When the lease ended for Mom’s at Politan Row food hall earlier this year, co-founders and chefs Kelly Ijichi and Randi Howry had planned to do some traveling. During the past couple of years, they had co-mothered their Japanese comfort food restaurant from a transient pop-up concept to full-time tenant at the West Loop food hall, and they wanted to take time and reflect on what was coming next.
As with the rest of the industry, COVID-19 changed their plans. These days, you can find Mom’s in another new format: serving its food at Marz Brewing in Back of the Yards. Mom’s on Marz — the official, alliterative name for the partnership — is one of a host of joint ventures opening throughout the city as a result of the pandemic shutdown.
“You’re seeing a lot of creativity that’s out there, and a lot of really amazing food, and a unique variety of things that I don’t think we’ve had the opportunity to have before,” said Ijichi.
“Obviously, our industry is facing a really dark time, but that has been one cool thing, seeing a lot of food that I don’t think we would (otherwise) be seeing right now, because I think a lot of people are just really going for it,” she said.
The COVID-19 shutdown forced a collective change of plans among the restaurant industry, putting workers in unexpected and often urgent situations. Every element of the dining experience had taken on a new or different importance: safety measures, kitchen space, outdoor areas, walk-up windows, even the type of cuisine.
In general, resources tightened more than ever, and thousands of employees were furloughed. As pros looked for ways to innovate and survive, collaborative efforts like shared kitchens, ghost kitchens, joint pop-ups and more have seen a new lift in recent months, particularly among independent restaurants or fledgling entrepreneurs. Ghost kitchen is a term for a commercial kitchen shared among culinary entrepreneurs without offering dine-in service.
Considering the pandemic’s widespread effects, such arrangements have inevitably spawned a variety of forms, but almost all of these operations allow chefs and owners to share certain costs and resources while maintaining more of their own autonomy. In most cases, it’s a situation of friendly colleagues and/or co-workers capitalizing on existing trust to support each other.
The marriage between Mom’s and Marz was born as much out of familarity as it was necessity, said Ijichi. She and “co-Mom” Howry had hosted a popular Sunday brunch series at Marz prior to the pandemic and later began assisting the brewery with its Community Kitchen Program efforts, cooking several hundred meals per week to distribute to people in underserved communities.
When the brewery was looking to restart operations, it needed a new manager for the kitchen. Head of operations and co-founder Ed Marszewski invited the Moms to take over full time, and it has blossomed into a “great partnership,” the pair said. Mom’s has been able to bring back staffers six days per week, four for service at Marz and two for the Community Kitchen Program. And, as a nod to its new brewery home, Marz added its version of a “pub burger” to the menu: a short rib cheeseburger with nori fries.
It’s a true partnership in the business sense as well, as Mom’s and its staff are employed as part of the Marz operations.
In Logan Square, Superkhana International has a similar arrangement with Takeaway Bagel, the popular walk-up that operates inside the Indian restaurant’s kitchen.
Kelly Helgesen has the hands that make the bagels at Takeaway. Previously the pastry chef down the road at Lula Cafe, she skipped over to Superkhana to get a break from the kitchen, working as a food runner. She’s known the co-owners, Yoshi Yamada and Zeeshan Shah, even longer. Chef Jason Hammel is a co-owner at both Lula and Superkhana.
During the first couple months of 2020, Helgesen had been mulling a return to the kitchen, she said, but COVID-19 changed those plans.
The shutdown also had a dramatic effect for Superkhana, however, in part due to the restaurant’s cozy interior and semi-enclosed outdoor area — poor settings for dining under COVID-19 restrictions. Eventually, Superkhana leaned into carryout and delivery operations, including a large, arched walk-up window.
Their respective needs created an obvious chance to collaborate, said Shah and Helgesen, which led to the birth of Takeaway Bagel. Superkhana was focusing on lunch and dinner service, so Helgesen could work the mornings, and the restaurant was trying to fill out its operating schedule.
“I thought Logan Square really needed a place to get a bagel,” Helgesen said. Hers are sourdough bagels that come in three varieties: plain, everything and cocoa nibs, plus a rotating selection of house-made schmears.
The two operations are now official business partners. Given the uncertain outlook of COVID-19, the plan is for things to remain that way for the foreseeable future, Helgesen and Shah said. Helgesen’s bagel efforts have been a success, regularly selling out and drawing increased attention. This past weekend, Takeaway Bagel debuted a pizza bagel as its first crossover with Superkhana.
“We’d advise people to order ahead and not risk just walking up,” Shah said and laughed.
Milly’s Pizza in a Pan is one of the city’s most popular ghost kitchen operations, and it operates in Logan Square too, sharing a communal kitchen space at Envision Unlimited Westtown Center.
Not all of these arrangements are quite so formal. Chef Palita Sriratana (Pink Salt) has been operating Room Service, her Thai pop-up, out of Split Rail in West Town thanks to an invitation from chef and owner Zoe Schor: “She said, ‘We’re closed on Monday and Tuesday if you want to use the space.'”
Sriratana and Schor came to a professional agreement about using the kitchen, part of which includes Sriratana incorporating Split Rail’s cocktail kits as an add-on to her meals.
“I think (symbiosis) is a great way to describe the situation. I mean, I could not be running this concept without Zoe and Michelle (Szot, Split Rail general manager) offering this space to me,” said Sriratana. “In return for their generosity, I at least hope that the foot traffic of my customers can feed into Split Rail.”
Coincidentally, Mom’s, Superkhana and Pink Salt were all born as pop-up concepts, so their operators are familiar with less-traditional restaurant operations. Sriratana and Ijichi both agree, however, that the restaurant industry — particularly among independents — has shifted toward a more collaborative, less competitive, atmosphere since the pandemic shutdown.
“At this point, it’s people really just understanding that we’re all in the same boat. Not to say that competition isn’t a thing, but it’s a different playing field now,” Ijichi said. “We’re all pulling from the same shared resources, so why not have more open conversations about what that looks like and how we can help each other?”
“And how we can all adapt,” Howry added.
Sriratana expects an influx of these concepts to continue. She knows of industry colleagues who have tested alternative models or menus on micro scales, often out of their home, and have asked her for advice on taking it a step further.
“I kinda just told them, why don’t you partner with a restaurant and then figure it out?” she said. “It helps both businesses. We cross promote for each other.”
“The only way we’re gonna make it through this pandemic is if these restaurant owners help each other. Not that I was ever that type, but there’s no point in really trying to compete or be cutthroat right now. The only way we’re going to get through this time is to go together.”
