We wanted to give you an idea of what we’re planning for St. Patrick’s Day this year. Actually, quite a lot. Besides the assortment of libations you’ve come to expect, our chef, John Hogan will be offering several menu additions for the the one day celebration. The specials will include Shepherd’s Pie, Keefer’s Guinness [...]
Archive for the ‘Profiles’ Category
Going Green March Seventeen
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010Keefer’s Restaurant: Chef John Hogan
Monday, December 21st, 2009
I have always loved food. One of my first memories of food is eating clams from a bag.
I wasn’t quite four years old yet, it was 1960 and we were on a family vacation in York Beach, Maine. I even drew little pictures of the local restaurants and one of them said, “Open. Clams Today.” My mom kept the drawings for years, and then framed them. They’re still hanging in my home now. read more…
At Keefer’s Restaurant, Recipes Are Not Like Numbers
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
I couldn’t think of two better business partners than my brother, Glenn, and John Hogan.
It’s important to know your business partners really well and to trust them implicitly, and that’s especially true in tough times. We actually started feeling the economic crisis six months before the government called it a recession. read more…
How the Long Island Kids Opened a Great Chicago Steakhouse
Sunday, November 29th, 2009
Some people ask me, “How’d a boy from Long Island wind up owning a restaurant in Chicago?” I got my first taste of the restaurant business at Philbin’s Goalpost in Amityville in 1969 working for Gerry Philbin, the great defensive end, from the NY Jets Super Bowl Champions.
In 1980, I moved to Chicago and got a job as a bartender at The Palm… read more…