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Ina Pinkney, Chicago’s Beloved Breakfast Queen
Certain celebrities are famous enough to go by one name. Liza. Beyonce. Lizzo. Prince. In Chicago, all you have to say is “Ina,” and everyone knows which Ina you mean. Not the one who stars on the Food Network, but. Ina Pinkney, the city’s beloved Breakfast Queen.
This week, more than 60 chefs will gather to celebrate Ina’s 80th birthday in a fundraiser sponsored by Chicago Chefs Cook, a non-profit organization that has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to aid victims of the earthquake in Syria and Turkey, as well as support refugees from Ukraine.
Ina says she’s been told to expect more than 600 guests (I’ll be one of them) at Ina’s Birthday Bash. But that’s only a fraction of the number of people she’s served in her lifetime.
Ina’s story
For three decades, Ina ran her eponymous restaurant, Ina’s, in the West Loop. Whether she greeted guests behind the front counter, or made her way through the dining room to check on her guests, Ina ruled her roost. There’s an Irish ballad that goes, “Her eyes, they shone like the diamonds. You’d think she was queen of the land — and she was!”
Ina was truly the city’s Breakfast Queen, the great connector of people and giver of advice to generations of people in the restaurant world. I met Ina via Barry Sorkin, the co-owner of Smoque BBQ, and soon, Smoque Steak, as I told you last week.
When I arrived in Chicago to be based at WBEZ, Barry recommended that I go and meet her. I did, dropping his name, and subsequently was adopted by Ina as so many other people have been.
I’m really glad that I was able to eat at Ina’s, because she decided to close her restaurant in 2014. But not before she published a cookbook, Breakfast at Ina’s, and agreed to star in a documentary about her life. It was an entertaining but candid look at Ina’s battle with polio, and the hurdles she faced as a woman in the restaurant world long before there were many others like her.
Ina subsequently wrote about breakfast for the Chicago Tribune and most recently has been appearing in videos on The Takeout, like this one.
I was thrilled to have a hand in connecting Ina to The Takeout, but it was a small return for all the wise counsel she has given me, for numerous articles and my book, Satisfaction Guaranteed. I am far from alone.
Admiration across generations
Ina has been a long-time customer at another classic Chicago restaurant, Manny’s, in the South Loop. Danny Raskin, the fourth generation of his family to run Manny’s, says he “made it a point“ as he was getting more involved to visit Ina’s and watch how she ran her restaurant.
“She’s just such a warm person,” says Danny, no grouch himself. “To see her run a business and and be successful running her business with all she went through. How can you not be inspired by someone like that?”
Ina and I made a date to meet for lunch when I was passing through Chicago earlier this month. I left the place up to her, and was completely surprised when she chose Eden, which is tucked away in Chicago’s north side. It stresses fresh ingredients and has a beautiful patio which most visitors seem to favor.
While we were there, Ina was greeted by the managers and staff and another diner came over to hug her, not once but twice. When we finished lunch, Ina insisted on giving me a quick tour of some new-to-me places, including Dom’s Market & Kitchen, a grocer that abounds with healthy food choices, and Wild Fork, whose cases overflow with gourmet frozen food.
“She stays on top of everything,” Danny says. “She really knows what’s going on. It’s amazing what she still does, and she doesn’t talk about her disability at all.”
In fact, Ina amazed me with the system she has rigged up in her trunk for lifting and opening her scooter (she is somewhat mobile, but gets around much faster on wheels). Danny is also in awe.
“For someone like me, who’s a younger guy, in the business, to know that she had everything against her in this business and keep charging ahead,” says Danny. He admires the way that she handled the closing of Ina’s, which was on her own terms. You can see that story depicted in the movie.
“She did it gracefully, and she found work for all her staff and everything she did was the right way of doing business,” he says. “It really inspires me to want to run my business the same way.”
Charisma and critiques
In 2019, there was another Chicago event in Ina’s honor, held when she faced a medical challenge. Ina’s youthful bout with polio left her with a weakened leg, which was in a brace. She broke that leg in 2018, and was faced with being unable to maneuver in her apartment.
