You’ll trade your at-home desk views for city landscapes this morning, starting your day with a Croatian-inspired breakfast at Doma, a haven of a cafe and breakfast spot at the corner of Orleans and Oak streets on the Near North Side.
An Eastern European aesthetic, a bit of ’90s flair and some modern vibes round out Doma’s aesthetic, one that greets you before you even step foot into the neighborhood gem. Depending on the day, a bench is placed outside big windows that show off the shop’s white pendant lights, colorful tables and calming presence.
During the week, Doma leans toward being a quiet, easy-to-work-from coffee shop. You’ll spot people sitting alone, working on their laptops, some taking Zoom meetings, and just as many others meeting friends to gab about their lives. (On weekends, though, that’s a different story. The dining room is almost always packed, with the line to order backed up to the door, but you’re in luck because you’re here on a work day).
You’ll place your order at the counter at the far end of the cafe, the majority of it filled with tables and bench seating. Bring your number to a table, where staff will bring you your breakfast and first beverage to fuel your workday outing.
Doma is lauded for having one of the best breakfast sandwiches in the city — fluffy scrambled eggs, secret sauce and your choice of sausage, bacon or avocado on an English muffin. You can’t go wrong with this dish (it’s filling). The cevapi sandwich, classic breakfast and poached egg with yogurt dishes are also solid options (but to be honest, so is everything else on the menu). Don’t forget to add a pastry to your tab too. Some are made in-house, and others are sourced from the nearby French bakery La Fournette.
The food might be the star of the show at this first stop, but you are here to work. You can either sit in the dining room or head to the partially outdoor patio just past the neon-orange curtains by the kitchen. The patio, nearly doubling the amount of seating in the front, is exposed to the elements, but it’s covered, keeping the bugs (and cold in the winter) at bay.
When you’ve reached a good stopping point in your workday, head out the hallway opposite where you entered the patio to reach Oak Street to head to the next destination for a change of scenery and another coffee.
For a change of scenery, you’re going to take a five-minute walk down Orleans Street to arrive at a trendy coffee shop, hangout space and home goods store all rolled into one. Nomad Chicago occupies a corner of a red brick building at the intersection of Franklin Street and Insitute Place, a quiet part of the Near North Side about a block north of the Brown Line stop.
A woman immortalized in a pink-and-orange mural by Laura Berger will be the first to greet you.
Inside, Nomad’s retail space is at the front of the store, where you’ll find a curated mix of small-batch home goods, beauty products and art. It’s like an Etsy store come to life, and it’ll come in handy when you need to stretch your legs and give your eyes a rest from the computer screen.
Intended to serve as a haven for people to escape the everyday, Nomad was brought to life by Lara Moynihan and Erika Nolan, who pulled from their own favorite experiences to create the experimental spot. The business partners combined the retail space with a cafe, theorizing the former wouldn’t draw customers without the latter.
That means that mixed into the retail area are couches and tables that serve as hangout spots or places to get some work done. But before you set up shop, make your way toward the back, where you’ll find a coffee bar accentuated by rattan pendant lights and baby-pink-painted walls. Nomad also serves pastries and baguette sandwiches.
After you place your order for another round of caffeine, head to the left to find a separate seating where you can spread out and continue your work for the day.
You’ll finish your workday at Marshall’s Landing, a chic lounge, coffee shop and bar in Merchandise Mart, the massive Art Deco structure that spans two city blocks in River North (the structure’s 4.2 million square feet made it the biggest building in the world when it opened in May 1930). It’s just under a mile away from Nomad via North Orleans Street.
The “center of gravity for gathering, socializing, eating, drinking, noshing, caffeinating and working,” Marshall’s Landing is just that: a landing on the building’s mezzanine level. To get there, enter through the Mart’s main entrance (off the aptly named West Merchandise Mart Plaza) and steer left toward the bleacher-style stairs that also serve as seating to watch whatever movie or sports match is being projected on the opposite wall.
At the top, couches, tables and bar stools span the spacious area. A bar spans one wall, and a grab-and-go coffee counter lives toward the right of the landing. To the left, you’ll find comfy booths overlooking the Chicago River, the ideal spot to post up for your last hour of work.
By the time you log off from your final meeting, it’ll be happy hour. You’re in the right place. Shut your laptop, grab a cocktail and kick back, watching as architecture tours traverse the Chicago River and pedestrians speed across Wacker Drive.
