Love It or Hate It, Cincinnati Chili Is Coming to Chicago Thanks to a Michelin-Starred Chef

by Daniel Hautzinger / WTTW Chicago / March 5, 2024

Chicagoans are diehard about hometown food specialties, and soon they’ll have another one to defend and celebrate – from Cincinnati. Christian Hunter, who steered Lincoln Square’s Atelier to a Michelin star in its first year, is now planning to open La Verne’s, a bar and Cincinnati chili parlor that will be the second establishment in the newly formed Atelier Restaurant Group. A location is forthcoming, but Hunter and Atelier founder Tim Lacey want to find one in Lincoln Square, which Hunter says has supported them from the beginning. They hope to open La Verne’s within the year.

Cincinnati chili isn’t quite like the typical chili you might find in crockpots or cookouts across America. Rather, it’s typically served over spaghetti with a haystack of golden cheese on top and is spiked with cinnamon and allspice, with a whole taxonomy of “ways” you can order it, increasing from just chili to noodles, chili, beans, onions, and cheese.

“To me, it’s Midwest bolognese,” says Hunter. “Spaghetti and chili with a mound of cheese on it! – I don’t know if people really understand it. And then they start smelling the spices, and it doesn’t quite smell like the traditional chili con carne that we all grew up with.” Read more HERE