Natalie Zarzour sighting

Not sure where this exactly fits, so I'm doing a separate post here:
Saturday we were eating at Taxim in Wicker Park, and as I walk back to our table from a quick pit stop, I see Natalie Zarzour (previously proprietress of the either underappreciated or notorious Pasticceria Natalina, the Sicillian pastry shop) come up to our table and start talking to my wife and 15 year old. She remembered us from the store, saw me and wanted to say hello.

Turns out she and husband Nick are both now working for Taxim, she as a pastry/dessert chef, and Nick as part of the front staff (not sure if he was just working on the wines or actually waiting tables). I will say the Greek cookies were as good as ever, and she certainly looked and sounded more relaxed than I remember from the original incarnation or the short-lived 5406 N. Clark theme.

At any rate, they've been traveling around the Med, and according to her they're working at Taxim to save up for more travels in the Caribbean. No plans for anything more ambitious at the moment, like a cookbook AFAIK. Whether or not you agreed with her Twitter 'views', it's good to see her (at least temporarily) back in the Chicago culinary scene given her talent.

From Facebook:


Natalie Zarzour
At the request of my fabulous sister Naomi Levine I'll be a guest baker at Tipsy Cake this holiday season. Beginning next week, we'll be baking together and offering some of her personal favorites from the Pasticceria Natalina repertoire: pine nut cake & those famous glazed lemon cookies!

Wow! I live close to Tipsy cake and will have to stop in for some pastries. They normally don't have many ready-to-eat things in the case there.

Interesting that you say that, Leek, as Naomi just posted THIS to Facebook:

TipsyCake
11:12am (46 minutes ago)
Bacon & Cheddar Scones.
Bacon & Egg Pies.
Julius Meinl North America Coffee or Tea.
A Breakfast Delight at TipsyCake.
We will be Open Fri - Sun at 8A.M.

Thanks for the tip on this.

For those looking for an address,

TipsyCake
1944 N Damen Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 384-4418
http://www.tipsycakechicago.com

Anyone seen her lately? I've been following her over the years hoping she'd make a return to Chicago and it seems like she has recently been involved with Kie-Gol-Lanee in Uptown:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/re ... story.html

I'm on her Facebook feed, and she says she's going to be landing this fall with Carrie Nahabedian. No details given.

In typical Natalie fashion, she reported it like this:
"ewe guys eye just accepted a position with Chef Carrie Nahabedian...
i would be vomiting from excitement, except that I'm busy sewing my lips together in respectful anticipation.

sdrucker wrote:I'm on her Facebook feed, and she says she's going to be landing this fall with Carrie Nahabedian. No details given.

In typical Natalie fashion, she reported it like this:
"ewe guys eye just accepted a position with Chef Carrie Nahabedian...
i would be vomiting from excitement, except that I'm busy sewing my lips together in respectful anticipation.

Is all of that (through "respectful anticipation") Zarzour's quote? Or do her words end at "Nahabedian"?

At the Culinary Historians presentation she gave last weekend, Carrie did mention a future re-opening of a revised Naha in a better and larger location. So maybe that's the association being mentioned.