Soup Is A Passion For Chef In Bucktown
CHICAGO (CBS) -- In the long, frigid Chicago winter, soup is a staple.
As CBS 2's Steve Bartelstein reports, soup is the epitome of comfort food, but for Chef Curtis McGhee, it's a passion.
McGhee runs the kitchen at Nalyah's Soup Café, located at 1840 N. Damen Ave. in the Bucktown neighborhood. The marquee at Nalyah's may be small, but the restaurant's taste, like its host, is larger than life.
"I eat this, and then I suffer my way through getting to the gym," McGhee said.
But his moves through his kitchen are catlike. The bounce in his step comes naturally, just like his love of cooking.
"I love doing it so much that the days fly by for me," McGhee said.
To say the least, McGhee is the 180-degree opposite of the "Soup Nazi" character on "Seinfeld."
His café is warm and inviting, thanks to a family-like atmosphere. For McGhee, family is everything.
"He's 1 – my son, C.J. – and my daughter Nalyah is 7," McGhee said.
The restaurant's name, as one might guess, comes from McGhee's daughter. But what is the source of his prowess in the kitchen.
"It's my grandmother that made me love it, because she was so awesome in the kitchen," McGhee said.
Watching McGhee leaves one with the clear impression that he is doing his grandma proud.
"You're cooking like my mom," Bartelstein told McGhee as he added spices to one of his soups. "You know how much to put in."
"You don't have time to be cooking with all of those spoons," McGhee said.
So damn the spoons. And, McGhee says, take the salt shakers with you.
"Americans are notoriously bad for salting food before they taste it, because they're used to getting bland food," McGhee said.
But at Nalyah's, expect your taste buds to dance and your culinary cravings to be more than satisfied. For McGhee, that's what dining out – and at Nalyah's – is all about.
"I want my customers here to get gourmet treatment and stuff like that, but in their neighborhood," McGhee said. You ain't got to venture out super far. I'll cook for you."
To learn more about Nalyah's Soup Café, click here for their Facebook page.
