When Rob Levitt stepped into the kitchen at The Publican — established by Chef Paul Kahan and Donnie Madia — he wasn’t looking to change up everything. What he saw was a restaurant with an 18-year legacy. One that defined Chicago dining, especially the Fulton Market area, and thrived by championing local farms, seasonal produce and straightforward food with a twist. Over time, though, that ethos had drifted. Chef Levitt’s mission was clear: bring it back. He did so with the perspective of a butcher, who has spent years coaxing flavour from whole animals and overlooked cuts.
“They asked me, ‘Would you want to step in and try some of that stuff you’ve been doing across the street?’” Levitt recalls. “It felt like a natural fit. The Publican was one of the first to focus on the best local ingredients, cooked simply, and somewhere along the way, that had gotten lost. That’s how I’ve always cooked.”
Restoring an icon: The Publican chicken
No dish embodies The Publican more than its chicken marinated with Espelette pepper, oregano and lemon, roasted in the wood oven, and served over beef-fat French fries. It’s a dish that diners travel for, one that regulars call legendary. But by the time Levitt arrived, the love that the ‘Publican chicken’ had was beginning to fade. “We had people coming in, saying it was dry, not that exciting,” he says. “It kind of lost its lustre.”
He had a big task at hand. He dove into the recipe; reworking the marinade and fine-tuning the cooking process. The adjustments were subtle but transformative. “It mostly just has to do with paying a little more attention to how we cook it — and amping up the flavour of that marinade.”
“I actually think now it’s the best it’s ever been,” he says. “A number of people, who’ve been eating here since the beginning, have said it’s better than ever. That’s as rewarding as creating a new dish.”
For Levitt, reviving the menu wasn’t just about flavours on the plate — it was about the cooks behind the line. He noticed the team had fallen into routine; the menu unchanged for too long. “My goal was to do things that would get people excited again,” he says.
At the centre of Levitt’s menu is seasonality, rooted in close relationships with farmers.
He began by bringing in whole animals for the team to break down: lamb, ducks, even a few butchering projects he carried over from his days at Publican Quality Meats. “Everybody seems to be interested in it,” Levitt says. “The cooks get excited, the sous chefs contribute more, and it just sparks ideas.” That collaborative spirit shows in dishes like a cabbage special created almost entirely by one of his sous chefs. Levitt nudged the idea, but the chef owned it. “To me, that’s the best,” Levitt says. “They can feel it’s their dish on the menu, but it still fits the Publican.”
Local farms, seasonal play
At the centre of Levitt’s menu is seasonality, rooted in close relationships with farmers. Veronica Ciobotaru, the General Manager at Publican Quality Meats, tends a farm that supplies much of the produce. “Every year in January, we sit down and she asks what we want her to plant,” says the chef. “This year, we asked for radicchio, different cabbages, onions. When it’s ready, she brings it over — and we take it all.”
That produce sparks creativity. Levitt and his team have fermented green strawberries into briny, caper-like bursts, used rhubarb syrups to glaze quail, and roasted sour apricots into a rich butter for salmon. “Nothing revolutionary,” he insists, “just really focused on what we can do with great ingredients.”
Even tomatoes get the full butcher’s-lens treatment. Instead of just slicing the fruit, Levitt has experimented with tomato leaf oils and powders…
Even tomatoes get the full butcher’s-lens treatment. Instead of just slicing the fruit, Levitt has experimented with tomato leaf oils and powders, ensuring every part of the plant finds its way into the kitchen. “The idea is always: how can we use as much of this as we can?”
Beyond meat
Though Levitt made his name as a butcher, stepping into the Publican has meant shifting focus. “It’s been fun for me to lean more into vegetables and fish,” he says. A salmon dish with roasted apricot butter and fresh basil, or a beet salad brightened with raspberries and harissa, reflect that balance: nothing revolutionary, but Levitt’s focus was on “what kinds of interesting things we can do with interesting ingredients.”
Still, meat remains central, whether it’s the pork chop crafted with a sous chef or seasonal Sunday suppers that spotlight whole-animal cookery alongside late-summer produce. When one of the sous chefs came up with two versions for a base for the dish, Levitt knew that was “a great start to an idea.” And they talked, explored some more until they came up with something that “we both thought was really pretty great” and people seem to really like it. “It shouldn’t be my menu,” Levitt says. “It should be the Publican’s menu. I’m just leading the charge.”
A return to roots, with an eye forward
Rob Levitt’s culinary journey began almost by accident. He traded in his jazz degree for a dishwashing job at a college-town deli. A book on whole-hog butchery would lead him into charcuterie, uncommon cuts — and dinners that celebrated the beauty of overlooked meats. Levitt’s cooking, today, mirrors that same butcher’s lens: elevated, ingredient-driven plates that revel in preservation, fermentation, and the full spectrum of flavour a single animal or produce can offer.
We’re not doing anything revolutionary, he says, but we’re showing how this food can evolve.
The Publican’s diners, many of them loyal regulars, have noticed the shift. “They’ve all commented they’re happy to see the food evolving,” Levitt says. “That’s what excites me: taking this place back to its roots while pushing it forward.” At its heart, Levitt’s Publican is about respect — for ingredients, for the team, for the restaurant’s legacy. “We’re not doing anything revolutionary,” he says, “but we’re showing how this food can evolve.”
And with The Publican chicken back in fighting form, glowing with spice, citrus and wood-fired smoke, Levitt has already proved his point.
Coordinates: 837 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL
