Chicago attorney Jim Nagle is a visionary for preserving history.
Originally from Elmhurst, Illinois, Nagle is also a real estate developer who has been watching the latest transformation of downtown Hammond.
It was 15 years ago when Nagle realized the investment potential for revitalizing the region’s stretch of historic buildings in downtown Hammond.
In 2007, Nagle gathered the financial backing to buy and restore the former NIPSCO building at 5265 Hohman Ave., the 1920s structure that once was home to the power company’s corporate headquarters.
In recent years, Nagle has been wrapped up in the rehab and reopening of the landmark Drake Oak Brook Hotel at the Oak Brook Polo Club in Oak Brook, Illinois, a project that began eight years ago.
I’ve previously written about the ages-old sweet agricultural resource of Spanish origin called agave.
Nagle shares my fascination with agave and opened a new restaurant showcasing it as part of the Spanish menu fare, which launched in March 2024.
The name of the restaurant is called COA, serving Spanish tapas as well as full-feature entrees.
The restaurant name “COA” comes from the Spanish work tool “coa,” which is a type of hoe for harvesting agaves. A jimador (the term for an agave farmer) uses the coa, which is a long, machete-like round-ended knife on a long wooden handle, to cut the leaves off an agave when being harvested and to cut the agave from its roots.
During an August tour of the restaurant, I noticed a huge mural in the main dining and bar room of the restaurant, and it features Jim and his wife with a coa tool standing in an agave field.
The agave plant, which in recent years has become a popular traditional sugarcane substitute, is also key for the production of tequila and mezcal.
The agave plant ranks as one of the most sacred plants in Mexico and even holds a place in traditional religious rituals, mythology, and Mexico’s agricultural economy. I’m told the origin of this drink, which is sometimes called “blazing water,” is attributed to when a lightning bolt struck an agave plant, “cooking and opening it to release its juice.” Today, the sweet liquid from the agave is called the “elixir of the gods.”
As for how Nagle acquired the Drake Oak Brook Hotel, the property opened in 1961 as an extension of the Drake Hotel along Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago. Offering the same first-class hospitality and timeless European style, some notable guests who have treated it as a second home (prized because of proximity to the Oak Brook Polo Club and Oak Brook Golf Course and Country Club) include England’s Prince Charles, Frank Sinatra, Bobby Kennedy, Rock Hudson and golf legends Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.
Millionaire playboy Michael Butler, who died at age 95 in November 2022 and was a member of the family credited as the founders of Oak Brook, is still credited for bolstering the hotel’s elite reputation.
Throughout the years, Butler, who as a Broadway producer backed the first theatrical run of “Hair,” entertained his famous friends at the Drake Oak Brook. It was hotelier Gino DiRenzo who ran the property from 1962 until 2009 when, according to Nagle, the management fell prey to a Ponzi scheme and the hotel closed for several years.
Nagle has fond memories of his family dining for holidays and special occasions at the Drake Oak Brook, so when he learned the property was for sale, he told his wife, Tely, about his plan to return the hotel to its former glory. The couple bought it in December 2013 for $6.5 million, and the 160-guestroom hotel reopened for business in March 2015.
The hotel features distinct ornate carved wood furniture and other adornments in the entrance lobby, which are nods to Jim’s wife’s home country of Mexico. The same artist who has crafted many pieces for Pope John Paul II created a large, decorative table that welcomes guests under a sparkling chandelier, in addition to an elaborate vanity dresser in the women’s powder room and intricate crown molding that frames the vaulted ceiling of the entryway.
The words “Ubi Tempus Quietus,” Latin for “where time rests,” are featured on the hotel’s crest and all branding, which Nagle said represents a way of life and dedication to traditions.
In 2017, Nagle said the Drake Oak Brook Hotel was accepted for branding affiliation with the exclusive Marriott Autograph Collection of designated hotels from around the world.
As for the fusion tapas menu of COA, my longtime cookbook editor Crista Zivanovic hosted me for my birthday dinner at the restaurant last month. The scallops, chicken croquettes and thick-cut pork chops all ranked as favorites, washed down by the unmatched sangria served, with both white and red variations available.
Columnist Philip Potempa has published four cookbooks and is the director of marketing at Theatre at the Center. He can be reached at pmpotempa@comhs.org or mail your questions: From the Farm, PO Box 68, San Pierre, Ind. 46374.
Red and Inviting Sangria
Makes 6 servings
1 cup red house wine of choice
1 cup of merlot
1 cup sauvignon wine
Splash of triple sec
Splash of rum
Splash of orange juice
1 lemon, sliced
1 orange, sliced
1 apple, sliced
Agave syrup added per taste
Directions:
Place generous ice in a large pitcher.
Add all ingredients to pitcher and stir with a wooden spoon.
Serve sangria over ice in large bowl wine glasses.
