Gabriel Freeman, left, and Jeff Creswell prepared dishes featuring American products, ranging from Wisconsin trout to Chicago-made chorizo. Jamie Kelter Davis/Bloomberg

On a recent weekday morning in downtown Chicago, chefs inside a test kitchen prepared a five-course meal featuring tostada verde with jalapeño Gouda and trout on focaccia.

The chefs usually cook these spreads to help customers of Sysco Corp., the largest U.S. restaurant supplier, create or tweak menu items. These days, they’re also coaching eateries on substitutes for imported ingredients hit by President Donald Trump’s tariffs. That’s why the Gouda cheese came from Wisconsin instead of Europe. So, too, did the fish, which might otherwise have been imported from Asia.

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