Lula Cafe is closed on Tuesdays, so on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, its kitchen belongs to the neighborhood. Jason Hammel hosts the 13th Logan Square Chef’s Dinner at 2537 N. Kedzie Blvd., and he has brought five of the neighborhood’s best kitchens with him: Diana Dávila of Mi Tocaya Antojería, Joe Frillman of Daisies, Ethan Pikas of Cellar Door Provisions, Matthias Merges of Billy Sunday, and Zeeshan Shah and Yoshi Yamada of Superkhana International.
The night opens with a cocktail hour at 6 p.m., then everyone sits for a five-course dinner the chefs write together, each course with its own wine pairing. Tickets are $250 a person and cover all food, drinks and service, and every dollar goes to Comfort Station, the free arts space in a historic, 100-year-old building on Logan Square. The evening runs from 6 to 9 p.m., and the dinner is sold out as of Oct. 25, 2026.
Six kitchens, one table on Kedzie Boulevard
Think of the dinner as a walk through Logan Square without leaving your chair. Each chef runs a room you could reach on foot from the square, and each cooks in a completely different register. Hammel brings Lula’s farm-market cooking. Dávila cooks regional Mexican food at Mi Tocaya. Frillman makes farm-driven pastas at Daisies. Pikas runs Cellar Door Provisions, the bakery and restaurant on Diversey. Merges owns Billy Sunday, the cocktail bar on Logan Boulevard, and Shah and Yamada turn Indian flavors loose at Superkhana.
Put those voices on one menu and you get a dinner nobody could order on any other night of the year. The menu has not been announced, which is half the fun: expect five courses that pass from one kitchen to the next, with the wine changing at every turn.
Lula Cafe, the neighborhood’s living room since 1999
Hammel and his wife, musician and Lula cofounder Amalea Tshilds, opened Lula Cafe in 1999 with a short menu of salads, pastas, roast chicken and brunch. More than 25 years later it is still one of the city’s most loved neighborhood restaurants, and the first-come brunch line on Kedzie is a weekend ritual. In 2024, Lula won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Hospitality, the only Chicago winner that year. Hammel was a finalist for Best Chef: Great Lakes in 2019, 2020 and 2022, won Chef of the Year at the 2019 Jean Banchet Awards, and Lula has been a Michelin Bib Gourmand pick in nearly every Chicago guide since 2011, including 2025.
The cooking follows the farmers market. The current dinner menu runs from hamachi crudo with preserved ground cherry and Sicilian pistachio ($17) to roasted acorn squash with chestnut mushrooms, poached prunes and radicchio ($26), rigatoni with guanciale and chanterelles ($27) and a wagyu bavette with Nichols Farm brassicas, grapes and horseradish ($49). Pasta Yiayia, bucatini with feta, brown butter and cinnamon ($21), still sits among the cafe classics Lula has served since 1999.
The chefs coming to Lula’s kitchen
Dávila is the guest Lula regulars already know. She and Hammel cooked together this summer for the restaurant’s Immigrant Justice dinner with The Resurrection Project, and she was a 2026 James Beard semifinalist for Outstanding Chef. Mi Tocaya, her antojería on Logan Boulevard, holds a Bib Gourmand in the 2025 Michelin Guide Chicago. Her chef de cuisine, Derek Serrano, is cooking his own night in Ravenswood this fall as part of The Lineup’s one-night chef dinners.
Frillman’s Daisies on Milwaukee Avenue runs three menus a day, from breakfast pastries to pappardelle with mushroom ragu, and it was a 2026 James Beard semifinalist for Outstanding Hospitality. Pikas brings Cellar Door Provisions, a finalist for Restaurant of the Year at the 2027 Jean Banchet Awards. Superkhana, on Diversey, is where Shah and Yamada serve house naan, chaat, dosas and curries with Chicago swagger, and Merges brings the Billy Sunday crew from Logan Boulevard.
What your $250 buys
The price covers the whole night: the cocktail hour, five courses, a wine pairing with each course, and service fees. In a restaurant that adds a 20% service fee to every regular check, that all-inclusive ticket is a real convenience. Expect a full, convivial room of neighbors, which is exactly the spirit of the evening.
The room itself is part of the experience. Lula hangs a rotating exhibition of local artists on its dining room walls, and the fall show features six artists from Arts of Life. The art suits the cause, because every ticket supports free exhibitions, film screenings and concerts down the street.
Where the money goes: Comfort Station
Comfort Station sits at 2579 N. Milwaukee Ave., in a historic, 100-year-old city-owned building on Logan Square. Every exhibition, film screening and performance there is free, run largely by volunteer programmers, and Hammel is an emeritus member of its board. The building is in the middle of a major renovation, and Kitty Rauth, the organization’s first artistic director, was named executive director in October 2026. Proceeds from the dinner pay for another year of programming while the work goes on.
