As third in line in terms of cities in the Czech Republic, Liberec finds itself in an awkward predicament, in that although it isn’t completely unknown, it hasn’t been completely embraced either. The city, which prospered in the late 19th century, boasts a variety of buildings of architectural interest – many of them Neo-Classical, such as the opera building and the city’s town hall. But a new wind is breathing life into the city– one, in particular, from that famed City of Wind – Chicago.

The recently opened restaurant Chicago Grill opened by Ryan Nelson, a Chicago-born businessman and entrepreneur who, through the twists and turns of fate ended up in Liberec, is the living and breathing example of the aphorism that ‘you can take the man out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the man’. Upon discovering a disused piano showroom in a Neo-Classical building that formerly serviced a piano factory near Liberec, Nelson envisioned a restaurant and bar there, where the people of Liberec could work, make deals, and celebrate them.