Quick Hits: Proxi to Open Next Week in the West Loop

Baby octopus with red chermoula and fava bean hummus

File under: The West Loop just keeps getting hotter. Proxi, the latest restaurant from Chef Andrew Zimmerman, Emmanuel Nony, and the team behind Michelin-starred Sepia, is set to open Tuesday, June 13 adjacent to its sister restaurant at 565 W. Randolph St.

While Sepia and Proxi will be side-by-side, the menus won’t share quite as many parallels, save for emphasis on pristine, locally sourced ingredients. While Sepia offers straightforward yet modern takes on American cuisine, Proxi will offer a menu grown from Chef Zimmerman’s fascination with street foods which he’ll reinterpret through elevated presentations and the use of exotic ingredients, wood fire, and worldly spices.

Menu highlights include Tempura Elotes, Coal Roasted Oysters with ssamjang butter, Raw Tuna with coconut milk, lemongrass & ginger sorbet, and Wagyu Sirloin over a Thai herb salad, and roasted rice powder. Cocktails by mixologist Josh Relkin, a small-but-mighty wine program by Advanced Sommelier Arthur Hon and inventive desserts (Avocado Mousse with tapioca pearls, pandan leaf, grapefruit, coco nibs, and coconut is just one that caught our eye) by pastry Chef Sarah Mispagel round out Proxi’s offerings.

Black-pepper pork with butter lettuce, peanuts, apple, and mint.
Coal-roasted oysters with ssamjang butter.
Famer’s market bhel puri.
Fried breakfast radishes with nori butter.
Raw tuna with coconut milk, lemongrass and ginger sorbet.
Shaved zucchini with sheep’s milk feta, pine nuts and mint.

Proxi is open for dinner from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Thursday (kitchen open until 10:30 p.m.), and 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday (kitchen open until 11:30 p.m.) beginning June 13. Reservations at Proxi are now being accepted via OpenTable or by calling the restaurant at 312.446.1950.