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Benjamin Restaurant

Friday, April 19, 2013

Benjamin Restaurant to Reopen as Tapas Place

Downtown Highland Park's Benjamin Restaurant closed this month, and will reopen in May as something very different.

On April 4, Benjamin Brittsan wrote an email to Patch to announce the closing of his Benjamin Restaurant, after almost two years in downtown Highland Park. Ten days later, he wrote back with some promising news: instead of closing altogether, Brittsan has decided to re-conceptualize his restaurant. Beginning the first week of May, Benjamin Restaurant will open as Benjamin Tapas. "I want to give the local community something I feel like it has been missing," Brittsan said on Monday. "Some place that's fun and relaxing and not pretentious." The restaurateur spoke with Patch in January about learning from his customers. At that time, he hoped that small tweaks to the restaurant's ambience and menu would make up for what he said was a bumpy …

In this Article:

Benjamin Restaurant
 (in Highland Park Patch), Highland Park's Benjamin Learns from its Customers, After 44 Years, Stashs Celebrates Old and New (in Highland Park Patch), and 3 more ›

Friday, January 18, 2013

Highland Park's Benjamin Learns from its Customers

The American-cuisine restaurant Benjamin, located in downtown Highland Park, has spent the past year and a half learning from its diners, and changing accordingly.

Benjamin Brittsan opened his first restaurant in downtown Highland Park in August of 2010. Nearly two years later, the chef says he continues to learn what his customers are looking for in a dining experience. Brittsan sat down with Patch at Benjamin Restaurant this week over soft pretzels, Cuban sandwiches and crispy frites to discuss what he's learned in his year and a half of serving North Shore residents. The learning began, he says, when he realized that his restaurant, which serves seasonal, contemporary American cuisine, was coming off as less approachable than he would have liked. "We came off a little pretentious at the beginning," Brittsan said, "I don't want it to come off that way because that's not how I am." To change that …

In this Article:

New Highland Park Spot Emphasizes Local Produce (in Highland Park Patch), Benjamin Restaurant
 (in Highland Park Patch), Moderno to Reopen as More Casual Restaurant (in Highland Park Patch), and 1 more ›

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2:00 pm on Monday, April 8, 2013

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