Margaret Pak
Thattu | Chicago
SEPTEMBER 2024
Although she was an avid home cook, Margaret Pak spent most of her career working in statistics. But when she was let go from her corporate job, she started a role in food sales and suddenly found herself meeting with chefs and restaurateurs all across the city. The experience was infectious, and Pak made a list of restaurants she might want to work at before enrolling in culinary school. She reached out to Rising Stars alum Won Kim, and he offered her the opportunity to stage at his restaurant, Kimski, two days a week, prepping vegetables and getting a feel for life in the kitchen. Pak eventually joined the team as a prep cook and had the opportunity to meet, watch, and learn from chefs that were popping up in Kim’s colorful space.
When Kim challenged Pak to put a special on the menu, she turned to a recipe she learned from her husband, Vinod Kalathil, and his mother. The dish, a Chettinad pepper chicken sandwich, was a success. With some encouragement from Kim, Pak started a pop-up of her own in 2018, serving dishes inspired by the cuisine of Kerala, India, where her husband’s family is from. By 2019, they opened up a food stall, experimenting with flavors, testing new recipes, and improving dishes while making deeper connections with neighboring business owners and chefs. In 2020, the pandemic brought an end to their food stall, but after a much-needed break and a return to pop-ups, Pak and Kalathil, alongside Chef de Cuisine Danny Tervort, opened their restaurant, Thattu, in 2023. The Avondale restaurant builds on the regional Indian flavors of their pop-up while relying on the skills, techniques, and practices Pak learned during her time at Kimski. The goal of Thattu is to educate diners about Kerala cuisine, give young industry professionals opportunities to grow by offering up their space to emerging pop-ups, and collaborate with local businesses, organizations, and charities in the Chicago community.
