tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41329274879286142212024-03-21T10:57:31.459-07:00Fuckerberg on FoodKenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.comBlogger67125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-35990794652017614072017-01-01T20:08:00.001-08:002017-01-01T20:39:21.901-08:00The 12 Most Memorable Things I Ate In 2016<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;">(12) Buckwheat scone from
Crumb at the Green City Market - real, full-on buckwheat flavor
without sacrificing texture. Impressive.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;">(11) Eggplant parm
sandwich at Lucia - bright flavored sauce, breading stayed crisp for a long time
and didn't overwhelm flavor of the eggplant.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;">(10) Smoked paprika and
cheddar croissant from Crumble & Flake in Seattle - I'm not usually a fan
of attempts to mess with a croissant, but this was remarkable. </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1483324748517_4212" style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1483324748517_4213" style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;">(9) Corn sundae at Spoon and Stable in Mpls - Hard to believe
that dessert at this place could top what was already a tremendous meal, but it
did.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>(8) Creamed hard boiled eggs with truffled
mornay and toasted brioche at Taus Authentic - decadence at its very best.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>(7) Gnocchi short rib ragu trattoria Ultimo</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> - pillowy texture, light as a
cloud with an intensely meaty sauce. A real surprise from such a humble
byob storefront.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;">(6) Blood orange flan
at Salero - soft and luscious with intense acidity and sweet bitterness from a
saba caramel</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1483324748517_4161" style="margin: 0px;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1483324748517_4166" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">(5) Isaan
sausage at Mott Street. Juicy, funky, spicy - hard to believe that a hip
place like this is making better Isaan sausage than the great, authentic Thai
restaurants in Chicago. But it's true.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1483324748517_4198" style="margin: 0px;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1483324748517_4197" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">(4) Clams
with Chinese sausage in some kind of amazing broth at Bad Saint in Washington
DC. All around, perhaps my favorite meal of the year. The hype is
completely justified.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;">(3) Chermoula marinated
sturgeon at Honey's - served with a charred tomato vinaigrette - a dish that
had both intensity and finesse. The most memorable thing at what was my
favorite new Chicago restaurant of the year. The chestnut pasta with
truffles was almost as good.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;">(2) Tomato salad at The Loyalist
- height of season tomatoes with surprising bits of pear that worked
wonderfully. An amazing salad, though they kept it on the menu a week too
long. Not as good second time, early fall when local tomatoes were just
OK.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;">(1) Fries at Roister -
yes, fries are at the very top of my list. These were fried so perfectly
and had such great potato flavor that that might have made the list even
without the visually mesmerizing and utterly delicious bonito flakes that took
them over the top.</span></div>
Kenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-90775316851723792852015-03-10T18:17:00.003-07:002015-03-10T18:23:52.458-07:00Hong Kong
<br /><br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In Hong Kong, you’ve got to live
in the moment - one second to stop at a corner to contemplate which way to turn
will get you trampled by a crowd or flattened by a bus. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even my NYC roots could not prepare me for how
fast everything moves in Hong Kong, and I find myself on edge almost
constantly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve adapted by becoming
very reactive, which includes the way I’ve described the food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In one moment I’m in awe of how vibrant and
fresh things are, and in the next I’m shocked by how tired, processed and bland
much of it seems.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The street-style markets here are
amazing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Food that is literally alive is
everywhere, frequently killed on the spot and cooked before your eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I expect and have experienced that kind of
freshness on the shores of Mexican beaches, but I was not prepared for it in
such an intensely urban setting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
really something to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>watch skilled fishmongers
pull twitching creatures from a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>seawater
tank, clean them precisely in seconds, then hand them to a partner who puts
them on a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>stick and fries or boils them
before handing it over to you, all in a matter of about 4 minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This setting produces one of the
best bites of food I’ve ever had.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was
