracts that read like English, dates that hold, invoices that make sense, and a reply to every inquiry within one business day. Somebody has to, and he genuinely likes it.
The catalpa is a Chicago street tree: big-hearted leaves, extravagant white blossoms, tough enough for this climate. One trunk, many branches: dinners, tastings, classes, and whatever comes next.