1450 W. Chicago Ave, Chicago IL 60642
312.348.1028
Hours:
Sunday, Tuesday – Thursday: 5:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.
Friday, Saturday 5:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m.
(Bar / lounge open one hour later all nights)
A Belgian-inspired restaurant, Leopold is located in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood. Chef Jeffrey Hedin’s menu features classics such as Moules + Frites and Steak Tartare and includes modern plates such as Housemade Leopold Sausage; Housemade Pierogi; and Smoked Rabbit. Sides include Soft Pretzels, Smout, Seasonal Vegetables and more. Our menu changes seasonally to and highlights produce from many of the area’s local farms.
Owner/General Manager
As a child, Christy Agee grew up surrounded by food, wine and good company so the transition into the hospitality arena was a natural one. Her Italian family came together at the dinner table, enjoying dishes made with ingredients pulled from her grandmother’s garden – influences which would shape her career choices in the years ahead. At a young age Agee became consumed with the restaurant world, a passion that continues to this day.
After graduating from the University of Iowa in 2000, Agee moved to Chicago, taking what would be an invaluable position working the account management side at Abelson Taylor. After seven years honing her strategic skills in the corporate world, Agee had the good fortune to return to her first love, the hospitality industry, when the opportunity to take ownership of Witts Bar and Grill came available. As owner and GM, Agee tended to the day to day operations of running a restaurant and in early 2009, brought Jeffrey Hedin on board to elevate the menu, emphasizing seasonal ingredients while still keeping a tavern focus.
Later that same year, Agee and Hedin began making plans for Leopold. Sharing a love for rustic European cuisine, they traveled to both France and Belgium, finding inspiration and absorbing all they could to bring that authentic Belgian experience to Chicago’s West Town neighborhood. With Hedin overseeing the menu, Agee comfortably oversees the front-of-house, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere focused on good food + good friends – much like the family dinner table she grew up at herself. Agee and her husband Don live in the River West neighborhood of Chicago.
Executive Chef
Like many chefs, Chicagoan Jeffrey Hedin was first inspired by Julia Child. As a young boy, he and his dad were watching the culinary icon on TV as she made a soufflé, and they were motivated to give it a try. Although this first foray at making the classic French dessert was less than successful, the budding chef didn’t give up. He continued to try out recipes, and although he would over-caramelize the onions the first time he tried his hand at omelet-making, he was hooked. At the time, he had dreams of playing in the NHL, or perhaps becoming a documentary filmmaker or architect, but as the years passed, Hedin realized his interest in cooking was more than just a hobby.
Self-taught, Hedin worked his way up from washing dishes and waiting tables to running the line. While living in Boulder, CO, he began working at Mateo under Hugo Matheson. Matheson turned Hedin on to cooking seasonally and to connecting with farmers, and to working with the best quality fundamental ingredients – using seasonal vegetables at their peak, high quality oils and vinegars, sea salt, handmade pasta and the like. Hedin left Boulder for Chicago, where he began working for Shawn McClain at the acclaimed Spring. He moved up Spring’s kitchen ladder to the tournant position, and then moved over to Green Zebra, McClain’s vegetable-focused restaurant under chef de cuisine Michael Bulkowski and later as sous chef to Christine Kim. Hedin then accepted the sous chef position at Blue Water Grill under Joel Dennis and was later on the opening team at The Bristol. In 2009, Hedin met Christy Agee through a mutual friend; she and her partners were looking to elevate the menu at Witt’s Tavern. Hedin took the opportunity and later that year, the two began collaborating on Leopold.
At Leopold, Hedin explores Belgian cuisine, peppering in French and German influences. He describes his cooking as “simple and seasonal” and most enjoys the process of cooking – going from inspiration to conception to the finished plate. Though his childhood dreams didn’t pan out how he hoped, Hedin has found a new passion in the kitchen, one that is going to continue to develop and evolve over the years to come. Hedin lives in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood of Chicago.
