EL Ideas is the kind of place that you dream about when you book a special, Michelin-starred dinner. It’s located in a hidden, one-way street in the middle of the Douglas Park neighborhood of Chicago, which is mainly industrial; there is only room to seat about 20 people; it’s BYOB, so you won’t be paying marked up prices for booze (and allows the chef to really focus on the food); Chef Foss is there every day, hosting his intimate dinner party, and introducing the dishes to his guests; and finally, the menu changes with the seasons, and is innovative and exciting every single time.

Chef Foss is absolutely no-fuss, but takes his menu extremely seriously. EL Ideas is a bare-bones operation, with the front of house manager, Chef Foss, one sous chef (these days it’s Alejandro Cuevas), and one additional assistant (today it was Chef Foss’s daughter) putting the whole thing together, cooking, serving, and cleaning up. The vibe is like a secret dinner party, that only you, and about 20 other folks know about. It feels special here. You are invited to walk around and chat with the chef, and check out the prep and plating. It’s all very easy going. That said, there is nothing simple or bare bones about the food. Each dish highlights a different protein, and contains no less than four primary ingredients (all details lovingly listed on the menu that you receive at the end of the evening). Each dish is a true symphony of flavors, inviting you to just sit back and enjoy the show.

The crazy thing about El Ideas is that, despite it’s one-star Michelin status, it does continue to remain pretty under the radar. Chef Foss does virtually no social media, and there’s rarely an article or review out there boosting the restaurant’s notoriety. For some reason, you never see the place on lists from larger publications such as Eater or Infatuation. Honestly, I don’t think the El Ideas crew mind that much, as the place is always full for two seatings, Thursday – Sunday. It’s remained true to it’s roots since 2011, and strikes excitement into the hearts of anyone who has been fortunate enough to eat there. We returned in May of 2025, and it was my third time experiencing this intimate and magical place. I’ll highlight some of my favorite dishes here, but, honestly, everything was incredibly stellar.

To start, there’s always a fun ice-breaker dish, that Chef Foss tells us to eat without utensils OR hands! This time, it was Poke, which for me was tofu based, with rice, pineapple, corn, radish, and wasabi. Any possibility of pretentiousness melts away, when 20 people lift a plate up to their mouths and lick up the delicious food!

Each dish throughout the nine-course meal, except dessert, featured some type of protein, making the $185 price tag feel like a great value. The menu opens with seafood, and the pink prawn with ramps, avocado, grapefruit, and pistachio sets the tone beautifully. The briny shrimp paired with mellow avocado was an unexpected and delicious combination. Next came a lightly fried filet of skate wing served with cauliflower and almonds—a lovely contrast to the prawn that preceded it.

The sweetbread course, including sea urchin, bok choi and miso was an umami blast of flavor that stole the show. This may have been my favorite course of the night.

For the final savory course, EL Ideas served lamb, extraordinarily tender and worthy of comparison to the lamb we melted over at Arpège in Paris last year. The preparation of the lamb was simple, but the pairing with beans, garlic confit, chard, orange, and rosemary, showcased the depth of Chef Foss’s talent in balancing flavors, ingredients, and techniques. How he pulls it off with only two additional people in the kitchen is anyone’s guess.

After the savory courses, and a staple at EL Ideas which was remained on the menu from day one, is French Fries and Frosty. This whimsical sweet and savory dessert is as much fun to watch be prepared (nitro poached vanilla ice cream!), as it is to eat. The extraordinarily tasty hot potato leek soup and “impossibly crunchy” potatoes elevate (pun intended) what could be an otherwise kitschy course.

Finally, there is always a really nice dessert to cap off the evening. This time it was white chocolate cheesecake with rhubarb, raspberry and rose. As delicious as it is artistic, you can’t help but wonder how such a complex experience is orchestrated with so little time and so few hands!

And that’s the thing – any meal at EL Ideas is absolute magic on so many levels. If you’re looking for an extraordinary meal that feels unique, and a bit secret and special, don’t hesitate to book. This is one of my favorite one-star Michelin restaurants in Chicago, and it definitely deserves your attention!