Jimmy Bannos Jr.’s earliest memories are of working in his father’s restaurant.
After spending plenty of time at Heaven on Seven, his dad Jimmy Bannos Sr.’s now-closed Cajun restaurant in the Loop, he’d always dreamed of opening a restaurant. At the tender age of 25, Bannos Jr. made that dream happen with The Purple Pig. There, Bannos Jr. won the 2014 James Beard award for rising star chef.
Now, Bannos Jr. has accomplished another longtime dream: opening a Greek restaurant. The chef returns to his roots with the new Kouklas Greek Eatery at 7620 Milwaukee Ave. in Niles.
He left the Pig in Streeterville a decade after that, taking chef Kevin Stack and a few others with him to work on Kouklas. Stack, who’d been dreaming of becoming a chef since around sixth grade, “understood exactly what it takes to get to the next level,” Bannos Jr. said…