Photograph by Tony Valainis
ERIN KEM’S culinary aesthetic is well-known to diners who have followed her moves from R Bistro, to Cannon Ball Brewing Company, to Scarlet Lane Brewing Company: clean, respectful of the ingredients, and globe-spanning. Last year, she and fellow chef and partner Logan McMahan brought their mindset of cooking what’s best rather than what’s TikTok-ing to Nicole-Taylor’s Pasta + Market + Backroom Eatery, the Monon Trail–side shop founded by Tony and Rosa Hanslits in 2008 that’s known for hard-to-snag private dinner reservations and wholesale pasta.
“They gave us carte blanche,” Kem says. “Tony, especially, said that we should do what we want.” But considering what they would keep and what they would make their own was no small task. How could they give up a pasta operation that has over a dozen local wholesale accounts and is a sure draw at local farmers markets? And all those orders for the Hanslits’ famous lasagna at the holidays? Forget about it. The pair and their small staff rolled up their sleeves and kept at it, layering over 120 pans of noodles and sauce for family gatherings last December. Then there’s the Nicole-Taylor’s chef’s table, which is known as the most soughtafter reservation in the region. The $1,750 evening for 8–10 people sells out a year in advance, with a collaborative, four-course menu served at a butcher block table in the kitchen. (You can buy beer or wine in the market or bring your own.) This year, Kem and McMahan used a lottery system to award 170 nights across 2024. Over 600 people applied.
Photograph by Tony Valainis
None of those standbys are going away any time soon, Kem emphasizes. “The chef’s table, the pasta business, the lasagna—all these are too important to the business to walk away from. People love it too much.”
Kem confirms that another popular offering, the market’s daily lunch at the Backroom Eatery, is also sticking around. With a comforting and elegant menu that changes seasonally, recent offerings include a knockout rainbow trout served skin-on and perfectly seared. It arrives on a toss of spring vegetables, including baby potatoes, favas, radishes, and peas brought together with a healthy sprinkling of feta, dill, and an indulgent slice of herbed compound butter on top.
Photograph by Tony Valainis
An equally seasonal dish of bucatini with shallots, asparagus, cream, and smoked salmon is as satisfying as it sounds, without the heft of many trattoria pasta entrees. The dish features the textbook house bucatini, which like all of Nicole-Taylor’s pastas, is vegan, with just flour and water in the recipe. You can buy some at the counter to take home or stop in for a serving of the decidedly unvegan, gooey, meaty lasagna. (Check the restaurant’s website for the most recent lunch menu, which rotates mid-summer and again in the fall.)
Kem and McMahan’s biggest departure is a plan to open a full-service dinner restaurant inside the NicoleTaylor’s space. Called Corridor, the spot will be a nod to the Mediterranean, North African, and Arab worlds, with lighter, vegetable-rich Mediterranean fare—a pivot well-served by McMahan’s flair for vegan dishes. It’s not easy to operate an already bustling business and open a new one at the same time, Kem notes, so the timeline to fully launch Corridor is still evolving. Diners can get a foretaste of things to come at regular pop-ups, festive special events, and the market’s monthly First Friday dinners.
Photograph by Tony Valainis
One recent such dinner was redolent with saffron, cinnamon, and cumin, with highlights such as a creamy almond gazpacho starter and an aromatic bowl of the Moroccan stew Berber Harira, studded with fava beans, bits of wilted kale, and a lemony, tomato-rich broth.
Duck confit pappardelle took on an intriguing Egyptian flair with the traditional nut-and-spice condiment dukkah, as well as some nice richness from grated cured duck egg yolks. The dessert, a rendering of the Greek pastry with a creamy nut milk–based custard atop shredded phyllo, could have used a lighter touch of rosewater—a rare time when the pair’s hewing to tradition might have benefited from some tweaks.
Expect Corridor to continue to emerge into view as the year progresses. “It’s thanks to the chef’s table that we can afford to slowly transition to Corridor,” Kem says. “It’s a great night, and people always have a good time.” The lottery for the 2025 class of chef’s table reservations will launch in September, and all signs suggest they will sell out, too.
Photograph by Tony Valainis
