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homerhorizon.com DINING OUT
the Homer Horizon | December 15, 2016 | 23
The Dish
Girl in the Park offer beer, bourbon, burgers
Brittany Kapa, Assistant Editor
For Jayme and Robert Parker,
their new restaurant is as much
about family as it is the food.
It also is about the best bourbon,
burgers and beer the couple could
locally source.
Jayme, 31, brings her culinary
education from Robert Morris
University, her studies in Italy and
her family’s love of cooking into
her newest creation. An Orland
Park local, Jayme has created a
menu that is as much about the
food as it is the area. It strives for
quality and flavors patrons could
expect to find in a restaurant in
Chicago, but places those elements
in their own backyard.
Girl in the Park is the couple’s
brainchild, a dream Jayme thought
would not happen until much later
in their lives.
“When we were dating, we
would talk about when we retired,”
Jayme said. “We’d probably
open up a little tiki hut on the
beach in Key West, Florida, with a
really small kitchen with only two
things.”
The couple never expected this
opportunity to fall into their laps.
The Parkers took over Rokwelz,
the restaurant that previously occupied
the space, in September,
and officially opened the space as
Girl in the Park on Nov. 3.
The couple’s desire to provide a
family-friendly dining experience
in Jayme’s hometown played a
major role in not only the design
of the restaurant but also the food
offered, as well.
One of the most important
things for Jayme is that the ingredients
be top quality. All of the restaurant’s
meats are antibiotic and
hormone free. The food is locally
sourced, as much as possible, and
the seafood is wild caught, never
farm raised.
“The concept of us being local
was more than just my wife being
from the area,” Robert said. “It’s
Orland being a great family community
that it is, but it is also a
very corporate area.”
The Dirty Frank ($13.50) burger at Orland Park’s Girl in the Park features a house-made burger mix with
cheddar cheese, an over-easy egg, bacon, fancy sauce and shredded beef. The burgers is served with
Parmesan and truffle oil fries, and pairs well with Brickstone Brewery’s APA. Brittany Kapa/22nd Century Media
Keeping everything local even
means carrying Brickstone Brewery’s
APA from Bourbonnais.
Another key factor is the extensive
small-batch bourbon list and
house-infused vodka that creates
some of the restaurant’s unique
drinks. That local theme also carries
over to the high-top tables in
the bar area, which are made from
reclaimed barn wood from a Jones
Dairy Farm in Wilmington.
“It fits our decor without having
to spend the money for some type
of mass-manufactured or foreign
wood that we didn’t know where
it came from,” Robert said.
Perhaps what is more impressive
is that the couple never closed
the restaurant that occupied the
space before Girl in the Park,
Rokwelz. All of the construction
was done at night, or sections of
the restaurant were closed off for
a day or two at a time.
The menu
Jayme could not create a menu
without including her 92-year-old
nana’s meatballs. The meatballs
are handmade daily, and everything
from the bread crumbs to
the sauce is made from scratch. It
is a recipe that means a lot to her
personally, and it was something
she wanted to share with her customers.
“Growing up cooking with my
mom, and cooking with my nana
— she’s first generation from Italy
— she’s had the same sauce recipe
from when she started cooking,”
Jayme said. “I wanted to bring that
family aspect to it.”
The Dirty Frank ($13.50) burger,
another dish that is close to
Jayme’s heart, as it is named after
her beloved Italian Mastiff,
Frank. The burger’s name was
inspired by her dog’s love of all
things messy. In order to socialize
a young Frank, Jayme would
bring him to her softball games in
the summer. She would also bring
a bone, to keep Frank busy during
the game.
“Every time I brought him a
bone, he would never eat it,”
Jayme said. “He’d bury it in the
sand. Every time you look over at
him, his face is covered in sand.
My friend’s husband would say,
‘Man, Frank, you’re dirty. I’m
calling you dirty Frank from now
on!’”
The name stuck, and it is the
perfect name for a burger that
has shredded beef atop an overeasy
egg (free range, of course),
and the “Step Brothers”-inspired
fancy sauce of ketchup and mayonnaise.
Get napkins and ask
for extra, because this burger is
Frank’s twin.
Never wanting to leave anyone
out, Jayme created a menu that can
cater to anyone’s dietary needs.
Realizing the need for healthy
menu options, Jayme has provided
meals that will not kill calorie
counts but still aim to please when
it comes to taste.
“We brought in some healthier
foods,” Robert said. “With the
Sportsplex being next door that
was a big market that Rokwelz
didn’t hit well.”
Girl in the Park
11265 W. 159th St. in Orland
Park
Hours
10 a.m.-2 a.m. daily
For more information ...
Web: www.girlinthepark.com
Phone: (708) 226-0042
One of their healthy option
meals is the WOK It Out BOWL
($9), which features as a base
brown rice, sautéed broccoli, carrots,
snow peas, water chestnuts,
mushrooms and onions.
“We like all different kinds of
music, and that comes from an oldschool
hip-hop song,” Jayme said,
explaining that the dish’s name is
a play on words for UNK’s “Walk
it Out.”
The dish can be customized to
the patron’s tastes with a choice
of teriyaki spicy stir-fry (“Pain is
Good”) sauce. The customer can
leave the bowl as is, or add shrimp,
salmon, pulled beef or chicken to
the bowl for extra charges.
The extras
For those looking for a unique
drink experience to match the culinary
one, Girl in the Park has
thought of that, too. Bar manager
Christopher Krause goes the extra
mile for his customers by infusing
his vodka and bourbon in
house.
His newest invention will include
Jayme’s caramelized candied
bacon to complement —
and offset — the sweet breakfast
cocktail, made with bacon-infused
Old Forester bourbon, freshly
squeezed orange juice and maple
syrup.
The menu at Girl in the Park is
expected to see changes in the future.
Jayme said once they figure
out what customers like and what
they do not, the menu will reflect
those opinions, as well as the season.
“We are family owned,” Jayme
said. “We want to make sure our
customers feel that, and know that
they’re special.”