Dubuque chef Kevin Scharpf adds a brunch restaurant in charming Galena, Illinois

Chef Kevin Scharpf always wanted to open a restaurant in Galena, the pretty Illinois town about 15 miles south of Dubuque on the Mississippi River. He grew up in the historic town with a charming Main Street lined with 125 boutiques and restaurants, and now lives there with his wife Lyndsi and two children.

Picturesque Dubuque fit his needs better, giving him an opportunity to build his restaurant, Brazen Open Kitchen & Bar, and be active in the community. He started serving his Midwestern fare in the city's Historic Millwork District in 2015.

Seven years later and his dreams of operating a restaurant in Galena came true. Kevin and Lyndsi Scharpf purchased Otto’s Place, a brunch spot across the Galena River from Main Street, right along the train tracks and the two-story Italianate depot.

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“It offers a new kind of adrenaline,” Scharpf said in the middle of working on a new recipe for coffee cake. “It’s a different approach to food.”

The Scharpfs bought Otto’s Place from Megan Carter, who took over ownership of the restaurant in 2019.

Galena resident and restaurant namesake Otto Sallman originally constructed the building in 1899 and always wanted to open an eatery there, but his vision didn’t come through until 2011 when Dan Wentz and John Slimp opened the restaurant.

Scharpf said that Sallman was a professional walker. But even more interesting, local legend has it that Sallman never got around to opening a restaurant in the space because he was struck by a train in Chicago. "Some say they can see his spirit wandering down the tracks in Galena, checking up on his old property," an Instagram post says.

“It’s a special place in my hometown of Galena,” said Scharpf, who frequented the restaurant with his family before buying it. “Little did (Megan Carter) know had my eye on it. Strangely, it all just came together.”

What's on the menu at Otto's Place?

The couple, junior high sweethearts, plan to add their own touches to the restaurant with a new menu that respects its history.

Diners can nestle into a stack of buttermilk pancakes with blueberries and local maple syrup, thick slabs of brioche French toast dusted with powdered sugar, a breakfast sandwich with pork belly and eggs on a ciabatta roll, a sweet potato hash, and egg tacos stuffed with potatoes, mushrooms, onion, spinach and goat cheese, along with favortes such as biscuits and gravy and an ever-changing frittata.

Lunch dishes include sandwiches, such as a BLT on sourdough, a turkey melt with caramelized onion and bacon, a smash burger, and a black bean burger.

Customers can make it a true brunch with a cocktail, such as a bloody Mary, mimosa, greyhound or Irish coffee.

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Who is Kevin Scharpf?

Scharpf’s rise to fame started at age 16, when he decided to go to culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu in Minneapolis. He worked at Daniel, the two Michelin star restaurant from Daniel Boulud in New York City, before his career took him to the fine-dining restaurants at Hotel Sofitel, Iliana Regan's now-closed one Michelin star Elizabeth Restaurant in Chicago, and Spoon & Stable in Minneapolis from Gavin Kaysen, a James Beard award-winning chef. After his hands-on experiences with French cuisine and farm-to-table approaches to dining, he returned to Dubuque to work at the Diamond Jo Casino for six years.

At Brazen, Scharpf explores local ingredients on his dinner menu served five nights a week. Prosciutto or broccolini dot his pizzas while he makes his pastas in house for a vegan stroganoff or carbonara dish. Fried chicken comes with spicy honey and cornbread, while a short rib gets a dose of umami braise and goat cheese polenta. Other entreés include a pork shoulder with a cannellini bean ragu and chorizo, monkfish with a squash curry and Israeli cous cous, and a 20-ounce rib-eye steak with red wine gastrique.

While the dishes sound very high end, Scharpf wants his customers to come as they are and share their plates. The space itself features exposed brick, an open kitchen and wood everywhere from the tables to the rafters, illuminated by Edison lights, with cement floors underneath.

Diners who want a next-level experience can book the chef's table dubbed the Brazen Reserve, a beautiful 12-seat private dining room outfitted with its own kitchen. The space can host anything from an interactive, multi-course tasting menu to a private cocktail experience.

Scharpf even has Birds, a food truck that specializes in fried chicken. Carolina barbecue and a spicy bird sandwich are just two of the options for sandwiches or tenders.

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These touches have not only made the Scharpfs and Brazen known in Dubuque, but attracted national attention too.

Scharpf competed on Season 16 of Bravo's "Top Chef" in 2018. That experience only lasted three episodes when he was eliminated after serving a too salty ricotta cake with macerated cherries in a Christmas pastry competition. But the appearance put Scharpf and Brazen on the map.

“You couldn’t get any busier,” Scharpf said about the time after the show aired. “It helps people understand that you’re not cutesy. … When people come in, it’s on purpose.”

This year, the James Beard Foundation named Scharpf a semifinalist for Best Chef Midwest, his first nomination, and perhaps the biggest honor a chef in the United States can earn.

While the Scharpfs don't plan to change a lot in the 50-seat Otto's Place, they do want to try their hand at dinner. For now, Kevin continues to work on making Otto's Place a "next-level experience."

"It feels just right," he said of the size of the restaurant. "Sometimes things just happen in disguises."

Otto's Place

Location: 100 Bouthillier St., Galena, Illinois

Contact: 815-776-0240 or ottosgalena.com

Hours: Open for breakfast and lunch 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday through Monday with dinners in the future.

Brazen Open Kitchen + Bar

Location: 955 Washington St. Suite 101, Dubuque

Contact: 563-587-8899 or brazenopenkitchen.com

Hours: 4:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday

Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Chef Kevin Scharpf buys Otto's Place in Galena, Illinois