a 4-inch piece of octopus that had been skewered and par-cooked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I ordered, it was dunked for about a
minute into intensely spiced boiling liquid, redolent with Szechuan pepper and
star anise which adhered to the sea creature the way the spices do to crawfish
at the best Louisiana boils.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was
tender and tasted so fresh, with the sweet flavor of the octopus somehow able
to stand up to all of that spice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>$1.50
bought me a food memory I’ll never forget.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ve appreciated the food
recommendations I’ve gotten from friends who have been to Hong Kong, and have followed
some of them with good success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when
I travel, I also like to follow my nose and the locals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I look for crowds, see what they’re eating,
and join them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a dangerous
method in Hong Kong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are a lot of
people here who like terrible food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some
of the most crowded spots are serving mushy spaghetti with ketchup sauce (that’s
literally what it is) or limp elbow macaroni with cheap hot dogs in bland broth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These people are not tourists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the above is served in places that
have no English menu, and you won’t find a Caucasian face in sight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s authentic Hong Kong cuisine, perhaps
even the archetype.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried one of these
places after waiting 20 minutes for a seat, and while I’m glad to have
experienced this part of HK culture, suffice to say that the food tastes
precisely as it sounds.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can’t go to Hong Kong without
having dim sum, and I did so at a super-crowded spot called The Dim Sum Corner,
which I stumbled upon while walking around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Despite the unusually English name, the place didn’t seem touristy at
all – it was teeming with local businessperson-types who were waiting in line
for a seat at prime lunch hour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had standards
that I get regularly at dim sum places back home: egg custard buns, shumai, steamed
rice rolls, and turnip cake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wanted to
see if these standards were better at a mid-tier HK place than they are back
home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Better doesn’t begin to describe
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was whole different
league.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The turnip cake was especially
delicious, with a more varied, interesting texture on account of unprocessed
turnip pieces, and more robust seafood flavor than I’m used to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The egg custard bun was oozing in a way that
I haven’t seen before, and the liquefied yolk was contained by dough that’s
much thinner than what I’ve seen before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A greater level of skill went into all the food here, and it showed.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I had a few higher end meals too,
which ran the gamut from disappointing to revelatory, with one sort of in
between. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A ha-ha-named place called Ho
Lee Fook has been touted quite a bit by local bloggers, but its version of
Modern Chinese food tasted just like regular Chinese food to me, at quintuple
the price in a dungeon-like setting with horrible Springsteen music playing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ronin, a supposedly-izakaya style seafood
place from a much celebrated chef who used to work at Masa had some really
delicious bites (oysters with cucumber-pear juice and yuzu kosho), but also a
few elements that seemed more style-over-substance (“mandarin salt” served on
the side of some fish tempura).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ronin
staff were also annoying about upselling luxe ingredients and drinks (yes, I
like uni, but I’m not ordering your tiny $30 uni supplement and stop asking
already).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The revelatory meal was at a
place called Serge et le Phoque, run by a 2-Michelen-starred French chef and
his Parisian business partner who came to Hong Kong a couple of years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The restaurant has an all-French wine list
and French-accented staff, but the food transcends borders, with a focus on
Japanese ingredients and styles perhaps more than anything else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every morsel of food I tasted at this place
was spectacular, highlighted by things like dried fugu skin with teriyaki
glaze, sea bass with a “risotto” made from land-based seaweed (samphire) cut
into rice-sized bits, and an amazing lemon custard served with capsicum jelly
and tarragon.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ve eaten more noteworthy things
that I’ll lump together here for the sake of expedience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pineapple buns (which don’t have any
pineapple) are really wonderful, and are described well here: http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1587246/secrets-behind-serving-hong-kongs-hot-cross-buns
