Inside River North's Ambitious Italian Restaurant With Brazilian Flair

Eater

16-05-2025

Nic & Junior's is a sleek restaurant in River North, hidden in the shadows of skyscrapers, just east of Wabash, between the Chicago River and Hubbard Street. It's a unique building with large windows and an outdoor patio. Eventually, Nic & Junior's, which debuts today — Friday, May 16 — will start with dinner service before adding lunch.
This is no downtown tourist trap, at least that's what Junior Borges and Nic Yanes hope. There are two dining rooms with distinct feels. The room near the entrance has a bar and a single TV, ideal for a cocktail and a quick bite like a burger or salad. The experience diverges while walking into the rear dining room, where there's a chef's counter and a modified tasting menu with dishes like A5 wagyu picanha and an orechetti with braised octopus. But this isn't tweezer food or a place where customers need to wear formal attire. They're attempting to toe the line between neighborhood and fine dining restaurant with handmade pastas with Italian roots complemented by Brazilian flavors. Borges talks about a special version of giardiniera made with biquinho peppers served with mortadella: 'It's the food we want to eat,' Yanes says. 'It really is approachable.'
There's a strong connection between Italian and Brazilian cuisine thanks to migration patterns, and that link makes it natural for Borges. The chef made the list of James Beard Award semifinalists in 2023 at Meridian, Eater Dallas's Restaurant of the Year in 2021. Meridian, which closed in mid-2024 after Borges's departure, showcased modern Brazilian cuisine through the chef's Afro-Caribbean lens; he grew up in Rio. Borges has spent 24 years in America and dreamed of owning a restaurant while helping to educate Americans that Brazilian cuisine isn't just about large skewers of meat. He talks about how most Brazilian restaurants in New York and New Jersey focus on more homestyle cuisine. Borges shares nostalgic stories about self-serve restaurants in Rio and mentions the Japanese and Portuguese influences on the country's cuisine.
While Borges commutes between Texas and Chicago, his longtime collaborator, Justin Mosley, has moved to the Midwest to lead Nic & Junior's. Mosley has already familiarized himself with Chicago, even tracking down hard-to-find imported ingredients, like fermented yucca juice or a specific tapioca flour used in the Brazilian cheese fritter. They found two cheeses — queijo coalho and catupiry — at Brazil Legal Café, a restaurant in Bucktown. Borges finds Chicago welcoming and has done his best to connect with local chefs. He's cooked at two-Michelin-starred Oriole for a special dinner with 2025 James Beard Award finalist Noah Sandoval. Borges has bonded with John Manion, the chef at Brasero and El Che Steakhouse, and the two have shared stories about spending time in Brazil.
Yanes started as a chef before launching Excelsior Hospitality and runs a handful of restaurants, including Austin, Texas restaurant Juniper, which debuted in 2015. He met Borges 12 years ago. Yanes and his family have since moved to Wicker Park, where they've gotten to know Chicago. That's why they have a TV at the bar — they won't deny sports fans a chance to watch an important contest. For the record, Borges is a Dallas Cowboys fan, but his heart is with Flamengo, a Brazilian soccer club.
When the Chicago opportunity arrived, Borges was concerned with how the city would receive him as he traveled back and forth between his family in Texas and the Chicago restaurant. But knowing Yanes and Mosley were stationed in town, and the fact that several successful chefs manage restaurants from afar (Thomas Keller famously installed TVs that connect the French Laundry in Yountville, California and Eleven Madison Park In New York so he could hypothetically keep an eye on multiple kitchens), the issue began to fade. Borges says he wants to become part of the community. He's not in Chicago to chase awards or Michelin stars in a larger market.
Borges enjoys sharing his food memories, hoping it resonates with diners. For example, he tells a story about a family recipe for papaya jam passed along through generations. Borges is conscious of a vocal tide of folks who may not care about those narratives, and they just want to be fed. Still, he wants to appeal to their intellectual curiosity by ensuring staff are educated and ready to share information if asked. Yanes adds that they're 'not here to drone on about how we are, who we are.'
Borges agrees with that sentiment to an extent. He describes a dish he calls the Beach Grilled Cheese. It's a snack he grew up eating, a piece of cheese on a stick drizzled with hot honey. Borges says servers don't need to share the entire story.
'All the staff needs to say is that this is chef Junior's favorite snack on the beach in Brazil,' Borges says. 'Then they can walk away.'
Nic & Junior's , 405 N. Wabash, open 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday; 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday; reservations via Tock .
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