Hey Nonny brings in chef with Michelin pedigree to show they’re serious about food

Hey Nonny in Arlington Heights wants people to know they’re as serious about food as they are about music. So much so that they’ve brought in a chef with Michelin-star pedigree to prove it.

Chef Tim Vidrio, who helped earn and then maintain a Michelin star at North Pond Restaurant in Chicago, has joined as a partner and taken over the kitchen at the restaurant at 10 S. Vail Ave.

Owner Chip Brooks said Hey Nonny, which has two distinct spaces as a music hall and a restaurant, has always battled a perception problem when it comes to the dining room.

“We’re well known as a music venue, but we’ve always had great food. We’ve always had great reviews,” Brooks said. “Part of what Tim is here to do is to raise the image from a food and beverage standpoint. And it’s already happening.”

Having a buzzy phrase like “Michelin star” associated with your name will do that.

Vidrio got into the restaurant business at 15 and said he’s only ever worked in kitchens since. He started working with mentor Bruce Sherman at North Pond in 2011.

Sherman, a James Beard award-winner, emphasized local, seasonal ingredients in his five-course tasting menus at the Lincoln Park restaurant.

“I really took his philosophy and developed my own style through his teachings and mentorship,” Vidrio said. “When you’re using stuff that’s in season, you’re highlighting the best of the best at that time, which also forces you to be creative.”

Vidrio has brought that seasonal philosophy to Hey Nonny.

He’s pared down the menu and characterizes it as “elevated but approachable,” with everything on it made from scratch. With seasonal ingredients being the stars, Vidrio said he’ll be changing the menu every couple of weeks.

He said longtime guests won’t have to worry about losing popular favorites like the Nonny Burger, which has been on the menu since day one. That and some other menu staples won’t change.

“I don’t want to deal with the backlash from that; people love it,” Vidrio said.

Vidrio’s first new menu items since taking over scream summer, like a beet salad he describes as “super simple, delicious and light,” featuring beets cooked in orange juice served on herbed yogurt and topped with a black olive butter crumble and spring greens.

A roasted chicken being added this week is served with carrot puree, English peas and poached apricot.

“The whole picture really encompasses the season,” he said.

The menu also features shareables such as lobster hush puppies, grilled herbed sea salt focaccia, grilled octopus and more.

In addition to the new roasted chicken and holdover burger, entrées include a Wagyu sirloin, pan-seared salmon, shrimp risotto and housemade gnocchi.

Part of the partnership agreement for Vidrio was to bring some familiar faces with him, including Chef Nate Hamilton, who also joined as a partner and is handling dessert duties, among others.

“Foodwise, dessert is the last impression a guest gets from us, so I take it very seriously,” Hamilton said. “The whole menu tells a story, and I think the desserts menu is helping tell that story. We’re going to go fresh, seasonal and local.”

While Vidrio appreciated the freedom to create at North Pond, he also knew it was a limited audience for the destination restaurant that drew guests once or twice a year.

At Hey Nonny, he’s hoping to see the same faces once or twice a week.

“There’s no reason we can’t do great food at a reasonable price,” he said. “Our menu isn’t over-the-top expensive. And for the product that you’re getting, it’s a really fair value. When you have a family, you should be able to go out and have a good time and do that with high-level cuisine.”

Getting started at the busiest time of the year with Arlington Alfresco’s outdoor dining zone in full swing has been a challenge. But both Vidrio and Brooks said it was important to get their partnership deal done right.

“For us, we wanted stability and resources in our kitchen, and for him, he wants to know that when he puts in all this effort it’s not a temporary thing,” Brooks said.

Vidrio said it’s been trial by fire.

“It’s almost better to be thrown in at the busiest time of the year because now we’re just forced to work the kinks out faster,” Vidrio said.

His impact in the kitchen is already being felt. Brooks said a woman approached him earlier that day while he was outside on the patio straightening chairs before they opened. She praised the new salmon dish she had there over the weekend as “fantastic” and said she would be back this week.

“If people are taking the time to stop and comment on something, that’s a beautiful thing,” Brooks said.