Chicago Hospitality Veterans Open a Hotly Anticipated Seasonal Restaurant in Evanston

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A husband and wife team are drawing on their experience in respected Chicago restaurant groups to open their own restaurant near their home in north suburban Evanston. Located just off the Central Street business corridor at 2545 Prairie Ave., the 75-seat Burl is the first independent project from Rachel Canfora-Carlin and Tom Carlin. 

But they’re not new to the restaurant world: Canfora-Carlin is the director of recruiting, training, and development at Hogsalt, which is responsible for consistently packed joints like Bavette’s and Au Cheval. The Kansas City native Carlin worked for One Off Hospitality at Publican Quality Meats and Dove’s Luncheonette, where he headed up the kitchen as the chef de cuisine before serving on the opening team at the Middle Eastern phenomenon Galit. 

All of those influences show up at Burl, even as the Carlins create their own identity. Like One Off, Carlin is committed to local farms, with his tight menu spotlighting changing seasonal produce; this winter, that means items like cabbage with two kinds of mole or carrots with yogurt, dill, and pepitas. As at Galit, there’s a hearth to char vegetables and proteins and bake breads that come with a variety of spreads, like an eggplant conserva, chicken liver pate, and ricotta with honey and hazelnuts. (Burl uses wood in its hearth, unlike Galit, which uses coal.) And Hogsalt’s “commitment to guest experience” and “commitment to unwavering standards” will carry over to Burl thanks to Carlin-Canfora as the new restaurant finds its feet, Carlin says.

It’s had to do so quickly since its opening on January 30, even though January is typically the slowest month of the year for restaurants in the Chicago area. 

“I thought the January open would give us a little bit of cushion, but everybody’s here and they seem to be enjoying it, so it’s been really great,” Carlin says. 

The early crowds might be a result of the yearlong wait for Burl to open in its refurbished building; the Carlins’ sporadic events throughout that year to generate anticipation; and a hunger for an upscale restaurant like theirs in a part of Evanston further away from downtown with a number of more casual food-centric businesses like Hewn bakery, The Spice House, and Backlot Coffee. (Burl’s espresso martini uses Backlot coffee.) 

“We noticed that a lot of the people that live in Evanston and Wilmette are very similar to us in that they have 1.3 kids, or whatever the average is; [they’re] in their 30s or 40s and used to live in Roscoe Village or Wicker Park; and used to go to all these restaurants. Now they’ve moved up to the suburbs and they miss having Chicago-level hospitality and food,” Carlin says, quickly adding that there are “wonderful” restaurants in Evanston, too, rattling off NaKorn, Mensch’s Deli, and Hewn. 

The Carlins first noticed Burl’s triangular building tucked away off Central Street while looking for houses in Evanston and took an immediate liking to it. “I was like, ‘Dang, I love that building,’” Carlin recalls. He was a mostly stay-at-home dad, taking a break from restaurants to teach at Kendall College and consult, when the building opened up and he and Carlin-Canfora leapt at the chance to take it.

“We just thought that the people here were ready for this kind of a restaurant,” he says.

They’re not the only ones. Carlin’s own former employer One Off has purchased a building further north in Highwood, where they’re planning an outpost of avec with room for expansion. Ballyhoo Hospitality has found such success on the North Shore with restaurants like Sophia Steak and Pomeroy that they’ve gone the reverse route and opened versions in the city. And in further-out suburbs, Chicago industry veterans have received the kind of attention and acclaim normally reserved for city spots at The Greggory and The Graceful Ordinary. 

“I think there’s more of a demand now for higher-end food everywhere,” Carlin says, citing social media as one reason; relocations away from large cities during the pandemic also may have helped. For Carlin and his wife, who grew up in the western suburbs, having a restaurant in Evanston is ideal, allowing them to be close to their home while still drawing on the networks that service and supply restaurants in Chicago.

They can get Catalpa Grove lamb chops to serve with sweet potatoes and mustard greens, Janie’s Mill flour for their rotating breads, and Slagel Farm beef for the requisite sirloin steak – which Carlin makes a bit more unusual by marinating it in gochujang and serving it with a vinaigrette made with fish sauce produced in Minnesota.

Like that fish sauce, a number of the wines also come from the Upper Midwest, with various Michigan vintages presented with cheeky acknowledgments of people’s skepticism. “Ok, ok, ok, hear me out,” a BOS Muscat is labeled, while a Modales red blend is simply described as “yes, from Michigan.” (The wine list also includes vintages from California, Oregon, and even Austria.)

“We wanted it to mirror our food menu as much as possible, not just in how it drinks with the food, but also that the wines we’re offering follow the same principles: biodynamic, organic, small producers, family vineyards,” Carlin says of the wine list he drew up with general manager Wendy Cabo, who also developed a cocktail list. 

But Burl isn’t a bar; the Carlins, who have two young daughters, also want it to be family-friendly, though not exclusively so. There’s a $25 “Burl Buds” menu for kids, crayons and sippy cups are available, and the restaurant opens at 4:00 pm in order to accommodate parents who might want a nice early dinner with their kids. (One difference from the city: Burl is only open until 9:00 pm Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday, and 10:00 pm on Friday and Saturday; it’s closed Monday and Tuesday. The Carlins eventually hope to open for weekend brunch.) 

Carlin says his own daughters love being in the restaurant, even when it’s not open, to his delight. “I think that every human being should work in a restaurant at some point. I think it makes people better people, and I wanted them to see what hard work can look like,” he says of his daughters. “They’re part of my inspiration for this.”