The Daisies Team Will Liven Up Milwaukee Avenue With a New Seafood Bar
The space at 2523 N. Milwaukee Avenue has been vacant since 2023 when Daisies uprooted its operation down the street to a larger location that quickly became a neighborhood anchor with daytime coffee and pastries and dinner fare like pasta at night. Daisies has appeared on numerous Best Of lists and was Eater Chicago's 2023 Restaurant of the Year.
While Daisies is routinely busy during the day, the Radicle takes a different route in leaning into nightlife along a once-bustling nocturnal stretch of Milwaukee Avenue that pre-pandemic housed the Mega Mall across the street. Late in Daisies' tenure there, the space housed COVID-era weekend markets selling goods and produce from Frillman Farms, owned by Joe Frillman's brother, Tim. 'For the first three years we were there, it was bananas out front,' Frillman says.
That's not to say Logan Square is devoid of bars, but several variables have contributed to a change, and that includes prices. Frillman recalls a golden age when cocktails hovered around $10. Back then, Frillman and his Daisies staff engaged in experiments using fruit scraps and other clever techniques. New drinks include a Sunday Negroni (gin, pomegranate, Campari, myrrh, sweet vermouth), Sbagliatto Rossini (Lambrusco, Mick Klug Farm strawberries, Campari, rose vermouth), and non-alcoholic drinks like the Peach Fizz (farm peaches, basil, fermented whey soda, egg white). Bartender Nicole Yarovinsky, who heads the bar program at Daisies now will also handle beverage duties at the Radicle. Expect a big selection of sparkling wines and Champagne.
Daisies opened in 2017, and looking back, Frillman is in awe at how his staff functioned in a small kitchen. Prior to Daisies' debut, a bar operated in the space, and returning to those roots was the best use of the location, Frillman says. The space isn't going to get a big overhaul, but local firm Debaun Studio will polish the space up. The team will repurpose the old tables, employing the same commitment to the environment that earned Daisies Michelin's Green Star the last two years.
Though beverages are the focus, Frillman's got some serious chef pride. Food won't be an afterthought: 'I'm there — if I'm showing up every day, the food's going to be great,' he says.
Radicle will serve more seafood compared to Daisies, with creative uses of sardines and anchovies to punch up flavors. Still, there's an eye on affordability.
'We're definitely going to have more opulent things, but we're still trying to make it so that a seafood restaurant makes sense in the Midwest,' Frillman says.
Frillman has frequently visited Italy, falling in love with the Adriatic Coast, a region he envisions would be a pretty sweet place to retire. At Daisies, the focus is Italian cuisine through a Midwest lens, and sometimes that doesn't leave room for Frillman to cook other items. The Radicle allows him to scratch that itch. Opening menu items include deviled eggs with trout roe, fried lake perch with whitefish tonnato, and pizzas come with a farmer's touch. Toppings include fennel sausage and fresh peaches. Also, look for chilled seafood like prawns with Campari aioli and smoked mackerel served with pretzels, and crab dip accompanied by Ritz crackers. Frillman hopes to squeeze a few days of service out of the back patio this year.
Daisies employs a service fee, which Frillman says has helped retain personnel, even after some customers initially didn't understand and complained. He wants Radicle to foster that same type of environment for his workers, where they have stable wages, benefits, and opportunities to grow. But he's also mindful that a bar provides a different level of service compared to a full-service restaurant like Daisies, and thus hasn't yet finalized the service model for the new project.
Still, with swirling uncertainty — well, everywhere in the U.S. at this moment — Frillman feels cooking helps ground him, and he wants to share that joy with his customers.
'I just want to sit back and relax, enjoy a drink, have some good food, and escape for a little bit,' he says. 'And I feel like the whole world needs some of that right now.'
The Radicle, 2523 N. Milwaukee Avenue, planned for a fall opening . See More:
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