Jovan Restaurant

When did the original Jovan restaurant on Erie St in Chicago open?

Thanks for any date suggestion

Alain 40

According to the Chef and Restaurant Database Jovan opened in 1984 though the entry is no where near complete.



[1984 - 1984] Jeff Jackson Executive Chef
Carrie Nahabedian

I ate at Jovan in 1979 or early 1980.

I too remember Jovan from the mid-70s. Not sure when it closed.

Buddy

Jovan - I remember it throughout the 80's but that was a soft musk cologhe that my pimp uncle had on his dresser. Now available at CVS and Walgreens.

alain40 wrote:When did the original Jovan restaurant on Erie St in Chicago open?

I'm not sure it was ever on Erie. Jovan Trboyevic opened Jovan at 16 E Huron in 1967. Ten years later he sold it to his manager so he could focus on his other restaurants, Le Perroquet and Les Nomades. The original restaurant suffered a fire in 1982 but Jovan later reopened at 1660 N La Salle. It lasted only a few years at the new location, closing in 1986.

Thank you for your various answers. Rene G: You are right it was on Huron, not Erie. My mistake. But I'm surprised that the opening of the original Jovan was so late in the sixties. My guess would have been around 63 or 64.
In any case that restaurant represented, as was Le Perroquet in 1972, the major innovation of the post-world war II period as far as management of food ingredients, cooking techniques, and service were concerned in a French restaurant in Chicago.
Alain40

Among many other culinary revelations at the time, I tasted my first Gran Marnier souffle at Jovan in 1971.
In 1973, I moved to 100 E. Walton, next door to Le Perroquet, and soon became a regular there. I can still taste a favorite appetizer: a crisp, intricately woven pastry basket filled with wild mushroom ragout.
Jovan was a quite a character. Knowing I was a musician, he always begged me to give him piano lessons. I agreed on the condition he would teach me to cook. Sadly, neither ever happened.