Harbor House chef wants to make fine dining fun dining
John Korycki once dreamed of being a professional cyclist. When he found himself cooking for his racing roommates in exchange for getting out of washing dishes, it was probably a sign.
While his friends were eating hot dogs, hamburgers and pizza, Korycki enjoyed his mother’s Polish golabki (cabbage rolls) and pierogi (dumplings).
His first job was at the neighborhood pizza shop, where he’d watch the owners make sauce from scratch. The lessons of fresh, homemade meals still resonate today.
Growing up on Chicago’s south side, Korycki’s whole world was within a few blocks of home. His world has expanded with his cooking career, and he’s visited Italy more than a dozen times. Still, he finds himself rooted in the Midwest.
He worked with Paul Bartolotta at Spiaggia in Chicago, which led him to Milwaukee and the role of sous chef under Mark Weber when Lake Park Bistro opened in 1995. He then worked at Ristorante Bartolotta in Wauwatosa, followed by stints in Kansas City and Michigan. He’s come full circle, returning to Bartolotta Restaurant Group this year where he is now executive chef at Harbor House, 550 N. Harbor Drive.
Korycki lives on the east side with his wife, Stacey. They have a son, Sam, and daughter, Evan. Look for his newest menu additions coming for Lobsterpalooza at Harbor House in January.
Question: Before you were a chef, you wanted to be a professional cyclist. What’s your background?
I grew up in a pure Polish household with mom being a great cook. I never realized as a kid that I was eating really good food, and real food pretty much all the time. I grew up between Comiskey Park and Midway Airport on the south side of Chicago. That was my world, anywhere you could get by bicycle. …I figured out the Lake Michigan bike path in downtown Chicago was six miles away from home. All of a sudden, the world was just a 40 minute bike ride away. …I still ride today. I actually ride to work. It’s a 15-minute ride.
Q: How did that lead to your culinary career? Part of being a great athlete is what you eat. I started studying how to eat properly for training. I started buying packages of Prego sauce and pasta and making salads for myself.
During our training in Arizona, I was the cook in the group. Cooking got me out of washing dishes. Instead of a jar of Prego, I started making sauce from scratch. It blossomed from there. … I’d watch WGN’s weekly restaurant interview. One was on Kendall College’s culinary school. That was my epiphany. … About a year and a half after graduating (from Kendall), I started at Spiaggia (in Chicago) under Paul Bartolotta.
Q: How did the time at Spiaggia influence your career?
At Spiaggia, I met a gal who is now my wife. She was working as a host. On my first trip to Italy, we went together and I proposed to her on Lake Como. The following year, we got married. The next summer, I wanted to do a longer stay in Italy.
I left Spiaggia and with Paul’s help went to Italy for three months. Then I talked with Paul about a new opportunity his brother had in Milwaukee. That was Lake Park Bistro, back in 1995. Stacey was pregnant with our first child, and we moved to Milwaukee. I hadn’t even been to Milwaukee before.
Q: What’s your most memorable meal?
I miss my mom and her cooking. It would be her Polish food, her golabki, pierogi. Hands down my favorite pierogi were the ones she made in July with fresh blueberries. It was like an appetizer, entrée and dessert, because that’s how many I ate.
Q: What’s a lesson that has stuck with you throughout your career?
One of the things Paul taught me at Spiaggia is the simplicity of food. Always choose the best ingredients you can. Much of that comes only during certain times during the year, but when they’re in abundance, they’re not going to be the most expensive either.
Q: How are you approaching the menu in your role at Harbor House?
The oyster program that they’ve developed here is amazing. I’m excited to continue that. I’d like to introduce some raw fish, sashimi style, but in French, Italian and Mediterranean areas. Being so close to O’Hare, we have connections to both coasts. We can get seafood overnight, and the beautiful fresh fish are exciting.
Q: What’s a must-have in your kitchen?
I’ll always have at least three different olive oils in my kitchen. Olive oil is made once a year, typically October, November or December, that’s when the harvest happens… This month, I will be receiving fresh pressed olive oil from Tuscany and Sicily.
Q: What’s a tool you can’t live without?
A cast-iron skillet. It is the perfect nonstick cooking vehicle. I reheat my pizza in a cast-iron skillet.
Q: What do you want people to know about Harbor House?
The idea of fine dining conveys to some that it is only for special occasions or anniversaries. It really is just a special place, vs. a special event place. I’d like to change fine to fun, where you just get really good food and you get to see our display of oysters and cold-water lobsters and warm-water lobsters. I love seeing families come in and mom and dad show the kids the whole lobster or salmon.
Q: How often do you get back to Italy?
My side gig is Chef JK Travels. I do these trips. This year, I was in Italy again. … I have all these great memories of travel and meals. I collect menus. My wife makes fun of me because of the big box of menus that travels with us from place to place.
Table Chat features interviews with Wisconsinites, or Wisconsin natives, who work in restaurants or support the restaurant industry; or visiting chefs. To suggest individuals to profile, email nstohs@ journalsentinel.com.