Located just off the Berwyn Red Line stop, Kitchen Sink ( which has taken over the spot once occupied by Pause Cafe ) lives up to its name by offering all sorts of bagels, salads, soups, sandwiches, cookies and more. Windy City Times talked with Ally Brisbin and Jeff Fox, the owners of the eatery that is described as "50% gay-owned, but 100% LGBTQ-friendly."
Windy City Times: Could you talk about the transformation of this place from Pause to Kitchen Sink?
Ally Brisbin: We both friends from upstate New York, and he moved [ to Chicago ] probably a year before I did, so he had been working here [ at Pause ] , and he hooked me up with a job here. We saw things that could be improved upon.
WCT: Like?
Jeff Fox: Selection was the biggest thing.
Ally Brisbin: Yes. Aside from Tweet, there wasn't really much of a lunch spot in the neighborhood—plus, on the weekends, you wait three hours to get in there.
Jeff Fox: And there was absent ownership, which didn't benefit any of the employees. They left things up to managers, and it didn't seem like they weren't going to change things.
Ally Brisbin: And that trickles down to the staff, because if the owners don't care, where's your incentive to care? So staff didn't—and customers picked up on that.
WCT: So how did you two hit upon the idea to take over?
Jeff Fox: I think one of the other employees hit upon the idea.
Ally Brisbin: We were worried about our job stability. [ She leaves to take customers' orders. ]
Jeff Fox: Yeah, things just weren't getting ordered, and we didn't officially know why. We thought things could close any day. So we talked about it, and we realized that we could run the place, and I basically made an offer. A couple months passed, and the owners accepted. We didn't buy Pause, the business; we started a new lease. We had to get re-inspected.
We opened in January, and we haven't stopped.
WCT: What was your biggest concern when you opened?
Jeff Fox: We weren't ready, and we knew we weren't ready—but we knew we had to start making money. We had a few items. I think the biggest concern was having time to train staff; we only kept [ four ] people from Pause.
WCT: Tell me about some of the physical changes you made.
Jeff Fox: The counter system is new, [ as are ] the floors. I put down the floors, painted everything, put together the tables. We built these benches. We also sold off a lot of stuff.
Ally Brisbin: [ Returns ] Like the clocks on the walls. A lot of people wonder what happened to them. Customers were able to buy the clocks they wanted.
WCT: The menu has really changed. [ Note: Among the offerings are salads such as the "mantis" and sandwiches like the "miss ollie." ] How did you decide what items to [ sell ] —and how did you settle on the names?
Ally Brisbin: Well, customers who became my friends call me "holiday mantis." [ Laughs ]
Jeff Fox: She bites the heads off guys.
Ally Brisbin: [ Laughs ] Yes, I do. No—it's actually my mystical alter ego.
Jeff Fox: The names tend to be personal. The "yetta" and "larry" sandwiches are named after my parents. There's the "cta" and there's the "winston," named after my Boston terrier. "Rikia" is named after a customer. The "troy" salad is named after my boyfriend, and he came up with the salads. He's our IT [ information technology ] guy.
WCT: Now what else do you offer?
Jeff Fox: We make most of the soups that we sell. We make mac 'n cheese, granola bars...
Ally Brisbin: Breakfast sandwiches are pretty popular.
WCT: What's a typical day like here?
Jeff Fox: Basically, someone comes in at six in the morning, and you're behind the counter the first few hours. The mid-shift person comes in at eight. I'm more of the food guy; Ally does a lot on the business end. Rush hour dies down around nine or nine-thirty. It gets busy again around noon; right now two people are on from eight-thirty until three.
Ally Brisbin: We're pretty much here the whole day but...
Jeff Fox: ...I'll go shopping for supplies at Restaurant Depot.
WCT: Where would you like to see this business go?
Jeff Fox: I'd like to be able to get away and not think about it. Once we get to the point where everyone's well-trained, that'll be the first step. Then, we'll do more advertising at that point.
Ally Brisbin: I would also like to not be behind the counter so much, although I do enjoy the customers. I think it's important to know customers' names.
I'd like to just be successful, although I don't think we'll get rich off of this.
WCT: You never know, though.
Jeff Fox: True. If we had a kitchen, I'd totally do a real brunch on the weekends.
WCT: Is there anything you'd like to add?
Ally Brisbin: We've put every waking hour for the past few months in this place. It's like a child; we really care a lot about this place, and we hope that comes across.
Kitchen Sink is at 1107 W. Berwyn; call 773-944-0592 or get more information through Facebook. It is open Monday-Friday, 6:30 a.m.-8 p.m., and Saturday-Sunday, 7:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m.
