Goosefoot, the fine-dining restaurant known for its contemporary French-American cooking, quietly reopened in March at 4520 N. Lincoln Ave. in Lincoln Square, more than two years after closing its original Lawrence Avenue home. The restaurant is now gearing up for a formal grand opening on Oct. 10, marking the next chapter for chef Chris Nugent and his wife, Nina, who have run the operation together since it first opened.
The award-winning restaurant closed its previous location at 2656 W. Lawrence Ave. in 2024 after 12 years in business, according to Block Club Chicago. The Nugents bought the new building that winter and spent time remodeling the interior before opening the doors again this spring. The new location, per the outlet's earlier reporting, previously housed DueLire Vino & Cucina near Welles Park, and the building was formerly home to an Italian restaurant.
Chris Nugent said he found the new space during a late-night scroll through LoopNet, the commercial real estate listing site. For the couple, who have lived in Lincoln Square for 25 years, landing on the neighborhood's namesake thoroughfare had long been the goal. “We always wanted to be on Lincoln Avenue,” Nugent said, according to the same report.
A Return Customers Had Been Waiting For
Nina Nugent said customers repeatedly asked her when Goosefoot would return during the closure, a sign of the loyalty the restaurant built over more than a decade. The pull goes beyond the neighborhood, too: Goosefoot draws diners from across the region, and Kara and Eric Pfau recently traveled from Michigan to celebrate their ninth wedding anniversary at the restaurant.
While the restaurant was shuttered, the Nugents traveled to Ireland, Spain, France, Denmark and Portugal, eating at restaurants abroad. Nina Nugent described the intimacy of the new space by telling guests, “You are in our home because we live upstairs.” Dawn Xiana Moon, who was quoted in the same Block Club Chicago piece, said Nina Nugent comes across as warm while Chris Nugent is visibly excited about the new location.
New Menu, New Bar Program
The current chef's menu includes a foie gras truffle mousse with lingonberry gastrique, roasted duck breast with kabocha squash and burgundy truffle, and Angus beef finished with parsnip aigre-doux and beurre noisette sauce, capped off with chocolates made in-house. Goosefoot's seasonal signature chef's menu runs $225 and can be paired with a $140 wine selection, while a four-course tasting menu is also available for $135 per person, according to Goosefoot's reservations page.
The restaurant's format has changed along with its address. Goosefoot's old Lawrence Avenue location was BYOB, but the new spot now carries wines from around the world along with craft beers. Goosefoot is currently open for dinner Wednesday through Saturday, and the Nugents plan to add Sunday hours going forward.
Diners With Dietary Restrictions Take Note
Goosefoot can accommodate guests who avoid shellfish, follow a pescatarian diet or have mild nut allergies, but the restaurant says it cannot currently accommodate vegetarian, low-dairy, no-dairy, severe nut-allergy or gluten-free diets on its tasting menus, per its reservations page.
Nugent trained at Johnson and Wales University's College of Culinary Arts before working at Chicago restaurants including Prairie, mk, Bétise and Les Nomades. Goosefoot originally opened on Dec. 11, 2011, and Chicago magazine named it the city's best new restaurant the following year. Chris Nugent was later named Chef of the Year by the Chicago Tribune in 2013. Accounts of the restaurant's Michelin history differ: Block Club Chicago has reported that Goosefoot earned a Michelin star in 2012 and retained it for a decade, while the Chicago Sun-Times has reported that the restaurant was awarded Michelin stars in 2021 and 2022 before losing the rating in 2023.
With the Oct. 10 grand opening approaching, Goosefoot's new Lincoln Avenue home also includes an outdoor patio, giving the Nugents room to welcome back the regulars who followed them from the old Lawrence Avenue storefront — and the new neighbors discovering the restaurant for the first time.
