One of the most glorious things about the Chicago-area restaurant community is its collaborative nature, as evidenced by the myriad charitable events and friendly mash-ups around town at any given time.
You can add Evanston’s own Burl to the mix. Chef/owners Tom Carlin and Rachel Canfora-Carlin draw on a deep bench of friendly culinary talent — from Chicago and beyond — for their new “Sunday Supper in the Suburbs” series, which kicked off Aug. 9 with a visit from Chef Jacob Saben of Lakeview’s Coda di Volpe.
The Carlins are no strangers to collaborative work environments and events, having worked alongside some of Chicago’s most revered chefs and restaurateurs. It wasn’t hard to convince their friends and fellow chefs to make the trek up to Evanston for these special suppers, which are served family style in the Burl dining room.
Evanstonians Rachel Canfora-Carlin and Chef Thomas Carlin own Burl and are no strangers to collaborative efforts. Credit: Burl Restaurant
“As we have done with Burl, Rachel and I wanted to bring the city to the suburbs,” Carlin says. “These suppers are community building in many ways. They give us a chance to see and cook with our friends, but also let our staff experience working with other chefs, and our customers enjoy all this cool food from restaurants they might not otherwise try.”
The communal seating and family-style service are integral to the experience of Burl’s chef collaboration series. The dinners start at 5 p.m. and are priced at $175 per person, inclusive of five courses and paired beverages — think specialty cocktails and wine — depending on the menu. The number of Sunday Supper reservations will determine whether they take place in the private dining area or the larger dining room. If there is space, the restaurant will also take regular reservations for a la carte dining.
The next collaboration supper will be Sunday, Sept. 13, with chefs Nick Goeller and Leslie Newsam of Kansas City’s Anjin, a 2026 James Beard Award finalist for Best New Restaurant. Carlin and Goeller worked together in Kansas City in 2012, where the “two huge food nerds” (per Carlin) became fast friends.
Plating the family-style platters of steak for the Coda di Volpe collab dinner at Burl
“We couldn’t pass up this opportunity to cook together again,” Carlin says.
Melding two different styles of cooking together is “like jazz,” Carlin says. “It’s a little freeform. We stick to our styles, but we improvise to play together.”
The upcoming lineup includes 2026 James Beard Award Best Chef: Great Lakes winner Jake Potashnick of Feld (Oct. 18); Chicago hometown heroes Christine Cikowski and Josh Kulp of Honey Butter Fried Chicken (Oct. 25); Sieger Bayer of Bar Berria (Nov. 8); Carlos Munoz of Istmo (Nov. 15); Lee Wolen and Wood Jameson of BOKA (Dec. 6); and Dylan Patel and Perry Hendrix of avec (Jan. 25, 2027). All reservations can be prepaid through OpenTable. More chefs will be announced for 2027 Sunday Suppers.
Burl is at 2545 Prairie Ave., 708-683-4862.
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