Concept & Design
A restaurant and sherry bar, Michelin-bibbed Mama Delia offers a fresh take on what is happening in Spain right now, as today’s generations embrace new flavors and culinary traditions.
Mama Delia is a celebration of the authentic culture of Spain, today. Via our frequent trips to Spain each year, we are able to experience first-hand the cultural shifts this dynamic country undergoes and bring those experiences back to Chicago. For those who have visited Spain recently, our menu will bring back memories of the country’s best ingredients, wine, spirits and music.
Mama Delia provides Chef/Partner Marcos Campos a vehicle to showcase the exquisite regional products of Spain with dishes that are ingredient-driven and nostalgic. Following Campos’ lead, desserts byExecutive Pastry Chef Shannah Primiano find inspiration in classic Spanish sweet dishes before channeling more contemporary methods and intriguing ingredient pairings.
Mama Delia boasts one of the best collections of sherry in the country. As passionate evangelists for the category, the award-winning beverage team, led by industry vanguard Brian Sturgulewski, has built Mama Delia’s bar program around showcasing the inimitable versatility of sherry, not only as a world class wine but also as a cocktail ingredient without parallel. Through the lens of familiar “classic” cocktails the true range and diversity of sherry is put on display — cocktails stretch from sea-influenced Manzanilla “Margaritas” to rich, after-dinner Pedro Ximénez Manhattans. Our beverage menu also features imported beers from across Spain, no-proof cocktails and Mama Delia Sangrías (pomegranate & peach).
Our wine cellar is filled with a boutique collection of wines from the best winemakers in Galicia, the Iberian Peninsula and the islands of the Atlantic and Mediterranean. Our list represents a new generation of iconoclastic winemakers. These progressive winemakers offer immensely personal expressions that embrace ancestral techniques, indigenous grape varietals and the idiosyncrasies of their landscape.
Inspired by the ultramarinos of Spain, guests entering Mama Delia will first discover a shoppe reminiscent of an old neighborhood grocery store. An antique pharmacy (circa 1910) imported from Belgium — all original bookcases, glass cases and cabinets — finds new life inside Mama Delia displaying an abundance of rarely available small production wines and distinct gourmet goods from Spain. Further inside, Mama Delia’s elegantly appointed dining room — tailored with velvet, walnut and brass dining furniture, burgundy tweed banquettes, antique Persian Kerman rugs and vintage brass and wrought iron chandeliers — provides a cozy candlelit setting throughout. At our imposing 30-foot-long ornate marble bar, guests can gather for 100% acorn-fed jamón ibérico and a glass of fino en rama.
Outside on Division Street’s extra wide sidewalks, Mama Delia offers a seasonal 60-seat garden patio for al fresco dining and drinking. Wine barrels painted in the same rose hue of the façade have been repurposed as planters. Overhead, string lights hanging from the ceiling of the open structure, add to the romantic ambiance.
At Mama Delia, music plays an integral role in the experience. Our sounds are an homage to Spain’s evolving musical tastes and styles through the decades, from the ’50s to the ’90s, while still nodding respectfully to its classic roots in flamenco, bolero and pop with strong influences from its Mediterranean neighbors and kindred spirits across the Atlantic.
