Feld, West Town’s Adventurous Tasting Menu Restaurant, Is Finally Opening

Feld is scheduled to open on Friday, June 28.

Feld, the adventurous fine dining restaurant announced back in December 2022, finally has an opening date in West Town. Jake Potashnick, a Chicago native and graduate of Walter Payton College Preparatory High School, has announced Friday, June 28, as opening day. Reservations are live via Tock.

Potashnick has cooked all over the world, including at Michelin-starred Ernst in Berlin, and in Japan. This is the first restaurant where he’ll lead the kitchen, but he’s confident that his decade of experience will help make Feld a success.

It’s a unique tasting menu. He jokes that it’s not a place where diners will be able to catch up over conversation. Servers will drop more than 30 courses at tables, some small bites — like shooters — for about two and a half hours. Dinner will cost $195 per person. There are also wine pairings available, about six or seven glasses to go with dinner. There’s a non-alcoholic option, too.

Crews have transformed the space at 2018 W. Chicago Avenue — home of Whisk and, most recently Tamale Guy Chicago. Parts of the tin ceiling remain, but visitors won’t recognize the space, draped in a melange of violet and beige. There are two paintings by local artist Lucca Colombelli depicting Froggy Meadow Farm in Beloit, Wisconsin. Froggy Meadow is just one of the vendors that Feld works with; Potashnick says brokering relationships with folks like the farm’s Jerry Boone are integral to Feld’s success. Potashnick will hover between two islands situated in the center of the restaurant all seats facing the center.

Chicago native Jake Potashnick is opening his first restaurant.

The menu will rapidly change and draw upon global influences. But, as sommelier and general manager Christian Shaun says, the goal is to create a restaurant that could not exist anywhere but in Chicago. Potashnick counts, on one hand, the number of ingredients that he doesn’t consider local: oil, sugar, distilled vinegar, and salt. The plates are from Monsoon Pottery, Fawn Penn at The Digs designed numerous trinkets, and Simon Goldbroch made the chopsticks while his brother, Sam Goldbroch, made the knives. The restaurant worked with Edgewater Candle on a custom scent used in its hand soap.

The chef also kept a TikTok diary that updated his more than 87,000 followers on progress. He says that he realizes that most of his followers, who are from all around the world, won’t be able to visit, but he’s grateful that it brought positive attention to his project.

There are doubters within the industry, those unfamiliar with Potashnick’s resume and his experience cooking in global kitchens. They haven’t seen him work his way at Chicago restaurants, so they’ve expressed skepticism. Potashnick takes the criticism in stride, but notes that he wouldn’t want any of his staffers to voice that sort of trash-talking about someone else’s restaurant. They represent Feld in and out of the restaurant.

It’s been a few years of planning, and though the layout has been changed due to costs, Potashnick says he hasn’t changed the food. However, he’s keyed in on his customer’s comfort. His TikTok posting has slowed over the last few weeks and expects his social media output to suffer while he focuses on making Feld the best it can be.

Chicagoans can see if Feld meets those lofty expectations starting on Friday.

Feld, 2018 W. Chicago Avenue, opening Friday, June 28, reservations via Tock.