WEST LOOP — The husband-and-wife chefs behind Elske have opened Creepies, a casual, French bistro-inspired spot next door to their Michelin-starred restaurant.
When David and Anna Posey opened Elske in 2016, they achieved their dream of running a fine-dining restaurant — but they had always hoped to open a more casual neighborhood spot as well.
“We always said if we had to drive between the two restaurants, it would take no more than five minutes … preferably walking distance. And the space next door became available, so we jumped on the opportunity,” said David Posey.
Creepies, a new French-inspired bistro, is now open. The restaurant comes from chefs Anna and David Posey. Credit: Wade McElroy
Creepies aims to be a neighborhood spot that “you’d want to go to, hopefully once a week,” David Posey said.
The name is an inside joke between the Poseys.
The restaurant interior is dotted with cartoon faces inspired by World War II cartoon Kilroy, a favorite of Anna Posey’s grandmother. The faces were created by artist Jenny Volvovski. From the plates to tiles lining the counter area, the cartoons are all over the restaurant for customers to find.
They’re “hidden, not super obvious. But yeah, those are our little ‘creepers,’” David Posey said.
Creepies was four years in the making. When the space next to Elske opened up during the pandemic, the Poseys were determined to build a spot that felt playful and approachable. The couple spent years shaping the design, developing the menu and perfecting details like their three-day fries, they said.
David Posey works with chef de cuisine Taylor Ploshehanski on the savory side, while Anna Posey oversees desserts. Dishes range from small bites and plates to mains, all designed for sharing.
Classic techniques anchor the food, but dishes are meant to feel approachable, from Parisian gnocchi baked with ham and mustard seeds to a tart flambée-style flatbread. Other starters include sausage en brioche served with pistachio mustard, a seasonal tomato and peach salad and a little gem salad with zucchini dressing.
Steamed mussels with fennel giardiniera & pernod available now at Creepies in the West Loop. Credit: Huge Galdones
Among the entrées, the $39 half-roasted chicken has quickly become a signature and favorite of David Posey. The air-chilled birds are cured in salt and sugar, poached, dried overnight and then roasted to order. The three-day cooking process yields crisp skin and a rich white wine and liver sauce, he said.
“My death row meal is a roasted chicken and French fries and a salad. And I think we really nailed all three of those,” David Posey said.
A $39 roast lamb stuffed with sausage and wrapped in Swiss chard is another centerpiece, served with sides like sesame cream cabbage and a potato gratin layered with ratatouille. Even the $10 fries, perfected over years of testing, take three days to prepare before they’re fried in clarified butter for a popcorn-like finish.
“I just want people to feel completely comforted when they eat the food here — have the flavors and the technique blow them away, but in such an approachable way,” Ploshehanski said. “Having someone make a meal for you that feels like there’s love in it … is kind of like what I go for when cooking food.”
Summer beans with bouillon & fines herbes. Credit: Huge Galdones
Anna Posey’s desserts include seasonal options such as a $14 brown sugar crème caramel topped with lemon and whipped cream and a $14 raspberry dessert with sherbet, meringue and sauce over buttermilk crème anglaise. Soft serve is in the works.
The beverage menu leans French, with natural wines and simple cocktails built around French and northern Spanish spirits, including a cognac cocktail and a French-inspired vesper.
Creepies is open for dinner 5-10 p.m. Thursday-Monday, but the Poseys plan to eventually open for lunch with an all-day menu, they said.
The team is excited to finally share their years of planning with Chicago. David Posey imagines a night starting out with cocktails at Elske before walking next door for a meal at Creepies — or vice versa.
“It’s really exciting to see people you know actually experience something that we’ve been working on for so long,” David Posey said.
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