Hans Aeschbacher, Chicago chef known for Lawry's the Prime Rib and Smith & Wollensky, dies at 80

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chef Hans Aeschbacher — a Chicago culinary icon who served at as executive chef at Lawry's the Prime Rib, the United Center, and Smith & Wollensky steakhouse — died this week.

Aeschbacher — known to many Chicagoans simply as "Chef Hans" — was 80 years old. He passed away at the north suburban nursing home where he had been living, according to his Facebook page.

Aeschbacher was born in 1944 in Tüscherz-Alfermée, Switzerland. As noted in a biography published by the Chicago Culinary Museum, Aeschbacher said his career was inspired by a field of strawberries when he was a boy.

"I was 8 years old and everyone in our family had a choice of chores. Mine was to go out into the field and pick strawberries for my mother to put into jars for the winter. When I had picked as many as she could use, I gathered more to sell in town," Aeschbacher was quoted in the bio. "One day, I found myself at the door of the Hotel Baren, a magnificent resort in the small Swiss town of Twann, when it began to rain very hard. Mother Hubler, who was in charge of the cooking, invited me in and fed me in her huge kitchen."

In return, Aeschbacher said, he cleaned a 16-pound walleye pike – and Mother Hubler let him come back on Sundays to assist the pastry chef.

Aeschbacher went on to earn a degree in cooking from the Gewebeschule in Biel, Switzerland, and an advanced degree in business from the Hotel Fachschule in Berne, his bio said. He went on to cook at the Compleat Angler in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England, and several other fine hotel restaurants in Europe – and served his mandatory service in the Swiss Army as head chef, the bio recalled.

Aeschbacher cooked at the Century Plaza and the Forum sports arena in Los Angeles before arriving in Chicago — where he first worked as Chef de Cuisine at La Cheminee, a famous French restaurant formerly located at 1161 N. Dearborn St. in the Gold Coast.

A Chicago Tribune report noted that Aeschbacher took a detour to a Miami Beach restaurant that later failed — and then returned without a job in 1974 to Chicago, where he applied to Lawry's the Prime Rib.

In about a decade as executive chef at Lawry's — which operated at 100 E. Ontario St. until closing at the end of 2020 — Aeschbacher made numerous appearances on Chicago radio and TV. This included appearances with the late CBS 2 reporter Bob Wallace, who got a lesson on how to cook and carve a Thanksgiving turkey from Aeschbacher in the kitchen at Lawry's in November 1983.

In 1984, Aeschbacher opened Chef Hans Restaurant and Lounge, at 7011 N. Western Ave. in the West Rogers Park neighborhood, according to published reports. He supervised a kitchen staff of 15 there, according to his bio.

He returned to Los Angeles and ran Lawry's California Center, before returning once more to Chicago — where the Wirtz family hired him to serve as executive chef at the Chicago Stadium and its successor, the United Center. He cooked for the Bulls and Blackhawks, and won numerous awards in the position.

In 1998, Aeschbacher became executive chef of Chicago's newly-opened Smith & Wollensky outpost at Marina City. He headed up the kitchen at Smith & Wollensky for 11 years, overseeing the preparation of steaks, lobster, and salmon.

Aeschbacher also held executive positions in the kitchen at Trader Vic's, Palace Grill, and Chicago Cut Steakhouse.

Aeschbacher was honored as a legendary chef by the Chicago Culinary Museum and the Chefs Hall of Fame in 2013.