It’s a steakhouse. It’s a restaurant in a hotel. How in the world does it attract locals to stop by for Sunday brunch? That was the question pondered by David Burke, Primehouse chef/owner, and Executive Chef Rick Gresh about a year ago.

Their answer was to create a new twist on one American tradition—Sunday brunch—and on one ancient tradition— Chinese dim sum. After months of developing the concept, American Dim Sum Brunch premiered last February at Primehouse, located in the James Chicago hotel. Just 10 months later, Primehouse has seen a huge increase in its brunch business, with locals making up about 70 percent of the diners.

Dim sum is a Chinese style of cuisine involving a wide range of items served in small portions. Usually served until noon, dim sum dishes are wheeled around on trolleys to dining tables. The dim sum tab is traditionally calculated based on the number and size of dishes left on a guest’s table. American Dim Sum, as created by Burke and Gresh, keeps the trolleys and the small plates, but spins the concept to include both Asian and American goodies, along with traditional breakfast items and some good oldfashioned steakhouse fare. The price for American Dim Sum is $35 for adults, $16 for children ages 6 through 12, and free for those under 6; beverages cost extra.

American Dim Sum is not an entirely new idea. Burke first introduced the concept several years ago at Chicago’s now-defunct Park Avenue Café. But the revival took on new dimensions in the Primehouse space. The introduction of the new brunch menu was somewhat organic, according to Gresh, because Primehouse already featured a heavy Asian influence in its day-to-day menu. Still, while the brunch does have Chinese-inspired dishes like steamed dumplings and wonton soup, American Dim Sum also includes traditional brunch favorites like omelets and pancakes, as well as all-American classics like corn dogs and burgers (the latter, albeit, made with Kobe beef).

CHOREOGRAPHED BRUNCH
Picture the dining room at Primehouse. Late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, tables are rearranged to make room for the dozens of custom-made three-tiered carts that roll through during brunch. The kitchen and dining room are on the same level, so at least there are no worries about stairs, elevators, or ramps. The kitchen is set up to accommodate the plating process of nearly three dozen items.

During brunch, guests are seated in sections so that all diners in a given area are on the same course at the same time. Once the parade of culinary masterpieces begins, each waiter works a trolley with three or four items from one section of the menu. Most of the six to eight dishes per menu section are presented in small individual servings and doled out from the carts. But some of the dishes come sans la cart, after the realization was made that not all good things could be made in small packages. As a result, items like the Western Omelet & Ham and Cheese Strudel, and Chocolate and Hazelnut Stuffed French Toast come straight from the kitchen on a single serving platter. The fried chicken, formerly served as a small bite, is now served KFC-style—that is, from a bucket.

A paper placemat alerts diners to the contents of each buffet cart. Brunch & Crunch features spins on typical brunch items; Asian Goodies consists of everything from dumplings to steamed buns to crab balls; and Comfort Bites features mini-cheeseburgers, macaroni and cheese, and corn dogs. For a taste of what Primehouse offers during other meals, the Ribstickers cart serves up some surf and some turf. For those who still have room, the Sweet Treats cart is filled with desserts ranging from Cheesecake Lollipops to Fortune Doughnuts—the latter look more like doughnut holes than fortune cookies, although the same Confucian sayings are included inside. After diners extract their fortunes, they can fill the space with injectable chocolate or raspberry sauce. On holidays, fortunes can consist of coupons for free dinners, overnight stays at the James, bottles of wine, or cookbooks.

It’s a gourmet dining experience, but it’s also entertaining. As Gresh notes, “It’s a bit of a circus show. There are a lot of theatrics involved and lots of action. We want to create a multisensory experience.” Every piece of theater requires choreography, and American Dim Sum Brunch is no exception. A choreographic scheme was developed both in the back and front of the house so that chefs, waiters, and carts wouldn’t be crashing into each other.

Even before figuring out how these moveable feasts would, well, move, the concept presented several other challenges for Gresh and Burke. “People have no idea how much goes into this—all the planning that’s involved,” says Gresh. “I mean, just buying items for the brunch—going to Chinatown and trying to find chopsticks and the correct dishes and equipment.”

It took a couple of Chinese women who worked in the Primehouse kitchen to teach Gresh the best way to make the dough for the steamed buns and dumplings. And finding that the right kind of serving cart didn’t exist, Gresh went to his carpentry shop at home and designed the trolleys himself.

There was also the matter of getting staff to buy into the idea. “Training staff in a fairly formal restaurant to create a more fun, lighter kind of service isn’t always easy,” Gresh points out. So he decided to make the training session amusing by donning a kimono and running through the dining room with his homemade dim sum carts. After the performance, and many practice sessions, the staff got behind the concept.

Another issue was the cost of food. According to Burke, “Food costs for this brunch are much higher than a standard brunch, so we needed to make up the difference by attracting more customers.” By creating a newsworthy and unique brunch concept, Primehouse has made up the margin, seeing its brunch business nearly quadruple after beefing up the menu.