If you fancy yourself a foodie — or simply enjoy great food — you’re missing out if you’ve never dined at Aba. Located in Chicago’s Fulton Market District, just blocks west of the Loop, Aba Chicago is the work of Chef CJ Jacobson. It features his take on food from Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, and Greece, with a California flair.

Background

Fans of Bravo’s Top Chef will recognize Jacobson, who competed on the show in 2007 and then won Top Chef Duels in 2014. Prior to that, he competed on the U.S. National Volleyball Team, which afforded him travels across the globe. That’s where he discovered a love for international cuisine.

Upon graduating from Pepperdine, Jacobson enrolled in the Le Cordon Bleu affiliated College of Culinary Arts in Pasadena, Calif. and landed his first culinary job at Axe in 2004.

From there, Jacobson worked at Campanile and as a VIP private chef before getting his first executive chef position at The Yard in Santa Monica. In 2012, he worked at the famous Noma in Copenhagen as part of the James Beard Celebrity Chef Tour. A year later, Jacobson became executive chef at Girasol in Studio City, Calif. before moving to Chicago to serve as chef-in-residence at Intro.

In 2016, he opened Ema (which means ‘mother’ in Hebrew) in Chicago’s River North neighborhood, and then followed that up in 2018 with Aba (‘father’ in Hebrew). He subsequently opened Aba locations in Austin and Miami.

What to expect

Situated on the third floor, above Beatrix and next to Punch Bowl Chicago, as soon as you walk into the foyer off N. Green St. you’re greeted with beautiful lanterns illuminating your way to the elevator. As the elevator doors open on the third floor, you arrive in a chic mid-century restaurant overflowing with realistic trees and greenery.

Our table was on the rooftop patio, which was enclosed and heated for the winter. It offered a picturesque view of the city skyline.

In addition to the atmosphere and the food (which I’ll get to shortly), I was very impressed with the service. Given the restaurant’s standing and price tag, the staff and servers could have operated with an air of pretentiousness. But we didn’t get that vibe at all. They were quick, attentive, and personable throughout our entire experience.

Now to the good stuff.

Drinks

The drink menu at Aba Chicago is fairly extensive, crafted by Lead Mixologist Liz Pearce. In addition to beer, cider, wine, and a solid whiskey list, Pearce designed about a dozen cocktails ($14-$15 each) and reserve cocktails $21-$38 each).

My wife, who is a self-proclaimed gin and tonic snob, had the Apricot G&T ($14) and absolutely loved it. It is made with Brockman’s gin, Ford’s gin, lemon curd cordial, apricot liqueur, lime, and tonic, topped with an apricot.

I opted for the Triple Barrel Old Fashioned ($21), which included Plantation single barrel select, Corner Creek Bourbon, Appel’s Island Cordial, and house bitters, topped with a lime and an orange twist. According to the menu, the Plantation rum “spent four years in bourbon barrels before being shipped to France to spend 3 years in Cognac casks,” and was then finished in Duvel barrels.

It sounds cool, but honestly, it didn’t blot me away. However, I’ll caveat that by saying I’m not a huge fan of cocktails. I drink whiskey neat, and the higher proof the better. Was it good? Absolutely. Was it $21 good? Eh. But if that was the lowest point of the meal, that’s saying something.

Hummus

The food at Aba Chicago is served tapas style. It’s small plates, meant to be shared. The waitress did a great job of explaining that to us and recommended 3-5 plates between the two of us.

We started with the lamb ragu hummus ($16.95, pictured above). It included braised lamb shoulder in a spicy harissa, which sat in a bed of hummus.

Now, if you’re picturing the Sabra or Tribe hummus that you buy in the small plastic tubs at the grocery store and keep in your fridge, this isn’t that. First of all, it’s served warm, like traditional hummus, and now I never want to buy those cold grocery store hummuses again.

It comes with a giant piece of house bread, which is soft and warm and coated with za’atar, a middle eastern spice blend of herbs, sumac, sesame, and salt.

Crack. That’s what it really is, because when you inevitably finish that first piece you’re going to ask the waitress to keep it coming like chips at a Mexican restaurant. And you’ll use it to sop up every last bit of juice from every subsequent dish.

In addition to the lamb ragu, the menu also offers classic, spicy, wild mushroom, and crispy short rib hummus. All of those sound fantastic, but will have to wait for a return trip.