That makes this a rare kind of charity dinner: the guests, the chefs and the cause all live within a few blocks of each other. If you love the neighborhood’s restaurants, this is a delicious way to put money back into the place that gives them their character.
Make a Logan Square night of it
Arrive early and walk the square, where the Illinois Centennial Monument stands where the boulevards meet. If you want a second night in the neighborhood, Chez Poulet is roasting French rotisserie chickens a short walk away on Western Avenue.
On a regular night, Lula opens Wednesday through Monday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for brunch and lunch and from 4:30 to 10 p.m. for dinner. Happy hour runs daily at the bar from 4:30 to 7 p.m., with $9 martinis, $10 glasses of wine and half-size “halfsies” of the cafe classics for $6 and $8. Monday nights bring a farm dinner of new dishes built around that week’s market haul. Lula’s sister space, LOULOU, at 3057 W. Logan Blvd., hosts its own salon dinner on Saturday, Nov. 7 ($95).
A sold-out night on Kedzie
The Logan Square Chef’s Dinner is sold out as of Oct. 25, 2026. Tickets were $250 per person, prepaid on Lula Cafe’s OpenTable page under “Logan Square Chef’s Dinner for Comfort Station,” and the listing offers no waitlist. Questions go to Lula at (773) 489-9554.
Plan your night
- What: 13th Annual Logan Square Chef’s Dinner, a benefit for Comfort Station
- When: Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, 6 to 9 p.m.; cocktail hour at 6 p.m., then a seated five-course dinner
- Where: Lula Cafe, 2537 N. Kedzie Blvd., Chicago, IL 60647 (Logan Square)
- Chefs: Jason Hammel (Lula Cafe), Diana Dávila (Mi Tocaya Antojería), Joe Frillman (Daisies), Ethan Pikas (Cellar Door Provisions), Matthias Merges (Billy Sunday), Zeeshan Shah and Yoshi Yamada (Superkhana International)
- Price: $250 per person, including cocktail hour, five courses, wine pairings and all service fees
- Tickets: sold out as of Oct. 25, 2026 (prepaid on OpenTable, no waitlist)
- Contact: Lula Cafe, (773) 489-9554
Lula Cafe Chicago FAQ
What is the Logan Square Chef’s Dinner at Lula Cafe Chicago?
The Logan Square Chef’s Dinner is an annual benefit at Lula Cafe, 2537 N. Kedzie Blvd. On Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, Jason Hammel hosts chefs from Mi Tocaya Antojería, Daisies, Cellar Door Provisions, Billy Sunday and Superkhana International for a cocktail hour and a five-course dinner with wine pairings, all benefiting Comfort Station.
How much are tickets to the Logan Square Chef’s Dinner?
Tickets to the 2026 Logan Square Chef’s Dinner at Lula Cafe are $250 per person. The price includes the 6 p.m. cocktail hour, five courses, a wine pairing with each course and all service fees, and all proceeds go to Comfort Station, the free arts space on Logan Square.
Can I still get tickets for the Lula Cafe chef’s dinner?
No. The Logan Square Chef’s Dinner at Lula Cafe on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, is sold out as of Oct. 25, 2026. Tickets were sold on Lula Cafe’s OpenTable page, prepaid at $250 per person, and the listing offers no waitlist. For questions, call Lula Cafe in Logan Square at (773) 489-9554.
Which chefs are cooking at the 2026 Logan Square Chef’s Dinner?
Host Jason Hammel of Lula Cafe cooks with Diana Dávila of Mi Tocaya Antojería, Joe Frillman of Daisies, Ethan Pikas of Cellar Door Provisions, Matthias Merges of Billy Sunday, and Zeeshan Shah and Yoshi Yamada of Superkhana International. All six kitchens are in Logan Square, and they write the five-course menu together.
What awards has Lula Cafe Chicago won?
Lula Cafe won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Hospitality in 2024. Chef Jason Hammel was a James Beard Best Chef: Great Lakes finalist in 2019, 2020 and 2022 and won Chef of the Year at the 2019 Jean Banchet Awards, and Lula has been a Michelin Bib Gourmand pick in nearly every Chicago guide since 2011, including 2025.
What are Lula Cafe’s hours in Chicago?
Lula Cafe in Logan Square is open Wednesday through Monday, serving brunch and lunch from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner from 4:30 to 10 p.m. It is closed Tuesdays, apart from special events such as the Nov. 10, 2026 chef’s dinner. Happy hour runs daily at the bar from 4:30 to 7 p.m.
Further reading
- Logan Square Chef’s Dinner for Comfort Station on OpenTable
- Lula Cafe official site
- Lula Cafe menus
- Lula Cafe press and awards
- Comfort Station official site
- Comfort Station: 13th Annual Logan Square Chef’s Dinner announcement
- Comfort Station: Announcing our new Executive Director
- Block Club Chicago: Lula Cafe in Logan Square wins James Beard Award for Outstanding Hospitality
- Eater Chicago: These are Chicago’s 2026 James Beard Award semifinalists
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