An eclectic menu with fresh offerings tailored to the tastes of Deerfield is the goal of Bobby’s Deerfield, the Village’s newest restaurant opening in October in the location occupied by until Sunday.
“Fresh will be a big deal for everything we do,” co-owner Bobby Arifi said. “We have good food, good wine and good people. The food will be what the people in Deerfield like. The menu will be in evolution. If there’s something we see that people like we will add it.”
Operated by Arifi and brother, Augie Arifi, who now own Café Lucci in Glenview, the new establishment will have a few pasta dishes, a breadth of wine selections and a lot more, according to Bobby Arifi.
There will be a number of specials on the menu each night which is part of the plan to learn what people in Deerfield like and put it on the menu. If they are popular they could become permanent offerings.
“The specials will be part of my brother’s effort to show our breadth and his creations,” Bobby Arifi said. “We could have Chilean Sea Bass with white wine sauce and fresh asparagus.” If it is summer, the vegetables will be very fresh. “We’re working with a farm in Rockford and all the produce will be organic.”
While the produce will be fresh and local, the fish will be sustainable as well, according to Arifi. “If a fish is endangered we won’t buy it,” he said.
There will be plenty of wine to enjoy with the food. Arifi promises in the neighborhood of 150 selections including a wide array of wine by the glass.
“There will be 15 to 20 wines by the glass,” Arifi said. “We will have eight basic flavors. The others will be anything I find at the market that’s unique and special.”
The menu will include meat, chicken and pasta but there will be some more casual selections as well. Arifi promises he and his brother will not stray from the ingredients which have been working for them.
“We will have an Italian flavor but we’ll have a lot more,” Arifi said. “We don’t have a burger at Café Lucci. We will have a hamburger, chicken sandwich and skirt steak sandwich.”
Along with one of those sandwiches, there will be eight to 10 craft beers to go with it. “Four will be on tap and four to six by the bottle,” Arifi said.
Mostly by hooks attached to long-lines, strung behind fishing boats. Some Chilean sea bass is caught in waters off the coast of Chile, then iced and shipped to the United States fresh. However, the majority of Chilean sea bass is harvested in distant waters of Antarctica, frozen onboard factory vessels, and shipped several weeks to several months later. Both fresh and frozen Chilean sea bass are available for consumption in the United States. I wonder which ill be served, fresh or frozen for several weeks or months?
Two thoughts for the new owners: Please, please take down those panels that black out the windows (worst idea ever). Let passers by see the life in the place. Give me one or two amazing entree salad options (created so they are not 1,000 calorie salads), and entrees high on protein and low on calories. Deerfield diners want healthy, tasty food at a reasonable price, delivered with great service. And, while you're at it, toss in some fabulous cocktails. Maybe a throwback cocktail menu with whiskey sours, old fashioned, sidecar.
Try to base your menu (maybe brand and concept also) on local products - kind of a blackboard place. It's good for the environment and "all that jazz." But I think it will also allow you to make a consistently unique menu with an interesting concept - local breweries, local cattle farmers, local cheeses, local produce ... and dare i suggest, Lake Michigan fish. I think it would allow you to stay within the general parameters you're outlining while offering something unique that many could get behind. Anyhow, give us the most minimal reason to support you and we'll be there. Personally, I like the establishments that offer just the sliiiiiiiiightest little something to the community besides excellent food. Reach out just a bit. I know it cuts into your profit margin but it will make a world of difference.
This is exactly what Deerfield needs. I've been looking all over town for something Italian!!!! Now we finally have something!!! I hope they put an Olive Garden in where Woodfire was......
1. They will gladly visit your new business but while there, they will be very loud with their conversations and phone calls. 2. They will let their kids run throughout the restaurant and scream at ear piercing levels. (Don't even think about asking the parents to get them to stop). 3. Your lunchtime crowd will stay there for hours. 4. You'll get used to hearing, "that's not what I ordered, send it back" 5. And finally, never tell someone from Deerfield that their table isn't ready and that they should wait at the bar unless you buy them a drink or comp them on dessert. Welcome to Deerfield!
My advice to the new owners, is to reiterate another post: Make yourself part of the community. Offer up your private room to local groups for their meetings (during off peak hours, of course). Donate some gift cards to DHS for their School Chest fundraiser. Do profit-sharing nights for local groups doing fundraising. Start some buzz marketing by inviting locals in for an opening night celebration. Offer some discount or free drink coupons for a first visit.
I didn't reference that on purpose, but now that I saw it, let me say this: good lord, could the community use a good place for even some decent music. I really have no clue how big the space is, but it seems all the restaurants die by 8:30 or 9. People need an excuse to stay and have a drink and dessert. How much could it cost to get a regular line-up of kids from the NU jazz program?