Spreads

Along with the hummus, we also ordered the whipped feta ($12.95, pictured above). This dish may have been the star of the show. I’m pretty sure we devoured it in record time and I’ve dreamed of it at least twice since last Friday. Is that weird? Nah.

Like the name suggests, this is feta that is whipped to a light and fluffy consistency. It is topped with crushed pistachio, olive oil, and lemon zest. Just scoop it into the house bread and funnel it into your mouth. The pistachios provide the perfect texture to balance out the feta and the lemon zest adds a nice brightness.

Whatever you get at Aba Chicago, I highly recommend this one, and if you’re with a party of more than two people, get more than one order of it.

The other spreads on the menu were charred eggplant and muhammara, which is a Syrian dish of red peppers, walnuts, and pomegranate molasses. Again, both of those sounded fantastic, but we didn’t get to try them.

Hot Mezze (Sides)

The menu features six different dishes under the Hot Mezze section, which are essentially sides. While all of them sounded great, we only ordered one of them — the brussels sprouts ($12.95, pictured above).

Now, I know what you’re thinking. BRUSSELS SPROUTS?!?

To which I say, a resounding YES!

Young me wasn’t a fan of sprouts, but adult me is all in on them, and when we read the description of them on the menu, they were a no-brainer. “Almond and cashew dukkah, harissa honey”. Yes, please.

When cooked correctly, brussels sprouts are up there with any side dish, and these were done perfectly. Crispy. Sweet and caramelized from the honey. A slight heat from the harissa. Crunch and earthiness from the almond and cashew dukkah, sesame seeds, coriander, and cumin.

This was the dish I was scraping the bottom of the bowl trying do find more of.

Other sides included crispy potatoes, green falafel, Turkish flatbread, grilled halloumi, and black truffle orzo. Please let there be a next time so I can try these!

Proteins

Under the ‘Mediterranean Butcher’ section of the menu are five different protein dishes that Aba Chicago offers. This is where we chose to invest the most money and belly space for this meal, and it was well worth it!

Crispy pork belly

First is the crispy pork belly ($21.95, pictured above). If you know me, are a customer of mine, or have seen us at a local pop-up, you probably know my fondness for pork belly. I sell a lot of bacon and serve pork belly burnt ends at nearly every in-person event. I love cooking with it and working with it because of its versatility.

Well, I can pretty much guarantee that the flavors in this dish will likely show up at an event this summer. It was THAT good. First of all, the pork belly was perfectly cooked. The edges were crispy, the fat was perfectly rendered, and the glaze…that glaze! Wow.

The pork belly is glazed with a spiced honey and it’s served alongside roasted honey crisp apple and garlic shoots. A bite of pork belly with a piece of apple was simply divine.

Tamarind-braised short rib

The next protein dish we enjoyed was the tamarind-braised short rib ($24.95, pictured above). Served atop a sesame and celery root puree, pearl onions, and barberry molasses, this dish was just as good as the pork belly.

The short rib was tender enough to be shredded with a fork. The barberry molasses added a nice sweetness to cut the beefiness. The puree was mashed potato-like with a different flavor, and the pearl onions melted in your mouth.

This is a dish I’d order a full meal of and be perfectly content.

Shawarma spiced skirt steak

Finally, we enjoyed the shawarma spiced skirt steak ($28.95, pictured above). What can I say that hasn’t already been said? The skirt steak was cooked perfectly and the pairing with the horseradish labneh, watercress, and black garlic mushroom jus made it like a shawarma beef stroganoff.

Other menu items

The menu also featured seafood — black garlic shrimp scampi and wild striped bass — as well as kebobs, available in grilled cauliflower, grilled chicken, chicken kefta, lamb and beef kefta, and grilled salmon.

There was also marinated olives and feta, village salad, as well as raw items including beef capraccio, hamachi, and tuna tagliata.

Honestly, there is nothing on the menu that didn’t sound good. My only regret is that I couldn’t try everything.

Final thoughts

Altogether, Aba Chicago lived up to and exceeded expectations. CJ Jacobson knocked it out of the park with Aba, and I can’t wait to come back.

When it first opened in 2018, it was impossible to get a reservation, and while it has been nearly four years it’s still a must-visit restaurant in Chicago. While the price tag is high, the atmosphere, the food, and the service are all incredible. The splurge is absolutely worth it for an anniversary, birthday, or other special occasion.

Consider going in a larger group so you can order more plates and try more of the menu. If you can swing it as a work dinner on the company dime, even better!

Have you eaten at Aba? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below, or on Instagram.