Pop-up chefs are putting a creative spin on all things smoked and grilled by reinterpreting classic dishes and their fixings through a globally inspired lens.
Al pastor sushi rolls, pepperoni pizza dumplings, tandoori spaghetti: Restaurant chefs are embracing no-holds-barred fusion cuisine that’s all over the map.
click to enlarge Sheal Patel Over the span of four years, Sheal Patel converted his entire family of lifelong vegetarians into meat eaters. The now-34-year-old founder of the new Pilsen-based pop-up Dhuaan BBQ Company thinks he was first seduced by meat in grade school by the pepperoni on the cafeteria pizza at Kingsley Elementary in Naperville. His mother the cook in the family originally hailed from the overwhelmingly vegetarian state of Gujarat in western India, and wasn’t thrilled by his new diet, but his parents didn’t discourage him either. “My mom said ‘That’s fine if you like meat,’” he says. “‘That’s against our religion, but I’m not gonna bar you from eating it. But if you want to eat it you’re gonna have to learn how to cook it yourself.”