Award-Winning Chef de Cuisine From Schwa, Elizabeth and Longman & Eagle To Open West Town Restaurant
Wilson Bauer will head the kitchen as executive chef at Bar Biscay, the upcoming restaurant on West Town’s Chicago Avenue. Announced in November, Bar Biscay is the brainchild of husband and wife duo, Scott Worsham and Sari Zernich Worsham, and their friend and partner, Joe Campagna.
“Wilson shares our culinary vision for Bar Biscay,” said Worsham, owner and partner. “We’re ecstatic to have him on board and can’t wait to work with him on our concept of a Spanish brasserie.”
Originally hailing from Seattle, Bauer moved to Chicago in 2010 and began his Chicago career as the sous chef at Longman & Eagle. He brings experience working at multiple Michelin-starred restaurants, most recently as the chef de cuisine at Schwa and previously chef de cuisine at Elizabeth. In 2017, he received the Jean Banchet award for Best Chef de Cuisine for his work at Schwa.
“I’m excited for the culinary area of Europe which Bar Biscay focuses on,” says Bauer. “The food, whether it’s the charcuterie of western France or the seafood of northern Spain, and lifestyle of that area has always been intriguing to me.”
The menu at the soon-to-open restaurant will change seasonally, leaning towards coastal Spain in the summer and the French countryside in the winter. The seafood aspect of the Spanish brasserie plays into Bauer’s roots in Seattle, where his love for the sea and the delicious ingredients it provides first developed, initially as a young boy through fishing and later as a chef working at local restaurants.
Located at 1450 W. Chicago Ave., Bar Biscay will bring a new neighborhood destination to the West Town and Noble Square community, an area that has recently lost some of its beloved restaurants. Bar Biscay is set to open in early 2018.
About Bar Biscay
Named after the area that stretches from the northern coast of Spain up to the western coast of France, West Town’s Bar Biscay is a perfect neighborhood joint that combines the friendly atmosphere of a European mom-and-pop spot with unpretentious product-driven dishes that highlight a region not often given the spotlight. The seasonally evolving menu leans Spain in the summer and France in the winter with dishes that range from snacks (pintxos) and small plates to a daily changing stew. From the same owners as Lakeview’s mfk., Scott Worsham and Sari Zernich Worsham, and industry veteran, Joe Campagna, Bar Biscay, dubbed a ‘Spanish brasserie,’ puts the focus on the joys of the table via its simple approach to cooking, deep respect for raw ingredients and communal approach to eating and drinking. For more information, see the website here or follow @BarBiscay on Facebookand Instagram.