A roomful of chefs got together to hold Breakfast For Ina, raising money for renovations. The participants included Dave Miller, who at the time ran the highly regarded Baker Miller cafes with his wife Megan. Earlier this year, Baker Miller morphed into Bagel Miller, with the Millers deciding to focus on a single specialty than a bigger menu.
I recently dropped by to see Dave, who told me he did not know Ina when he began in the restaurant business. Encountering her for the first time, she said to him, “I’m Ina,” without any further explanation. He thought to himself, “I don’t know who that is, but I need to know who it is.”
He went on, “That’s not overconfidence, that’s charisma. She has charisma about her, and she’s also honest.” Barry Sorkin can attest to that. Not long after Smoque opened, Ina visited and told him he could not be open seven days a week, or he would burn out his staff. He listened and closed on Mondays.
At Bagel Miller this past winter, Ina admonished Dave for not clearing the snow off the sidewalk. It made it difficut for her to get in the door. “I said, ‘I’m sorry,’” Dave told me, and she told him to crack to it. “You don’t know who’s coming.”
Although Ina expressed some concern to me about how big her latest tribute has become, Dave thinks she deserves the attention. “I think we all want to be treated that way,” he says of her 80th birthday fanfare. “Most of us think we’ll be dead by then.”
There are still tickets available if you would like to attend Ina’s 80th Birthday Bash. Please let me know if you plan to be there, I’d love to meet you.
Pete Wells’ Favorite Restaurants
Pete Wells has been the New York Times restaurant critic since 2012. He was actually the editor for the stories I wrote for what was then called the Dining section during my tenure at the paper.
Last week, Pete published a guide to the 100 best New York City restaurants, in his view. Needless to say, it’s caused a lot of discussion.
Manhattan had 65 of the top 100; Brooklyn and Queens had another 19 each while the Bronx and Staten Island had six. (That adds up to more than 100 because of duplicate restaurant locations.) Eight of the top 10 were in Manhattan. Pete’s top place was Tatiana, the current darling of the city’s restaurant scene.
I scrolled through the list and found that I have only eaten at five. My dismal record is due to a couple of reasons: I haven’t been in the city since before the pandemic, and I’m a creature of habit. When I find a place I like in NYC, I tend to go back.
Food there is so expensive that I don’t want to risk my money on a spot that might be disappointing (of course, if someone else is treating, I’m as adventuresome as necessary). Pete’s list might help you avoid an unhappy meal.
Lists like Pete’s, and those from other publications are of course highly subjective, but they are good reflections of how critics think and the territory they cover. I’d definitely bookmark it and keep it for a future trip or exploration.
My Night As A Notable
Saturday night, my brother Frank was my plus one for the Night For Notables need by the Library of Michigan to honor the 20 top Michigan-connected books of 2023.
The state’s chief librarian, Randy Riley, was a warm and enthusiastic host. Nearly all the notable authors were there along with an auditorium full of book lovers.
The library book shop sold out of copies of Satisfaction Guaranteed and I was happy to sign books and chat with my fellow authors. Our books now can be sold across Michigan with an official gold seal.
I’m looking forward to my tour of northern Michigan libraries on June.
Keeping Up With CulinaryWoman
Next week, I’m visiting Nashville, where I’ll be appearing on a panel on May 2 as part of the Nashville Jewish Book Series.
Here’s a special gift for CulinaryWoman Newsletter readers in the Nashville area. This code allows you to get in free. Enter NJBS2023 when you order tickets here. I’ve always had a great time visiting Nashville and I’m looking forward to going back (and bringing some Zingerman’s sweets along).
Last week, Twitter took away the blue verification check mark from my (at) michelinemaynard account as well as thousands of others. As a result, I will be posting there only infrequently, until things are rectified.
From now on, I will post primarily on Instagram (at) michelinemaynard, and on Post (at) mickimaynard. I am also on LinkedIn as michelinemaynard. Please follow me in all those places.
I feel sad about the demise of Twitter because I have met so many interesting people there and learned so much.
Feel free to email me at culinarywoman at gmail dot com. I’m always happy to hear from fellow authors who are promoting their food related books. We have several wonderful ones coming up for giveaways in May for our paid subscribers.
A lot of people are being struck down by Covid, including some friends of CulinaryWoman. Please stay well. I’ll see our paid subscribers tomorrow with Red Beans and Advice, and everyone else next week.