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Restaurant news: Nafsi reclaims the South Shore Cultural Center with elevated soul food
By Louisa Kung Liu Chu, Chicago Tribune,
3 days ago
Nafsi, a finer dining soul food restaurant, located inside the South Shore Cultural Center. E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/TNS
The finer dining soul food restaurant Nafsi just opened inside the historic South Shore Cultural Center , a former country club that once barred Black and Jewish people from membership on the South Side of Chicago.
Executive chef Dondee Robinson, last at the critically acclaimed Bronzeville Winery , has created a menu reclaiming the space, with a nod to the family history of restaurant owner Donnell Digby, best known for The Woodlawn venue.
“To have a Black-owned restaurant, and a Black executive chef in an establishment that once didn’t want us here,” Robinson said, “it’s a statement.”
Nafsi is a Swahili word that means soul, said the chef, so their concept is elevated soul food “to bring new flavors and new ideas to the South Shore community.”
“We both have some background in South Shore,” said Digby, who always wanted to create a space with a certain “style and vibration” for everyone to enjoy in the neighborhood.
The restaurant had a soft opening on Sept. 3 with a friends and family menu and a few items have emerged as early fan favorites.
“We have char-grilled oysters with Creole butter, breadcrumbs and a little Parmesan cheese,” said the chef, who finishes them with a hit of fresh lemon and chives.
His catfish and grits pays homage to Digby’s family.
“They used to have a restaurant called Catfish Digby’s,” said Robinson, whose dish features fried catfish with white polenta grits and a Creole bechamel sauce.
His shrimp bucatini with lobster cream sauce has also become a bestseller.
“We’re right off the lake, so we wanted to have that sense of fresh seafood items as well,” the chef said.
For dessert, he makes a bourbon banana bread pudding with a creme brulee banana on top.
“That’s infused with Uncle Nearest,” he added. “So a little note to Black culture.”
“In the same way that we were previously excluded from this space,” Digby said, “Uncle Nearest was excluded from the history of the Jack Daniel’s brand.”
One of their most popular drinks is a Peaches & Herb cocktail, said the restaurateur, with cognac and a white peach- and rosemary-infused Grey Goose vodka. “And the Chicago Fire,” added the chef. “It’s a Superbird reposado tequila, a little Cajun spice, thinly sliced jalapeño peppers and a fresh lemon squeeze.”
Their full-service bar is located on the outdoor patio, which they said they’ll keep open year-round for dining.
“It’s a fully enclosed patio that gives you a breathtaking view of the lakefront,” Digby said. “Our interior dining area seats up to 65 people, the patio up to 25 people and coming through next summer, we’re building a deck outside behind our patio that will seat another 30 or 40 people.”
It’s an ambitious plan for the space that was previously the Parrot Cage, a student restaurant by the Washburne Culinary & Hospitality Institute.
But it’s a hopeful space, in a building that once hosted the wedding reception for newlyweds Barack and Michelle Obama.
“I’m excited about being able to employ 20 people,” Digby said. “And to give an opportunity for young people and older people to provide for their families right here in their very own community.”
They’re planning a grand opening with Mayor Brandon Johnson on Oct. 9.
The full menu will launch then with a highly anticipated item — “Our steak and frites,” said the chef, who will offer a 10-ounce flank steak with garlic truffle fries and kale chimichurri.
Weekend brunch is expected midwinter, said Digby, with the hiring of 10 more employees.
Until then, the grounds are still green and open to all.
“That long stretch of driveway just gives pure opulence,” he said. “You see the golf course and the trees. You smell the scent of the lake. And entering the building gives you a sense of coming home.”
The old Bridgeport Bakery has become a new neighborhood bakery. Fat Peach Bakery opened with a line down Archer Avenue on Aug. 31 . Look for small-batch sweet and savory pastries, from cherry Basque cheesecake to ham and cheese croissants, but no bacon buns — yet.
Lynn Humphreys and Brandon Bruner took what started as a pizza date night at home to a whole new level with their own pizzeria. Lynn’s Chicago Pizza celebrated the grand opening of their debut Black-owned shop in the Woodlawn neighborhood on Sept. 19 . He makes Chicago-style deep dish and thin-crust pies including a signature Dorchester with chicken Italian sausage, lobster with 24-hour notice and an occasional oxtail special.
The Delta owners have created a workspace by day and cocktail lounge by night. The Pink Polo Social Club & Bar saddled up in the River North neighborhood on Sept. 13 . Get a South American-inspired breakfast skillet with sunny eggs over arroz, and a surf and turf burger with an elk and veal patty and whole fried shrimp.
Do you have notable restaurant news in the Chicago area? Email food critic Louisa Kung Liu Chu at lchu@chicagotribune.com .
Big screen or home stream, takeout or dine-in, Tribune writers are here to steer you toward your next great experience. Sign up for your free weekly Eat. Watch. Do. newsletter here .
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