Johnnie’s Italian beef transformed into a breakfast food through the chef wizardry at Blackout Baking Co. on Marion Street. On the bakery’s daily menu, this collaboration of soft roll with bits of Italian beef and mild giardiniera is served with a container of Johnnie’s famous gravy to dip in bite by bite.
Blackout Baking Co. has been an e-commerce cookie delivery business for six years. Owner and River Forest resident Shana Taveras opened a storefront location in Oak Park almost three years ago. The store brings cookies, as well as coffee, tea and a rotating menu of other treats directly to local residents.
“We get a lot of people in our bakery who want breakfast items,” Taveras said. “How can we do a more savory item that would help but not change what we do as a bakery?”
After some brainstorming, she approached one of the area’s most famous beef stands with an idea that would satisfy Blackout’s customer demand for more options.
Johnnie’s Beef of Elmwood Park has been family owned and operated since 1961. They’ve never collaborated with anyone.
“We’ve had a bunch of people come to us with different ideas,” John Aretos, co-owner of Johnnie’s, said. “What made this one interesting it’s something that we could put our signature on and not have it be in direct competition.”
Johnnie’s gave Taveras a pound of beef. She mixed up a batch for them to taste her recipe.
It is made with yeasted dough, the same as is used to make their cinnamon rolls. A thin layer of cream cheese holds the chopped Italian beef and mild giardiniera relish in place but melts into the bread as it bakes. Once out of the oven the rolls are topped with butter and an Italian seasoning blend.
After just a few bites, Johnnie’s was in. The owners agreed to supply Taveras with beef and gravy – and let Blackout use Johnnie’s name.
“It was something just very unusual, it was unique. We thought, hey, let’s give this a shot,” said Aretos.
The Italian Beef Roll made its debut on Blackout Baking’s menu this spring. Customers are buying it like … hot cakes.
“I think it could stay on the menu forever,” Taveras said.
Blackout has additional savory items, such as truffle parmesan rolls, on the weekends. And the cases are always full of cookies, scones and other sweet treats. Each month there is a featured cookie; August served up a pancake cookie. The eye-deceiving concoction looks like a miniature silver-dollar pancake, and is made from a soft, maple sugar cookie, topped with a square of salted butter marshmallow fondant that is drizzled with maple- butter glaze.
For Aretos, the experiment has been a success. Over the years, the menu at the Elmwood Park Johnnie’s location has remained the same. But at their other location in Arlington Heights, the menu is more expansive, offering items such as Italian tuna sandwiches and beef bowls. Neither place serves breakfast.
For Johnnie’s owners, the goal wasn’t to sell more beef. It was how Taveras approached the project.
“This is really about her. It’s not about us,” Aretos said. “We wanted to support small business in the community. We’re a small business. We’ve benefited from the people in Elmwood Park, the people in the surrounding suburbs and the city. It just all kind of came together.”
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For more information:
blackoutbakingco.com
facebook.com/p/Johnnies-Beef-100064877400220
Editor’s note: A previous version of the story misstated the name of Blackout Baking Co. The correction has been made and we apologize for the error.