Vernon Hills photographer creates Windy City Takeout Project to help local restaurants

Vernon Hills freelance photographer Ally Neutze was in the middle of a photo session for Libertyville's Milwalky Trace restaurant on the day the state's coronavirus lockdown was announced in March. Though Milwalky Trace went ahead with its spring reopening with Facebook ordering, Neutze was concerned that other restaurants would have a tough time adapting to curbside pickup or delivery-only service.

“All of our shoots were postponed, and we were trying to figure out how to make this work,” Neutze said. “(Restaurants) need as much help as they can get marketing their stuff.”

That's why Neutze created the Windy City Takeout Project. She is offering free or pay-what-you-can food and beverage photography on up to seven dishes for delivery and takeout menus. The number of free photos can be bumped up to 10 if a restaurant can prove that owners have offered supplies or food to health care workers.

“You can either drop food off with us at our houses and we can shoot in our home studios,” said Neutze about the food styling. “Or we will go to you with our masks maintaining six feet of social distance.”

Neutze reached out to Region Kitchen and Bar in Barrington to be an early participant with the Windy City Takeout Project. To maintain a greater sense of authenticity, Region chef and owner Dave Perlick had Neutze photograph items in their takeout containers.

“Concerning styling our product in front of our customers' eyes before it gets in their bellies, if it looks appetizing it's going to taste a lot better,” Perlick said. “They're really, really nice photos, and we're thankful to have them for use in our marketing materials.”

Neutze said that nearly 10 Chicago and suburban restaurants have already participated with the Windy City Takeout Project. She hopes it will generate goodwill within the restaurant community now and once lockdown restrictions are lifted.

“I've been a photographer for the past 10 years,” Neutze said. “My hope with this is that we build a network and community of relationships with these companies - we show them that we're not leaving them out to dry in these times of need.”