Iyabo Atta Cook washes some of the artistic plates at the Chicago restaurant Esmé on Aug. 12, 2022. Cook fled her home in Nigeria to escape domestic abuse and was hired from the Lincoln Park Community Services shelter. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)

At some point, during a dinner at newish fine dining restaurant Esmé in Lincoln Park, a diner’s attention is bound to drift from the food to the vessels in which the multicourse meal is served.

In my case, it happened with Pillars, a terrific halibut dish layered with subtle notes of peanut butter and green tomato. Like the courses that came before, it was served in a work of art; in this case, a gray speckled-ceramic bowl adorned with columns of various heights on one side of its wide-curved edge.

When the server came to pick up the empty bowl, I couldn’t help but blurt out, “Who has to wash all these fancy dishes?” It was more of a rhetorical question, but the server quickly returned and told me, “Her name is Cook.”

More details followed: Iyabo Atta Cook is from Nigeria, and her journey to the Esmé kitchen is one of resilience and new beginnings.

Born in the town of Lalante in the Oyo state of Nigeria, Cook left her home and her job in the textile industry and came to Chicago in December 2016, escaping violent abuse from the father of her children, she said.

“I dealt with fabric. I was talented,” said Cook, now 42. But “people told me, ‘You have to leave this country.’ I got a visa for my kids for America, so they came before me. When I got here, I could tell the city has really good people.”

The children stayed with a relative until Cook got settled. She eventually found work as a machine operator at a food manufacturer, followed by a security job at a hospital. She met someone and got married.

Iyabo Atta Cook walked away from a job in the textile industry in Nigeria to move to Chicago. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)

Initially, they lived together in an apartment on the South Side. But when their relationship soured (“He was spending my money,” Cook said.), she reached out to the Salvation Army for help finding a place to stay. In November, Cook moved to Lincoln Park Community Services. The organization provides interim housing, supportive permanent housing and drop-in services for people living on the streets.

Before long, Cook crossed paths with chef Jenner Tomaska.

Tamaska and his wife, Katrina Bravo, are owners and partners at Esmé. The idea to work closely with a shelter came via fellow Chicago chef and recent James Beard award winner Erick Williams of Hyde Park’s Virtue, who became familiar with several of them while making meals for shelters. Tomaska and Bravo worked with Williams at the now-closed mk restaurant, where Williams emphasized the importance of mission-driven values within a restaurant’s framework.

“Restaurants are one of the last businesses that offer opportunities in lieu of an individual’s mishaps,” Williams said. “Our city deserves to have businesses where people matter despite their economic status, class, race or gender. Offering opportunities to less fortunate communities is simply the right thing to do.”

[  Chef Erick Williams of Virtue takes home sole local win as James Beard Awards return to Chicago ]

Tomaska and Bravo reached out to Lincoln Park Community Services, which vetted the restaurant and its work environment before suggesting a few candidates for a dishwasher job. Cook was one of them.

“You talk with someone, and you know instantly if they’re going to work. It’s the willingness and desire to be part of a team,” Tomaska said. “It’s cliché to say, but the dishwashing section is the backbone to the restaurant.”

Even before they opened Esmé, which debuted last year and received a Michelin star in April, Tomaska and Bravo knew philanthropy, mentoring and partnerships with artists would be integrated into the foundation of their restaurant.

“Having been mentored by others, it was important to do what was done for me,” said Tomaska, who also credits mk’s owners, Michael and Lisa Kornick, for fostering a supportive workplace environment. “Being able to create a space for others via the arts and community, and even more so creating opportunities for the employees who work here, is essential to us.”

Iyabo Atta Cook washes the intricate and delicate dishes at Esmé on Aug. 12, 2022. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)

On board since January, Cook said it took her about a month to learn not only how to wash the restaurant’s delicate and expensive pieces — priced at $60 and up — but to do so in a timely manner to ensure the restaurant’s 10 chefs have all the serving dishes they need.

“My mama put the speed in me since I was a kid. I don’t like wasting time,” Cook said, adding that she’s been washing dishes since she was 5 years old. “I’m mindful and careful about dishes. I have to apply my wisdom.”

Although breakage is bound to happen in any restaurant — Cook is proud to say she’s broken only two items since starting at Esmé — instilling in the staff a sense of ownership of the things they work with is essential, Tomaska said.

“At the end of day, these are everyone’s tools and not mine,” Tomaska said. “We can’t do these things unless we are all on the same page of respecting what we are trying to accomplish with the means we have.”

And that means everyone pitches in — even Tomaska, Cook noted.

“He does everything, even washes the dishes,” she said. “What surprises me is that the owner of the place acts like (he’s just like) me. I’ve never seen a business owner act the way he does.”

Iyabo Atta Cook, left, is a dishwasher at the Chicago restaurant called Esme, where she is seen with restaurant co-owner and chef Jenner Tomaska on Friday, Aug. 12, 2022. Cook fled her home in Nigeria to escape domestic abuse and was hired from a women's shelter by Jenner Tomaska and his wife, Katrina Bravo, the owners of Esme. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)

Functioning as a rotating gallery space for established and emerging artists and creatives, both local and not, is another essential part of the restaurant’s mission, with the art serving as inspiration for the 12-course meals created around it.

[  Review: I was deeply skeptical of Esmé’s $200 tasting menu, art-focused concept. I was wrong. ]

Past collaborations have included artist Paul Octavious, and painters Danielle Klinenberg and Courtney Shoudis. AronFischer of Facture Goods and David T. Kim of DTK Ceramics have provided many of the ceramic, glass and brass serving pieces. While there are some staple pieces, about 75% of the plateware changes with each new menu.

A cod dish is served on a stylized plate by artist Betsy Morningstar at the Lincoln Park restaurant Esmé on Aug. 12, 2022. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)

The collaborations also provide a sales outlet for the artists. “The cool part about all this — and this was always the goal — is the amount of people that come in here and say, ‘I want to buy that,’ ” Tomaska said of the art on the walls and the unique plateware. “It’s crazy and, at the same time, it means we’re on the right path.”

As summer waned and the menu at Esmé shifted, Cook had no shortage of creative dishware on her hands. An August collaboration with Kitchen Possible, a nonprofit organization that offers free cooking classes for kids in Pilsen, Englewood and East Garfield Park, featured artwork and custom pieces from students at neighboring Francis W. Parker School and other artists, including some from Ignite Glass Studios, who created colorful glass versions of crazy straws.

In the past few weeks, Cook moved out of Lincoln Park Community Services housing and into her own apartment, officially graduating from the interim program. While her adult son has returned to Nigeria, having an apartment will mean her two younger children, 10 and 14, can hopefully move back in with her soon, after child services officials told Cook she would need more permanent housing for them, she said.

“I’m proud of my life in Chicago,” Cook said. “I’m very strong. I’ve faced a lot of things.”

She’s a vital part of Esmé and Tomaska’s mission to create a space that is welcoming and fun, for both its guests and its workers, the chef said.

“A lot of times places like this can be very militant, and there are a lot of command calls and responses,” Tomaska said. “Cook has this ritual where she comes into the restaurant every day and greets the entire kitchen. That is very much a refreshing part of the day and a reminder to not take ourselves so seriously.”

For Cook, the feeling is mutual. “They treat me like family,” she said.

Lisa Shames is a freelance writer.

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