.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Portland Street in Kowloon is a mecca
of diverse cheap eateries, and the one I settled into was a Yunannese places
serving “mountain goat noodle soup,” a giant, $4 bowl of very gamey
deliciousness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Egg custard tarts are
everywhere, and the ones I’ve tried at random bakeries have been OK, but surprisingly
not as good as the ones at Cai back in Chicago.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hong Kong is massive and dense,
and it’s impossible to make much of a dent in the city’s food with just a few
days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m glad to have heeded bits of
advice from people, but nothing beats the enjoyment of just wandering around
and trying what looks good or interesting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I even loved the experience of sharing a table (this is how it’s done in
HK –people just sit wherever there’s a chair) with a cigarette-smoking cab driver
while eating terrible macaroni soup.</span></div>
<br />Kenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-90065770899757201492015-02-09T12:44:00.000-08:002015-02-09T13:01:19.845-08:00Formento's<div class="WordSection1" style="page: WordSection1;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Our remarkably ill-conceived first dish at Formento’s was an unfortunately good predictor of what was to come. Italian-American pizzerias and restaurants have been serving pretty much the same garlic bread for decades. Slice open some bread, spread garlic butter on an exposed side, and toast it. Simple enough, and undeniably tasty. For $5, I knew Formento’s would do something to try to improve on this standard. Use especially good, fresh, house-baked bread perhaps. Maybe some kind of special organic garlic. What I didn’t think is that they would utterly reinvent the dish in a way that made it impossible to eat. Instead of cutting the loaf open and toasting it, they served a whole loaf, untoasted and scored so that the “slices” came just halfway down the loaf. Then, inexplicably, a server lifted a carafe with some kind of thick, emulsified garlic sauce and started pouring it over the top and between the crevices. I wanted to scream at him to stop, or grab the carafe from his hands. But it was too late. He had created a gooey, Cinnabon-style mess. When a manager came by to ask about our meal, I asked her how we were supposed to have eaten the garlic bread. Some people try a knife and fork, she said. Others try with their hands but fail. She didn’t really know either.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Formento’s tried to improve on eggplant parm too. The downfall of many versions of this dish is that the fried eggplant quickly becomes soggy under layers of sauce and cheese. Formento’s came up with a way to prevent that from happening: burn the hell out of the breading in the deep fryer. It stayed crispy. I’ll give them that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Speaking of soggy, that’s the way to describe the Caesar salad at Formento’s A Caesar salad is crisp. It’s the defining principle. Formento’s used too much of the leafy green part of romaine lettuce, and way overdressed it . With plenty of whole anchovies on top, this dish was a fishy swamp. Most bizarrely, instead of serving croutons on the salad, they served a block of some kind of gooey, bread-pudding-like thing which had been pan fried or something to give it a dark color on the outside. Croutons rock on a Caesar salad, Formento’s. If you want to upgrade a Caesar salad, just make the best damned croutons in the universe. Not pudding.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The breading on the fried calamari was like beach sand. So dry and chalky. The good thing about that is that the texture made the breading easy enough to wipe away, revealing calamari that was tender and delicious. They plated it with a sauce that tasted like ketchup. Scrape off the breading, avoid the sauce, and squeeze some lemon over the top, and this was the one dish of the evening which could be rendered palatable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The same cannot be said of the orecchiette with broccoli rabe and sausage, which I could not stomach after 2 bites. The homemade pasta was very poorly executed. It was gummy. It was swimming in some kind of thickened, overly acidic wine sauce. What surprised me most about it though was that the presentation revealed that the kitchen does not understand what this pasta shape is about. The point of orecchiette is that the little cups are great at catching bits of stuff that form the dressing. That’s why sausage works so well, as long as it’s crumbled. Crumbled bits of sausage inside little orecchiette cups are one of life’s great joys. Formento’s decided to “update” this dish by using 2-inch-long pieces of sausage instead of the crumbled kind. With some of the other failures of the evening, I could perhaps chalk them up to growing pains of a new restaurant. This one was more disturbing though, as it showed an utter lack of understanding of the fundamentals of Italian cooking. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A day after dinner, I read <a href="http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2014/10/06/previewing-the-normal-italian-american-at-formentos">this recap</a> of a Formento’s preview dinner that my friend Mike Gebert attended. Two of the dished I had are pictured there. At the preview dinner, the garlic bread looked like normal garlic bread, and the Caesar Salad had actual croutons. Why they changed these things, I have no idea. But maybe there is some hope that they’ll go back to the old ways and get this place figured out. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Formento’s<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="x-apple-data-detectors://1/0" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1/0" x-apple-data-detectors-type="address" x-apple-data-detectors="true">925 W. Randolph St, Chicago, IL</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="tel:312-690-7295" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1/1" x-apple-data-detectors-type="telephone" x-apple-data-detectors="true">312-690-7295</a></span></span></div>
