Growing up around Chicago’s original Six Corners, in Portage Park, chef John Avila remembers feeling a sting of embarrassment upon opening his lunchbox at school on the Northwest Side. It’s an experience all-too familiar for many first-generation Americans. “Like every other kid growing up in a cultural family, kids at school make fun of you,” Avila says, recounting the lovingly-made meals his mother Betty packed for him.
Avila’s background is unique as an Indonesian-Filipino-American. He hasn’t forgotten about that frustration as he entered the service industry, working at respected restaurants like Gibsons Italia and the Duck Inn.