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46 | April 19, 2018 | The winnetka Current dining out
winnetkacurrent.com
Giving a garage ‘new life’
Winnetka’s Mino’s
serves authentic
Italian in legendary
location
Jacqueline Glosniak
Editor
From 1961 to 2016,
Hubbard Woods Motors
was a neighborhood institution
where Bob Berger
turned a simple gas station
and repair shop into a local
landmark which thrived
from exclusively servicing
Volvos since the 1970s.
But when Berger decided
to close up shop, the vacancy
left at 985 Green Bay
Road left many wondering
what could possibly move
in that could match or surpass
the legacy left behind
from the auto shop.
That’s where Glencoe
residents Eric and Audrey
Fosse, and business partner,
Glenn Deutsch, stepped in,
taking the garage and turning
it into Mino’s, an upscale
Italian restaurant.
According to Eric Fosse,
what really attracted the
group to the space was the
authentic aesthetic of the
building and the business
district location.
“We are big fans of industrial,
linear spaces, of
which there are not many
of in the suburbs, so when
one comes available, we’re
sort of opportunistic,”
he said. “We always feel
there’s more room for more
restaurants, more choices,
and we thought this space
in particular would make a
perfect restaurant.”
Topped with a large land
opportunity to expand outdoors,
the proximity to
Hubbard Woods Park and
accessibility to the Metra
line, the Fosses felt they
struck gold.
For the look of their new
At $14, the cappesante appetizer includes seared
sea scallops, mushrooms and Parmigiano in a brown
butter, truffled balsamic vinaigrette.
restaurant, an important
feat was making sure the
eatery had a fun industrial
and urban feel, transporting
diners to a space more urban
and less like a generic
suburban strip-mall.
Mino’s features concrete
floors, high, refinished
wood beams and exposed
pipes, staying true to the
building’s character.
“I can’t tell you how
many people come in and
say, ‘I had my Volvo serviced
here for 25 years,’”
Audrey Fosse said.
“There’s a long history
in the community and we
didn’t want to just eradicate
that. We wanted to give it a
new life.”
Audrey Fosse said the
other important matter for
their new restaurant was
bringing world-class Italian
dining to the area — a feeling
they wanted to evoke
from their travels to Italy
and love for both the delicious
food and strong community
bonds they found in
Italy.
“We wanted it to be a
neighborhood trattoria,
like as if you live in Rome
[where] everybody has the
corner [restaurant], some
place that you can go often
that’s just welcoming
to families and friends and
different generations,” she
said.
Mino’s is not the first
time the Fosses have
brought authentic Italian
cuisine to Chicagoland.
Eric Fosse and his
brother-in-law (Audrey’s
brother), Matthew Weinstein,
started HomeMade
Pizza Co. in 1997, bringing
ready-to-bake pizzas
with fresh ingredients to 25
stores across Chicago. After
selling the restaurant in
2010, the company ended
up shutting down in 2014.
Upon deciding on an
Italian menu, the Fosses
chose the restaurant’s name
in honor of Audrey’s cousin
in Italy, Carmine, whom
the Fosses lovingly say is a
fun character.
Next up was finding the
right chef for the authentic
cuisine they were looking
for.
Enter John Korycki,
who started working at a
pizza shop in high school
and started his career at
Chicago’s award-winning
Spiaggia.
Following Italian travels
studying and teaching
courses on cuisine, Korycki
brings a menu that is rooted
in classic Italian cooking
from throughout the country.
“Since I’m 100 percent
Polish, I don’t have a specific
area of Italy that tugs
on my heart, that this is the
The halibut with fregula ($32) at Mino’s in Winnetka features seared Alaskan halibut
with a touch of wine, basil and micro basil, and comes with peas and asparagus
in a very light vegetable broth with fregula pasta. PHOTOS BY MEGAN BERNARD/22ND
CENTURY MEDIA
Mino’s Italian
Restaurant + Bar
985 Green Bay Road,
Winnetka
(847) 386-6053
minositalian.com
5-10 p.m. Tuesday-
Thursday
5-11 p.m. Friday-
Saturday
5-9 p.m. Sunday
Closed Monday
way it should be done,”
he said. “I’m wide open to
take everything from Trentino
to Sicily and Sardinia
to Friuli and take it in as
my own. Some things you
don’t screw around with,
and other things, you play
with.”
Korycki has a knack for
fish and seafood, which is
greatly highlighted on the
menu.
For an antipasti, the
cappesante ($14) features
seared sea scallops, mushrooms
and Parmigiano-
Reggiano in a brown butter,
truffled balsamic vinaigrette.
The cioppino ($34) is a
fish and seafood stew from
a variety of different shrimp,
mussels and scallops tossed
in white wine, garlic, tomato
broth and olive oil and
garnished with two long
strips of grilled bread.
Mino’s’ cioppino ($34) is a fish and seafood stew
complete with shrimp, mussels and scallops tossed in
white wine, garlic, tomato broth and olive oil. The stew
is served with grilled bread.
Mino’s’ halibut with
fregula ($32) is one of the
restaurant’s features now
that halibut is in season.
The fish is a seared Alaskan
halibut with a little touch
of wine, basil and micro
basil, and comes with peas
and asparagus in a very
light vegetable broth with
fregula, a small type of
rounded pasta originating
in Sardinia.
Dessert panna cotta ($8)
is a chilled, vanilla cream
mold dessert with roasted
plums, candied hazelnuts
and a dressing of 10-yearold
balsamic.
In addition, Mino’s has
an extensive wine list,
with 80 percent of the
wines featured being Italian
wines.
Six months into operation,
the Fosses say Mino’s
has been welcomed by the
community.
“I think what’s been gratifying
for all of us is seeing
that it has struck a chord
with the community as far
as the multigenerational
aspect of it,” Audrey Fosse
said.
With summer on the horizon,
the Fosses plan on
starting an organic herb
and vegetable garden, incorporating
an outdoor fire
pit, outdoor seating and
even a bocce league, using
the bocce courts at the park
next door.
And, one of their biggest
fans is someone who
is most familiar with the
grounds — Bob Berger,
who comes to Mino’s at
least once a week.