by Suzette Smith • Apr 8, 2021 at 10:00 am
Poke Nachos from Botanist Suzette Smith
Last summer, subterranean bar Botanist moved into a large, open-air rooftop space, formerly the home of On Deck Sports Grill. Botanist s owners Robbie Wilson and Matt Davidson envisioned it could be an open air food hall where they would provide their perfect, gin-focused cocktails and guests could choose from a variety of cuisines.
The first person they brought into the endeavor was chef Pablo Portilla, who had been working at Mi Mero Mole, but a decade before that ran a Cuban food cart called Havana Cafe. The partnership took off almost immediately and Botanist / Havana Cafe became known as an oasis of distanced tables, twinkling overhead lights, and delicious dishes that ran a gamut from garlicky Cubano pork sandwiches to crisp beet ceviche, and, of course, the much discussed Poke Nachos.
Herrera died Sunday, becoming the 11th person to die from COVID-19 under the age of 20 in
His family was stunned at how quickly he deteriorated, saying that being young doesn’t grant immunity toward the virus.
Arnold Herrera Chicago COVID-19 death.
Family offer warning
‘It doesn’t discriminate on age. It just happens. And we should all be careful,’ Herrera’s brother,
Pablo Portilla, told WLS. ‘We shouldn’t think, ‘Oh yeah, because I’m young, it’s not going to happen to me,’ like no.”
His death comes with a warning his family hopes others heed.
‘It doesn’t discriminate on age. It just happens. And we should all be careful. We shouldn’t think, ‘Oh yeah because I’m young, it’s not going to happen to me,’ like no,” Portilla said.
University of Washington Chief Strategy Officer of Population Health Dr. Ali Mokdad reacts to the new strain of coronavirus reaching the United States.
A 19-year-old Chicago man who reportedly had no underlying conditions died a week after he was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, his family said.
Arnold Herrera was diagnosed with COVID-19 last week. He was recovering at home but his condition reportedly worsened on New Year’s Eve. He was taken to a local hospital the following day.
But Herrera’s condition failed to improve, and he died on Sunday, his older brother, Pablo Portilla, told local news station WLS-TV.