Chicago’s leading restaurant group, Boka is staking its claim to the city’s flourishing Fulton Market neighbourhood with the launch of Swift & Sons. Housed in a former cold-storage facility, the swanky steakhouse – named for meatpacking pioneer Gustavus Franklin Swift – charms with the old-world style of an exclusive boys’ club reimagined for the modern patron.
Designed by New York-based outfit AvroKo, the interiors are unabashedly bold, with vaulted ceilings, mosaic marble floors and original cement columns, but thanks to thoughtful design choices, from leather-topped tables and custom brass lighting, the dining room feels more intimate that intimidating. Food, by chef Chris Pendel, covers steakhouse classics – Caesar salad and surf and turf – with fresh additions like celery root agnolotti and delightful bite-size desserts from pastry chef Meg Galus. The cherry on top: an in-house concierge desk that handles orders for flowers to hotel rooms on the spot.
