Nicole Oertel
The Oertel Group's mission of "love where you live" extends beyond the homes we pair our clients with. We believe it’s about being active members of the community we live in. Including eating locally and enjoying the rich tapestry of art and culture right at our fingertips. We recently talked with Dominic and Cecilia who make up the team behind The Gallery, The Peanut Gallery, and Revelry Food & Wine Festival. They are Lake Forest residents, restaurant owners, creators, and conniseurs. They are beginning preparations to host the second annual Revelry Food & Wine Festival. So we thought it would be fun to chat with them about their beginnings, inspirations, unique dining concepts, and what we can look forward to for this year's upcoming festival. Keep reading for more!
We are the team behind The Gallery, The Peanut Gallery, and most recently; Revelry Food & Wine Festival. Dominic is the chef and works on the line and in all food-related planning and operations (also known as the 'back of house'). Cecilia's responsibilities include the gallery & art portion of the business, events, and marketing (also known as the 'front of house').
Dominic is a seasoned hospitality veteran with over 25 years of experience. During that time he's opened over 15 restaurants. He’s worked all over the country at fine dining establishments and has been nominated for a James Beard Award, and a Jean Banchet award.
Cecilia opened her first business in Lake Forest in 2012 called Re-invent. It was a gallery, artist studio space, and a retail store. While at Re-invent, we opened our first restaurant together “The Cotton Duck”; located in downtown Chicago. From there we moved to Lake Forest and have since opened The Gallery and then Peanut Gallery.
Cecilia & Dominic receive an award from Master Cheff Beau Mac
The Gallery is a fine art gallery and full-service restaurant. Our exhibits rotate 4 times a year, in tandem with a changing menu. Our chef works side by side with the artist to create a food interpretation of the exhibit. This unique experience allows guests to enjoy fine dining in a gallery setting where the food and beverage service is inspired by the artwork on display.
It combines our two passions into one concept. Originally we thought our approach might be a “pop-up” style event hosted by us featuring Cecilia’s artwork and Dominic’s food. But, the more we explored the concept, the more it felt like a true brick-and-mortar business. Aside from the daily service, we also host events and special occasions in the space. This includes weddings, birthdays, and intimate wine dinners.
2023 Revelry Food & Wine Festival
The North Shore is a bustling art scene with so many creators and collectors! Much of the History of Lake Forest stems from pioneers of their time who built homes (and art collections) that are still part of the foundation and fabric of the town. I was the Executive Director for The Deer Path Art League and experienced firsthand; with the board members and donors, how supportive our community is to the arts. One of the latest developments is The Atelier located at 830 Green Bay. Adrian and Nancy Smith have created an Artist community in this space that centers around the education of painting. It is quite a remarkable establishment.
The Peanut Gallery was the “child” of The Gallery. We found that nearly all of our guests at The Gallery were parents. But, they were leaving their kids at home to come join us for date night. It became clear that a kid-focused, family-friendly dining option would be a great addition to town.
We wanted to create a fun atmosphere that would bring out the childlike excitement in kids of all ages. So we incorporated some of our favorite childhood memories. Like Snoopy and Charlie Brown Comics, Atari Video Games, and board games. And of course, (our favorite) the brick walls that we encourage guests to write on. We always laughed at Egg Harbor when the sign read “Please don’t draw on the walls” but it's covered in crayon. So we wanted to flip that on its head and ask our guests to “PLEASE DRAW ON THE WALLS!”. As for the names of our burgers, a lot of them stem from our love of really good Hip Hop!
We love Lake Forest Beach! Our daughter just recently learned how to ride a bike so we enjoy walking & riding around the neighborhood. We are so lucky to have such a walkable town here in Lake Forest!
We had been tossing around this idea for years until we finally put the idea to paper. There are so many amazing community-based events here, but none of them are centered around food. We were visiting with Chef Beau and showed him around the town. We let him in on our idea and he loved it. From there, Revelry was born!
2023 Revelry Food & Wine Festival
We added two more events and several locations! Our 2023 events were Palate to Palette, an event featuring 4 artists, paired with 4 chefs and cocktails curated by Sonja Kassebaum of North Shore Distillery. Whiskey, Wu-Tang & Wagyu Burger Battle, a competition of 10 local chefs for the best burger, with a live DJ and celebrity judge panel and masters of taste wine dinner, a 5-course chefs tasting dinner with wine pairings. This year it will be hosted by Dan Kosta.
2023 Revelry Food & Wine Festival
The two additional events this year are Farm & Country at Elawa Farm with 9 local and national chefs cooking live, a special musical performance by the D.Vincent Williams Band, and The Nashville Allstars, hosted by Next Level Chef “Mada”. As well as Ferraris & Fedoras. An Italian-inspired al fresco brunch at Nancy & Adrian Smith’s David Adler Estate, with chefs serving brunch-inspired favorites and live music by guitarist Gabriel Datcu, hosted by Celebrity Chef Elizabeth Falkner
