Juniper is taking a fresh approach to familiar American fare — and then adding sushi to the mix.
The new Highwood restaurant, a concept from chef Todd Stein that started as an idea in 2021, opened Tuesday, Aug. 25, at 200 Green Bay Road after two years in development.
The menu puts a contemporary spin on familiar dishes such as spinach artichoke dip, burgers and miso-glazed salmon, while the raw bar features classic and specialty sushi rolls, as well as “premium” sashimi and nigiri variations.
Executive sushi chef Akira Yang leads the restaurant’s sushi program, adding another dimension to Stein’s new concept.
“The restaurant’s atmosphere is warm and inviting,” Stein said. “It’s modern but comfortable. I wanted it to be a Tuesday restaurant as much as a Saturday restaurant. A place where people can come for the full experience or after another experience they had in the city. We can be a thoroughfare either way to that.”
Warm tones greet customers inside Juniper, as well as reds, blues and soft greens that are reminiscent of Japanese art and design. The lighting and mirrors also play into that warmth, as well as a juniper tree rising in the middle of the dining room.
A patio for al fresco dining in the warmer months is also visible.
Stein wants customers to feel “wowed,” that they’re in an environment “they want to be in and their friends are,” and feel a sense of “being taken care of and nourished all the time.”
Customers can experience Stein’s locally sourced ingredients, while others come from California and fish from Tokyo.
The name Juniper was chosen from a list of 100, Stein said. Gin comes from juniper berries, and the juniper spruce tree is native to Illinois. After crossing off several options, Stein landed on the name because it was easy, rolls of the tongue nicely and has some sensibility.
Background
Stein brings to Juniper more than three decades of culinary experience. He’s been cooking since the early 1990s and has vast experience leading kitchens in Chicagoland, such as Formento’s, The Bristol and concepts from Ballyhoo Hospitality.
One of Stein’s biggest moments was the opening of MK Restaurant in 1998 in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. At MK, Stein led an American restaurant more upscale than Juniper. He recognizes what goes into opening a spot, but he is new to running his own show.
Today, Stein is more prepared than ever.
“Throughout my career, I learned about how a lot of restaurants are built, how they’re run, businesswise, creativewise and teamwise,” he said. “And that’s got me to where I am.”
Stein will bring his hospitality skills to the restaurant, which, to him, is the restaurant’s top goal, ahead of the food provided. Stein will prioritize making the restaurant “warm, comfortable and hospitable,” he said, when asked about three words to describe Juniper.
Sharing his vision of hospitality with his team of 35 to then deploy across Juniper is the “best skill he has,” he said.
Inspiration
Stein has watched the restaurant community in the North Shore “grow tremendously,” in the past decade, he said.
The pandemic, he said, made people want to go to the city less, which has led to people to get “more excited” with having restaurants in their neighborhoods as the “extensions of their homes.”
This, he thought, brought more of a restaurant market to the North Shore. He’s noticed customers looking for higher quality foods and hospitality in the North Shore mrore than ever before.
As a Highland Park native, Stein remembers Highwood to be a place where his parents always went for date night as it “had a lot going on — live music, drinking and gambling.” Stein recalled Highwood was the place where all the “fun stuff was happening.”
He’s also noticed a dining and entertainment resurgence in Highwood ove the past decade.
Opening Juniper, Stein is excited to be part of that resurgence.
“To be part of Highwood and the fun it has to offer, while also being part of the community I grew up in, was really hard to pass up,” Stein said.
While feeling excited, Stein also felt “overwhelmed, humbled and exhausted,” as opening a restaurant comes with its challenges.
Helping him through those difficulties was an “outpouring” of residents who wanted to experience Juniper, he said. The amount of attention the restaurant has received so far has been “unbelievable,” Stein said.
He is “honored,” by it and “couldn’t ask for more.”
Looking ahead, Stein believes that there will be an influx of more modern versions of different types of foods in Highwood, which will continue to thrive in the neighborhood.
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Dining and Cooking