Want to learn how to make pasta and meatballs from scratch? Or crème brûlée and macarons to impress guests at your next get-together? Then it’s time to take a class at Table and Lain.
Table and Lain held its grand reopening March 28 at 7424 Madison St. The event space, known for hosting public and private cooking classes, is under the new ownership of Chef Julianna Westgor.
“I hope they find a deeper love for food and cooking,” Westgor said of what she wants people to take away from the new version of the business. She added that she aims to “help people create new memories around food. … I want people to think of Table and Lain anytime they have something special coming up.”
Louis Dourlain opened Table and Lain at the end of 2021, creating a space for small gatherings and cooking classes where there was previously a food photography studio. After leaving a chef job at a Chicago restaurant in 2023 and meeting Dourlain the following year, Westgor was hired to cook and teach classes at Table and Lain. And when Dourlain was looking to step down last year to spend more time with his family and on another job, Westgor bought the business from him.
“I really wanted to give this space the love that it deserves,” Westgor said. “People don’t know that we’re here. People don’t know what we’re doing in this space.” She added that, while she loves cooking and teaching people how to cook, “I just want people to have fun in the kitchen with me. I tell people a lot, ‘It’s not that serious, it’s just food.’ I try to make it not intimidating for people.”
Table and Lain closed for about a month last fall before re-opening for the Forest Park holiday walk with Westgor at the helm. She made homemade hot chocolate and marshmallows — since she was most recently head pastry chef at The Dearborn in Chicago’s Loop.
“I feel like this is an opportunity for me to put roots down, personally, and see what I can do with this space,” Westgor said. A Chicago resident of nearly 20 years, she moved to Oak Park around the time she bought Table and Lain. The interior of the business largely looks the same from when Dourlain owned it, with a communal dining area, a full kitchen with shared appliances and cooking stations.
Aside from the administrative tasks that come with owning a business — many of which Westgor’s best friend Kelsey Woodruff helps with — Westgor largely has the same role as she did when she worked for Dourlain. Now, she said she also gets to connect with clients more to help customize their menus for special events.
While Table and Lain has hosted birthday and bachelorette parties, the business also rents out its space for private events — to people who want to bring their own food or have Westgor cook for them.
While Westgor eventually hopes to hire more chefs, now she’s focusing on getting people into the business and tweaking the seasonally changing menus she teaches from. She’s adopting some of the recipes Dourlain used, but creating some new ones too, especially to include more pastry options — like holiday pies and cookie decorating.
“Sometimes I’ve never made them either and I’m just here on the journey with you, which I also think is fun. I know how to cook. I’ll figure it out with you,” Westgor said. “Tasting and figuring it out is a huge part of it, so I like to get people off the recipe.”
Westgor said she’s also open to hosting classes that people recommend she host.
“I have a lot of people interested in kitchen basics classes, knife skills and things like that,” she said. She aims for more exposure of Table and Lain to garner more interest in new offerings like this. “Unfortunately, sometimes those things fall through the cracks if we don’t have enough people signing up.”
Grand reopening
At the March 28 re-opening ceremony of Table and Lain, several local small business owners showcased their offerings, including Naté Allen, owner of Earthly Essence; Latice Shantelle of Teecey’s Treats; and music by Juliette Gardiner and guitarist Kenny Thompson.
Chef Julianna Westgor helps prepare hors d’oeuvres at Table and Lain’s grand reopening March 28, 2026 | Todd Bannor 
Table and Lain interior during on March 28, 2026 | Todd Bannor 
Chefs prepare hors d’oeuvres at Table and Lain | Todd Bannor 
Table and Lain kitchen area prior to grand reopening | Todd Bannor 
Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins and Table and Chef Julianna Westgor on March 28, 2026 | Todd Bannor
“I’m really just trying to highlight people in the area,” Westgor said. “As a small business, how do you grow without the help of other small businesses around you?”
For the grand reopening, Westgor made mushroom arancini, rueben empanadas, and smoked salmon cheese puffs.
Westgor plans for Table and Lain to be a stop on the upcoming wine walk and maker’s market on Madison Street.
“So if anyone didn’t come in on Saturday,” she said, “they can see us there.”