Get Cookin’ With… Chef Erick Williams

Chef Erick Williams won Chicago’s only James Beard Award this year, taking home the honor as Best Chef: Great Lakes. He is a man who appreciates his history and never forgets it.

A Chicago native who grew up in Lawndale and Austin, Chef Erick was lured into the kitchen early on by his mother and grandmother. Eventually he found himself working for Chef Michael Kornick, rising through the ranks to become executive chef at Kornick’s flagship restaurant MK in 2008. It was at MK that he began working on a personal goal of training young people of color in the restaurant industry and having his own space. He opened Virtue in 2018, followed in 2021 by Mustard Seed Kitchen, a take-out and delivery-only concept.

Chef Erick is as much known for his philanthropy as he is for his remarkable culinary skills. Outside of the restaurant, he donates his time and talent to those less fortunate by partnering with charities across the region. He is particularly devoted to making a positive impact on the future of Chicago’s inner-city youth as well as the hospitality industry. He began working with Embarc Chicago, offering programming and mentorship to high school students, “to show others that look like me that there is opportunity for them if they work hard.”

Chef Ben Ruiz is one of the young men Chef Erick mentored. “No matter how hard he was on us in the kitchen, he was always there for us when we needed him. He’s kind of like a father figure in the industry,” Ruiz said. David Hurst, another mentee, said, “I came to Virtue for a job and I’m leaving with a real path to success.” And there are 100s of stories just like this one.

In 2020, he was named one of Chicago Magazine’s “Chicagoans of the Year” and described as a nurturer. In 2021, he was honored with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Mayoral Medal of Honor for his work feeding frontline workers during the pandemic and for his advocacy for social justice in the Black community.

Today, his restaurant combines his love of mentorship and hospitality with some of the best Southern food around. He says his menu and style of cooking is inspired by the migratory trails of African Americans as they left the South in the Great Migration. He used a map to retrace those steps and help him preserve and understand the context and history of Southern food. “You have to take a step back to get to where you’re trying to go,” he said. We are pretty sure he has arrived.

In his spare time, he loves traveling and spending time with his wife and son and says he has been inspired by Chicago’s community of chefs, in particular, Chefs Jason Hammel and Paul Kahan. His favorite meal, which he shares with us below, is Turkey Giblet Gravy and Biscuits.

Turkey Giblet Gravy and Biscuits 

(Serves 8)

• 1 16 oz. can of buttermilk biscuits

• 4 tsp. canola oil, divided

• 1 cup chopped onion

• 1 cup chopped celery

• Turkey neck and giblets

• 2 cups chicken broth

• 4 bay leaves

• 1 cup turkey drippings

• ¼ cup butter

• ¼ cup all-purpose flour

• ¼ cup water

• 1 tbsp. finely chopped fresh thyme

• ½ tsp. kosher salt

• ¼ tsp. ground black pepper

Instructions:

1. Heat biscuits according to the recipe and reserve.

2. In a large skillet, heat 2 tsps. canola oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and celery; cook until browned, approximate 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove onion mixture from pan, and set aside. Add remaining 2 tsps. canola oil to pan. Add turkey neck and giblets. Cook, turning occasionally until browned, approximately 4 minutes. Add broth to pan, scraping to loosen browned bits.

3. In a medium saucepan, combine onion mixture, neck and giblet mixture, and bay leaves; bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook until neck and giblets are tender, approximately 45-60 minutes. Strain mixture, reserving 1 cup broth mixture in pan. Discard the vegetables and bay leaf. Finely chop giblets. Take a fork and scrape the meat from the turkey neck and chop. 

4. Add reserved 1 cup drippings to broth mixture in pan.

5. Melt butter in a pan with wooden spoon, stir in flour and continue stirring until lightly browned.

6. Add flour mixture to pan, whisking until combined. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook until thickened and bubbly, approximately 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in chopped giblets, thyme, salt and pepper.

Plating instructions:  

Place the precooked halved biscuits on a plate, spoon the gravy over the top and finish with your egg of choice.