"We fell in love over barbecue," said Akiko Moorman.
In Little Village, Moorman and her husband, Chef Phillip Foss, have had to re-think El Ideas, the tasting menu-driven, intimate little dining room, and re-imagine it as Boxcar Barbecue.
"So El Ideas is this Michelin-starred chef tasting menu whereas Boxcar is very straightforward barbecue," she said. "The biggest thing is we don't have outdoor space or a bar. So in terms of pivoting we were pretty limited when it came to options."
At least he's got a Southern Pride smoker, which he's filling with chicken, for starters.
"We have a chicken that is really, really moist and barbecued, which is something that is a little hard to find," said Moorman.