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LakeForestLeader.com DINING OUT<br />
the lake forest leader | January 10, 2019 | 21<br />
Home away from home<br />
Owner behind That<br />
Little French Guy<br />
shares eight-year<br />
journey<br />
Megan Bernard<br />
Contributing Editor<br />
The day before Ben<br />
Levy opened his restaurant<br />
in Highland Park, he had<br />
his doubts.<br />
“I was here with my<br />
brother working on the<br />
couch and I told him, ‘It’s<br />
going to be empty. No one<br />
has even tried to open the<br />
door,’” Levy said. “And<br />
we had so many chairs<br />
and tables, I thought it<br />
was going to be way too<br />
much.”<br />
To Levy’s surprise, the<br />
opening on Oct. 10 went<br />
completely opposite.<br />
“The first three weeks<br />
were crazy,” he said. “We<br />
just didn’t expect that<br />
much (business). I was<br />
here all the time. I was going<br />
back to my apartment<br />
every other night. So many<br />
nights, I was just sleeping<br />
on the booth.”<br />
Now, he added, “people<br />
complain we don’t have<br />
enough seating.”<br />
The journey to the opening<br />
of That Little French<br />
Guy began eight years ago<br />
while Levy was studying<br />
at Millikin University in<br />
Decatur as a French exchange<br />
student. As a business<br />
major, he knew he<br />
eventually wanted to open<br />
a restaurant but didn’t<br />
know where.<br />
“I’ve been a little bit of<br />
everywhere in the U.S. but<br />
I just didn’t know where I<br />
wanted to end up. Since I<br />
started [at Millikin], I really<br />
loved Chicago,” he said.<br />
“I thought it would be a really<br />
good space to open up<br />
a restaurant.”<br />
While at Millikin, one<br />
of Levy’s professors was<br />
from Highland Park, hence<br />
Levy’s connection to the<br />
North Shore.<br />
“He told me for this<br />
kind of business, it would<br />
be a really nice neighborhood,”<br />
Levy said, adding it<br />
was more affordable than<br />
downtown.<br />
Levy, however, needed<br />
to finish his master’s degree<br />
first. He went back<br />
home to France to graduate<br />
in business, then began<br />
studying pastries. After<br />
that, he became a chef in<br />
Paris.<br />
“I then found a job as<br />
a chef in Tampa, Fla. but<br />
I always wanted to come<br />
back to Chicago,” Levy,<br />
28, said. “After one year<br />
in Florida, I found a job<br />
as a chef in Chicago, so I<br />
moved back. Every weekend<br />
since then, I was in the<br />
neighborhood here to look<br />
for spots. I started to look<br />
for spaces and I found this<br />
one.”<br />
Once Levy settled on<br />
the Highland Park spot, he<br />
began transforming it from<br />
Honey’s Hot Chicken to<br />
his French cafe, That Little<br />
French Guy, at 1791 Saint<br />
Johns Ave.<br />
The cafe has a modern<br />
and industrial feel with<br />
some France-inspired design<br />
elements, like a fence<br />
adorned with signed locks<br />
(you can purchase locks<br />
at the counter), lampposts<br />
and a pastel-colored bike<br />
that you would likely see<br />
parked outside a cafe in<br />
Paris.<br />
“The best salon, or pastry<br />
room, in Paris is very<br />
fancy,” Levy said. “We<br />
didn’t want to do something<br />
like that. This is<br />
more modern.”<br />
A group of 22nd Century<br />
Media editors recently<br />
visited the new cafe<br />
to try out several of its<br />
popular dishes, which are<br />
That Little French Guy<br />
1791 Saint Johns Ave.,<br />
Highland Park<br />
(847) 737-9680<br />
www.<br />
thatlittlefrenchguy.com<br />
8 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday<br />
7 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-<br />
Saturday<br />
Closed Monday<br />
all made fresh in-house<br />
every day.<br />
We began with the<br />
Croque Madame sandwich,<br />
which was comprised<br />
of ham, Swiss<br />
cheese and béchamel<br />
sauce with a fried egg on<br />
top. The sandwich was<br />
hearty, perfect for lunch.<br />
We also tried the Quiche<br />
Végétarienne, an authentic<br />
quiche with zucchini, onion,<br />
cream and cheese.<br />
There were several<br />
pastries that we tried including<br />
a fresh and flaky<br />
croissant and a mademoiselle,<br />
which Levy said is<br />
his trademark pastry that<br />
he’s made everywhere<br />
he’s worked. The visually<br />
pleasing pastry, described<br />
on the menu as “delicate<br />
but decadent,” was a large<br />
macaron filled with light<br />
vanilla cream with fresh<br />
raspberries.<br />
We finished our meal<br />
with a chocolate eclair —<br />
my favorite — filled with<br />
dark chocolate cremeux.<br />
Levy said since everything<br />
is made from scratch,<br />
once the cafe runs out of<br />
an item for the day, that’s<br />
all they will sell. But that’s<br />
a good thing, he added.<br />
“You know where everything<br />
comes from,”<br />
Levy said.<br />
Looking forward, Levy<br />
will offer outdoor seating<br />
in front of the cafe during<br />
warmer months, and will<br />
offer Ravinia picnic baskets<br />
and wedding cakes.<br />
The cafe’s Croque Madame sandwich ($10.90) is comprised of ham, Swiss cheese<br />
and béchamel sauce with a fried egg on top and is served with a side salad. Photos<br />
by Erin Yarnall/22nd Century Media<br />
The mademoiselle ($6.20) is a large macaron filled with cream and fresh raspberries.<br />
The cafe’s chocolate eclair ($4.90) is a pastry, topped with chocolate and filled with<br />
dark chocolate cremeux.
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