Women-Owned Chicago Restaurants Collaborate In 'Savor The World' Initiative

Chicago chefs are setting out to “Savor the World” this October with four unique tasting menus in an initiative stemming from the inaugural Women’s Restaurant Week in August.

The collaboration brings together more than a dozen women-owned restaurants to feature four menus on Fridays and Saturdays through October, Eater Chicago reported Wednesday (September 30). The hope is that area restaurant owners can support one another as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, causing financial hits to the industry.

“Getting over that isolation was hugely helpful, and we became a referral system for each other — ‘How are you doing testing, I need a manager or server, where can I find patio furniture,’” Rohini Dey, who owns Vermilion, an Indian-Latin restaurant, said to Eater Chicago. “Then we thought, let’s do something collectively to boost our presence in the city... We are not [large restaurant companies like] BOKA, or Lettuce Entertain You, or One Off. We are individual women restaurateurs, so we need to pool our strength.”

Here's the list of participating restaurants and their owners:

• HaiSous, Danielle Dang
• Prairie Grass Cafe, Sarah Stegner
• Vermilion, Rohini Dey
• Brindille, Carrie Nahabedian
• Parachute and Wherewithall, Beverly Kim
• Saigon Sisters, Mary Aregoni
• Demera, Tigist Reda
• Frontera Group, Deann Bayless
• The Dearborn, Clodagh Lawless and Amy Lawless
• Kasama, Genie Kwon
• Bistronomic, Laurence Noguier
• Pretty Cool Ice Cream, Dana Salls Cree
• Chocolat Uzma, Uzma Sharif
• Sugar Bliss Cake Boutique, Teresa Ging
• Vanille, Sophie Evanoff
• The Dandy Crown, Julia Shell and Sarah Syman

Photo: Getty Images