A smiling chef standing outside of Publican Quality Meats.

While living in New York as a line cook, Rob Levitt remembers the buzz surrounding the Publican when it opened 18 years ago, reading about Paul Kahan’s ethos in Food & Wine, learning about the chef’s dedication to sourcing the best ingredients and allowing them to shine through via simple preparation. Now, nearly two decades later, Levitt finds himself in charge of the fabled restaurant’s kitchen as the Publican’s new executive chef.

“I staged at Avec. I staged at Blackbird,” Levitt says. “So when I got the job across the street [at Publican Quality Meats], it was a big deal to me. You know, I often joke that it was like I was that triple-A ballplayer that has been just crushing triple-A for the longest time, and I finally got called up to the majors.”

The Publican, Seeking a Spark, Brings In a New Chef With a Familiar Name

Levitt, one of the city’s best butchers, began rolling out new menus at the Publican more than a month ago as he continues to oversee One Off Hospitality’s sibling restaurant across the street, Publican Quality Meats. Levitt joined Publican Quality Meats six years ago, revamping the menu with sandwiches while bringing his lauded sausage-making skills to Fulton Market. He began hosting a dinner series at the butcher shop last year and impressed Kahan and company enough that this spring, they asked if he was interested in taking over the original restaurant. Levitt calls it a “full circle moment.”

The Publican, one of Chicago’s most influential restaurants, planted its flag in a still-developing Fulton Market in 2008, all while raising expectations for Chicago restaurants and earning national accolades. That same year, Levitt and his wife, Allison, opened a Bucktown restaurant called Mado, before moving on to Butcher & Larder where he worked up until moving to Publican Quality Meats in 2019. The two restaurants shared similar philosophies. With that in mind, Levitt says he wants to return the Publican to its roots.

“What made the Publican so great from the beginning is that the focus has always been on finding the best possible products and cooking them simply and adding some kind of little twist that makes it interesting,” Levitt says. “And I know that that’s a bit of a trope at this point, but it’s a trope partially because the Publican did it at a time when nobody else was doing it.”

Mado couldn’t replicate the Publican’s success — Levitt shared some of the frustrations with a wider audience when he appeared in Season 2 of The Bear. A modern twist on a beer hall, the Publican tied itself to a trifecta of pillars: beer, pork, and oysters. But as development in Fulton Market exploded, the Publican inched closer to becoming another face in the crowd.

While craft beer sales sag nationally, Levitt maintains that beer remains a core part of the Publican with a dynamite selection. And One Off hasn’t remained stagnant, over the years; Levitt points out, there’s been a focus on improving the cocktails and giving the restaurant a shot in the arm it needs to succeed with more restaurants in the area competing for business.

“To me, that is part of the evolution. In the old days, it was oysters, pork, and beer, and then we evolved into that same mentality toward seafood and that same mentality towards vegetables,” he says. “Now we’re trying to just reenergize it.”

The menu is constantly changing, but Levitt talks about using ivory king salmon, a fish rarely seen in Chicago. He’s using short ribs procured from Publican Quality Meats and braising them with cherry beer, shallots, and sweet cherries. Whole trout comes with a buttermilk vinaigrette with salad of cherry tomatoes, lobster, charred Tropea onions, and cucumbers. Crispy whole spring onions show a creative way of cooking vegetarian dishes.

Levitt is mindful of the Publican’s legacy, but he’s also aware that restaurants, even legendary ones, need to embrace change to survive. He mentions Canlis in Seattle, which has recently tweaked its formula by elevating a new chef from within its kitchen. Levitt is thankful for One Off’s support with industry legends like Kahan, Donnie Madia, chef Brian Huston, and chef Perry Hendrix. He’s particularly fond of his interactions with Kahan, who will text him when he’s excited to see how a specific ingredient would look on the Publican’s menu.

“It’s the most amazing feeling to get a text message from Paul Kahan that says, ‘hey, garlic scapes are in season, we should buy a bunch,’” Levitt says.