Brand New February Menu at PACKED

Chef Mike Sheerin and partner Aaron DiMaria, are introducting a brand new February menu from PACKED: dumplings reimagined. Upon opening doors last month, Sheerin has been producing dumplings in the kitchen of his fast-casual Hyde Park shop for the South Side crowds, offering locals the unique opportunity to get a taste of cuisine from a pedigreed chef in a quick-serve setting.

February’s new savory selections to the “PACKED” section of the menu include a seafood-focused dumpling packed with lobster, shrimp, shrimp breadcrumbs and vanilla tofu as well as a dumpling with braised pasture-raised lamb, raw white onion and tzatziki sauce hidden between the flaps of a hand-crafted dumpling wrapper. The menu also brings about Sheerin’s first-timing soup dumplings to the “LADLED” section of the menu; the “Posole,” a dumpling filled to the brim with braised pasture-raised pork shoulder, pasilla peppers and hominy and the “Manhattan,” a mix of clam, sofrito, tomato and cream.

When it comes to sandwiches and sides, a new “Rice ’n’ Beans” addition to the “UNPACKED” section of the menu presents a brown rice & black bean cake, house-made kimchi and broccoli rabe pesto tucked between fresh baked bao in addition to the existing “Belly” sandwich featured on PACKED’s first menu. New side items include soy marinated tofu with soybean granola, scallions and avocado mustard as well as a “PACKED Salad” featuring winter citrus, roasted coconut, watercress and candied pepper relish.

Featured sweets that will be introduced include a brand new “Rice” dumpling with vanilla rice pudding, candied chilies, puffed rice, diced mango and mango coulis alongside the “Banana” that will bring together roasted banana, chocolate, brazil nuts, nori-peanut butter and whipped cream into one bewildering bite. Guests can wash down dumplings with beverages such as the new Nicaraguan Cascara, a unique, robust coffee cherry tea or the revisiting Nitrogen-Charged Winter Coffee from Sparrow Coffee Roasters. PACKED will also offer two new drinks on tap, featuring the craft brewed, “Winter Kombucha,” a hibiscus, ginger and cardamom drink, as well as the "White Rose" tea, a blend of white rose, cascade & columbus hops, and juniper berry, brewed by NessAlla Kombucha in Madison, Wisconsin.

PACKED will continue to offer menu items crafted with ingredients sourced from Chicago’s corner of the Great Lakes region. At least 90% of the ingredients used are organic. If not, they’re non-GMO. End of story! Rotating on a monthly basis, this fast-casual, Hyde Park dumpling shop will give guests the opportunity to come back to for a new, re-imagined dining experience time and time again.