Time for a Refresh
By Naperville Magazine
Appears in the January 2025 issue.
By Peter Gianopulos
Warren’s Ale House boasts a reno and a new chef

There’s a good chance that Jonathan Harootunian, the new executive chef at Warren’s Ale House in Wheaton, already has cooked diner for you, somewhere, sometime, over the last 25 years.
The man’s worked more ZIP codes than most U.S. mail carriers. Perhaps you were there, tongue wagging, at a few of his stops. Meritage in Wicker Park, when it opened back in 1997. The always stately Courtright’s in Willow Springs or Tallgrass in Lockport. He enjoyed a stint at Carlucci’s and was most recently at the Fulton Market Kitchen in the city.

Pick a cuisine. Pick a locale. Pick a price point. And he’s probably cooked it. So when Warren’s announced it would be closing for a few weeks for renovations, Harootunian contacted owners Jerry and Jorge Hernandez and asked if they might be interested in a new menu as well? So while the restaurant experienced a dramatic face-lift—including a new private dining room, chic new wallpaper and lighting, plus an expanded patio area—Harootunian whipped up a globetrotting menu of eclectic gastropub offerings. The Hernandez brothers sampled. And within hours, the kitchen was his.
Never fear: Warren’s new chef isn’t fussing with your favorites. The house egg rolls are still stuffed with Italian beef, and no one’s messing with Warren’s cheese curds. But the rest of the menu is pure Harootunian. You’d need an atlas to pick out all the flavors he’s showcasing. His sweet-and-spicy chicken wings, for instance, aren’t inspired by Buffalo. Keep going east, all the way to Korea. He lacquers them in gochujang, a Korean red-chile sauce, then dusts them with black powder lime sprinkles and crispy bits of fried garlic. Harootunian also makes homemade naan bread that he fires on the grill. And his idea of a classy bar dip is giardiniera-studded whipped feta.

There are two things, Harootunian insists, that he’s learned from all of his travels. The first rule? Shed thy ego and give diners what they want. The second rule? Be playful. Surprise people. Make them laugh. Case in point: his mysterious “What Came First” chicken-and egg entrée. It’s a chicken pot pie with all the usual fillings, only he slides a sunny-side-up egg under the pastry crown of the pie. It’s like barnyard version of a beef Wellington: You crack your fork into the crust and yolk comes sluicing out, so you can drag the leftover pastry dough through the yolk.
There are plenty of other exotic treats waiting for you—county-fair-style fried pickles with dehydrated ranch, an eight-hour Bolognese, and a Dreamsicle-flavored crème brûlée prepared with an immersion circulator. “I’ve learned,” Harootunian says, “not to be married to one thing, to one idea. There are simply too many flavors to choose from. I want guests to try a little bit of everything.”
Photos: Warren’s Ale House