La Serre

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

The Greenhouse on Green Street

La Serre — French for "The Greenhouse" — lives up to its name the moment you step off Green Street into its light-filled interior. Co-founders Luke Stoioff and David Rekhson of DineAmic Hospitality designed a space layered with thick wood beams, Venetian plaster, antique mosaic tiles, floral-lined booths, and abundant greenery. The effect is less décor exercise, more a genuine sense of arriving somewhere warm and unhurried — the effortless ease of a Mediterranean seaside room transplanted into Chicago's Fulton Market.

The Cooking

Leading the kitchen is Chef Nikitas Pyrgis, working alongside Chef Partner Athinagoras Kostakos, whose perspective was shaped by acclaimed Mediterranean concepts including Noema and Scorpios. Together they've built a menu that is resolutely light and produce-forward: fresh vegetables, pristine seafood, and all-natural Linz Heritage Black Angus beef, all finished over a custom-made hardwood charcoal hearth. The hearth is central to the kitchen's identity — it imparts nuanced wood and smoke without leaning on heavy sauces or aggressive seasoning, letting each ingredient stay clean and distinct.

The French-Mediterranean cuisine spans raw bar presentations — tuna crudo with osetra caviar and yuzu, chilled oysters, a composed seafood tower — through to handmade pastas like crab spaghetti in lobster crème or truffle gnocchi with oyster mushroom and parmesan fonduta. Coal-fired steaks from the hearth come finished with cultured French butter and a proprietary herbes de Provence seasoning. Hokkaido scallops, wild Alaskan halibut in a bouillabaisse broth, and charcoal-grilled lamb chops round out the mains, keeping the Mediterranean thread consistent from first course to last.

Drinks and Recognition

The cocktail program echoes the kitchen's ethos — bright, herbaceous, and built for the table. Signatures like the Rosemary Gimlet, the La Serre Spritz with blood orange and rose petal, and the olive oil-washed Greenhouse Martini all lean into the same sun-drenched register as the food. For those seeking something more indulgent, the Truffle Old Fashioned and The Caspian — served with an osetra caviar accompaniment — sit at the top of the "Haute Cocktails" list.

The wine program earned La Serre a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence in 2025, recognition that reflects a list balancing Old World Mediterranean bottles with well-chosen New World selections. It's a list designed to travel well with the French-Mediterranean menu rather than overshadow it.

The Setting

Situated in Chicago's West Loop at 307 N. Green Street, La Serre offers valet parking and outdoor seating alongside private dining options for events and parties. The bar runs its own menu with $9 cocktails and bar bites — a more casual entry point into the same kitchen and room that has drawn consistent critical attention since opening.