Interview with Friistyle's Corey Gilkey
05/11/20
By Won Kim
Corey Gilkey is one of those entrepreneurs who seems to stay ahead of the curve on every venture he gets involved with. Most notable is Leaders 1354, which trail-blazed Chicago street wear to compete with the likes of New York and LA. It’s this drive and care for community that has made him a voice for minorities and the underprivileged alike. Corey opened Friistyle, a Belgium influenced restaurant, where fun entrees sit on top of perfectly cooked frites. His decision to open in a food desert was not an accident; he sought to bring something accessible and affordable to Bronzeville and surrounding areas. He’s an active voice for his community and will continue to think outside the box while looking out for his neighbors.
How have you strategized to go with the flow of this pandemic?
The strategy is to go with the flow of the quarantine lockdown. We’re definitely adapting. We closed our restaurant completely for six weeks figuring out the rules and regulations, and how we can open back up differently. When our customers reached out to us on social media asking us to come back, we re-opened for takeout and delivery on May 1st.
We already had a focus on takeout and delivery before we shut down, but we had to think outside the box to ensure our team and customers were safe. The dining area is closed and customers ordering takeout must wear masks inside the restaurant when ordering. No mask, no gloves, no service! All carryout orders are brought to the customer outside.
We’re making sure the environment is clean, healthy, and exciting, and that our team and customers feel safe being there.
What steps have you taken to ensure your employees have some kind of liquid income during this time?
When the statewide lockdown began, we paid our staff for four weeks. When the lockdown extended further, we had to temporarily lay off our staff while we worked to secure funding to stay open. They stayed patient and loyal. I love my team and everything they have done for us up to this point and beyond. We were fortunate to receive funding through grants and the federal Paycheck Protection Program and are happy to call our staff back for our limited reopening.
Are you guys offering anything unique or different to match what’s happening?
Our current menu is straight to the point with eight entrees which include customer favorites like chicken alfredo and jerk salmon as part of that menu. We’re also marketing more to further our reach in neighborhoods that the city seldom remembers.
How are you getting through this? Where are you finding joy?
I’m getting though this by staying connected with my staff and customers because we love what we do. The response to our temporary closing from both our staff and customers was overwhelmingly supportive. We would receive messages on our social media asking us to open back up. Our staff has been positive throughout the whole process and willing to comply with our new strict plan to ensure safety to our staff and customers. We are now taking phone orders which we have never done before to adapt to this new way of dining out. We are also on the standard delivery apps such as UberEats and Grubhub but we are currently exploring options on how to be even more efficient and do our own deliveries and pickups.
We are all in this together. Our community has been loud and clear… “We’ll get through this, but please feed us!” A little bit of good food goes a long way! We are providing our customers their favorites on the limited menu. We want to make sure their voices are heard even if it’s just for food, as even a little empathy can go a long way especially in times like these.
Neighborhood restaurants are the heart of local culture. By supporting restaurants in your neighborhood, you are supporting and giving back to your community. Chicagoans are strong, resilient, creative and we know good food.
Frite Recipe:
Russet Potatoes
Salt
Oil (high temperature oil like canola or corn oil)
Directions:
Cut potatoes lengthwise to desired width. Make sure all fries are equal so that they cook evenly. Soak in cold water and rinse extra starch off of potatoes until water run clears. Set oil in a deeper pan or pot and temp at 250 degrees. Do not overcrowd pan! Blanch in batches until tender and drain on paper towels and cool to room temp, fridge or freeze for later use. Raise fire and bring oil to 350 degrees and carefully drop fries back in and cook until golden brown and salt as soon as frites come out of the oil.
You’ll need a delicious dipping sauce for these perfectly cooked fries!
Roasted Red Pepper Aioli
1 red pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp lemon juice
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1/4 cup roasted red pepper
1/2 tsp of paprika
Take red pepper, wash and pat dry with paper towel. Drizzle with oil and place in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes until skin blisters. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Peel and deseed the pepper and place all the ingredients into a food processor. If you don’t have a food processor, a hand blender works as well. Enjoy!
Corey Gilkey is one of Chicago’s pioneering culture kings with Leaders 1354. He opened up his first retail store in the Wicker Park neighborhood in 2002. Working with artists and top fashion industry professionals from all over the world, Corey has established himself as a force to be reckoned with and since then he has expanded his repertoire opening up a restaurant in 2018 - Friistyle, in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood.
Follow Corey’s projects at @friistylechi , @ldrs1354 , and @theegilkey.
Corey worked with Quarantine Times’ Monday Editor Won Kim.