Miss Ricky’s Introduces New Dishes for Spring and Summer Seasons

Miss Ricky’s, the restaurant inside of Virgin Hotels Chicago, is introducing a lineup of new dishes created with the warmer months in mind. 

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During a recent visit to his childhood home in Syria, Chef Mike Alardi found inspiration in his backyard garden and nostalgic memories of cooking with his family. This experience served as the inspiration behind the creation of this menu and spurred Alaridi to craft his own recipe for homemade cheese, in the Backyard Tomato Salad dish.  

Alaridi uses whole milk to create the curds for this fresh white cheese. While this is currently the only cheese he is crafting in-house, he has plans to experiment with aging cheese and creating a variety of other soft cheeses with goat milk. A few other dishes include Lobster Arancini, a crispy and savory rice ball filled with lobster and served with a lemon dill sauce for dipping, and Ricotta Gnocchi, a fluffy potato dumpling stuffed with fresh ricotta cheese and served with a variety of roasted garden vegetables.  

“Going back home always reignites my passion for cooking,” says Alaridi. “I grew up picking vegetables straight from my garden and watching my mother cook our meals over open fire. This menu is a reflection of those experiences, aiming to evoke the feeling of enjoying a home cooked meal right here in the heart of Chicago.”