People tell me that I have a reputation for hating
everything. Though the pages of this
blog already show that such criticism is unfounded, I’m devoting this whole
post to a bunch of stuff I’ve had and liked recently. It’s the first beautiful Spring Friday of
2013. Here’s a little extra sunshine:
Jerk wings and
festival from Jerk – Modern Jamaican
Grill Food Truck. This truck is
one of the first in Chicago to cook onboard, and they’re doing a fantastic job
with a simple menu that uses just a grill and a deep fryer. Wings are juicy and fresh, and have hot, no-holds-barred
jerk seasoning with an especially potent
garlic component. Hand-cut fries are
well-seasoned but a little limp and greasy.
Skip those and opt instead for a side of festival - crisp, slightly sweet corn fritters that do
a great job cooling down all that spice.
Smoked whitefish Caesar
salad from Bavettes. Most of the time when people mess
around with toppings on a Caesar salad, they ruin a good thing. The salty, slightly-smoky fish here was an
exception. It tasted great and had a
firm enough texture to hand up to the crisp greens. This was a well-executed salad with a little
something to take it up several notches. This dish stood out even at a meal where I
liked just about everything that was served (except the” creamed spinach”,
which had cream and spinach, but was not
creamed spinach).
Lentil soup at Salam. The food at Salam is generally much better than
at any other local place serving similar food, and this soup is a real
highlight. It has a refined, creamy, extra-strained
texture you’d expect at a French restaurant, with lightness and balance
unmatched by other lentil soups. I love
it, and it’s my 3 year old’s favorite delivery food (mango lassi is a beverage,
not a food).
Smoked salmon at Jam.
I will never understand why Jam serves a piece of frosted chocolate cake
as an amuse bouche for dishes like this, but recently I’ve been able to put
that incongruity aside and simply enjoy the good things about the place. The smoked salmon dish is a real
standout. House-smoked fish with great
flavor and texture, a brilliant béarnaise sauce, crisp potato pancakes, gorgeous,
gooey poached eggs, and some nice crunch from salsify slaw. A dish of beautifully contrasting colors and
complementary flavors.
Granduca cheese from JP Graziano. This Sardinian pecorino is incredible. It’s hard and I suspect intended mainly for
grating, but I’ve just been eating it straight with young, cheap Southern
Italian wines. It’s very nutty and only
mildly salty as compared with other pecorino cheeses, but what makes it so
special is the underlying flavor of high-quality goat milk with complex, but
not overpowering funk.
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