Wisma Expands Menu, Grand Opening Planned

, an organic takeout food store, recently expanded its menu to include nine new offerings such as salmon with quinoa, mixed green salad with dried cranberries, crispy onions and grilled chicken, and vanilla bean cheesecake custard.

“We expanded the menu to add more variety and to make the dishes lighter as we move into warmer weather,” said John des Rosiers, owner and executive chef of Wisma and Inovasi, which was named Chicago Magazine’s Best New Restaurants 2010. “We will continue to make more seasonal changes as we get more products available.”

Wisma, 528 N. Milwaukee Ave., opened its second location in Libertyville in March. The store will be hosting its on April 29 from 7 p.m.

Asian Influences

“The restaurant we started three years ago before we got to the retail part of it was American cuisine that synthesized an array of culinary influences and techniques, including French, Italian, and Japanese,” des Rosiers said. “We want to bring more of that to the menu than we had when we originally opened up.”

New additions with an Asian twist include rice noodles with chicken, Chinese cabbage, sesame ginger soy sauce and mushrooms, as well as gluten-free Japanese noodles with chicken and tomatoes. des Rosiers says he plans to add more dishes such as a Japanese stir-fry sometime in June.  

Inspiration comes from all over for des Rosiers, who typically tries new dishes out at the Lake Bluff location. There isn’t a formal experimentation process for the chef, if people like the dish; he will serve it at the restaurant and the store.

“Sometimes it’s a suggestion from customers, sometimes it’s something I’ll see on TV,” he said. “It doesn’t take us much time to come up with new dishes, so sometime over the next two to three weeks we will be working on it.”

The hard part, according to des Rosiers, is transforming dishes for the retail stores so they can be reheated.

What’s Next

Currently all Wisma food is packaged and prepared at the Lake Bluff location, but des Rosiers is searching for a 4,000 square-foot kitchen in southern Lake County or northern Cook County to serve solely as the production facility.

Another project des Rosiers is working on is farm ownership. His restaurant and stores currently use 12 farms for produce and meats.

The chef who hopes to change the way people eat has been busy. He is planning a Wisma truck to attract Chicagoans, according to Chicago.Eater.com. He was also recently featured as a Foodie of the North Shore on Make It Better Magazine.