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Kenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-36927540527340676552014-12-29T12:45:00.001-08:002014-12-29T12:53:14.950-08:00BerristaI was confused by conflicting media and patron reports about berrista, so I decided to try it for myself to set the record straight. I suspect that many professional writers who have written about the place so far have not actually been there. That's probably fine if you're just reporting objectively about a new opening, but I have a problem with it when you report subjective descriptions about a donut being "delicious" and another item being a "must-try dish". Anyway, that's a subject for a later post.<br />
<br />
Much of the berrista hoopla has been about its use of the miracle berry. Some reports claim that the berry powder is cooked into the food. Others say that you take the berry first, then eat the food. The latter is correct. According to the guy at the counter and a cook in the back, the berry is not cooked into anything on the menu. <br />
<br />
There are media reports that say the whole menu is designed to go with the berry. According to the same 2 guys above, that's not really true. For most of the stuff, they say the berry wouldn't have any effect. The place also has a menu board with icons next to the items that are supposed to be good with the berry. According to the description, these items are good with or without the berry, but the berry works with them. Most of the menu items don't have an icon. That said, I ate part of a "monte cristo panini," and while it didn't have an icon, I can't imagine that the lifeless, watery strawberry jam served wasn't made with the berry in mind. So who knows? <br />
<br />
All of the pastries have the miracle berry icon next to them. I tried what was described as an orange-cream donut with chocolate frosting, and also a piece of raspberry coffee cake. I ate part of each before the berry, then part of each after the berry, which is available for purchase for 50 cents. Before the berry, the donut had absolutely no orange flavor, and left an intensely bitter, unsweetened-chocolate aftertaste. It was weirdly spongy. The coffee cake had the texture of playdough, and I wasn't sure I'd be able to swallow it. There was also a heavily spiced cream cheese frosting that tasted like the Grinch got to the Christmas dessert. Before the berry, these were probably the worst pastries I've ever tasted.<br />
<br />
After the berry, the transformation was minimal. The bitter donut aftertaste was lessened somewhat, but there was still no orange flavor. The coffee cake was still highly unpleasant. Concerned that I had eaten the berry the wrong way or had gotten a dud, I cut open a lemon and ate a slice. Nope. Sure enough, the lemon tasted like sweet lemonade. Delicious. In fact, I ate the whole darn thing by itself in an effort to get the taste of those pastries out of my mouth.<br />
<br />
Berrista<br />
<span itemprop="streetAddress">4219 W Irving Park Rd</span><br />
<span itemprop="addressLocality">Chicago</span>, <span itemprop="addressRegion">IL</span> <span itemprop="postalCode">60641</span>Kenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-38841037327761460112014-08-11T10:08:00.001-07:002014-08-11T10:14:59.235-07:00Knife & Tine<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When you hear that the chef is a Moto alumnus, you may think
of food in test tubes or chemistry tricks that make sour things taste sweet. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s what I thought before <a href="http://fuckerbergonfood.blogspot.com/2013/06/doubt-conquered-hope-shattered-baume.html">I ate at Baume and Brix last year</a>, but here’s what I know now: this particular Moto alumnus uses
straightforward, varied cooking techniques to get the absolute best out of
seasonal vegetables.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, there are
some creative liberties taken too, but at its core, Nate Parks’ food simply
brings out the best in well-chosen ingredients.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Charred sweet pepper bisque” tasted like just that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wonderfully sweet peppers with subtle smokiness,
enlivened by some herb oil and thinly sliced leeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A somewhat thick, mouth-coating texture
without tasting heavy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe there was some
fancy Moto-esque thermomolecular reverse lipidation or something going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What I do know is that this was a delicious, warming bowl of soup.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cauliflower risotto showed further evidence that if there’s
one “trick” Park has mastered, it is charring vegetables.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The charred purple florets that garnished
this dish were sensational.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even more
impressive was the variety of ways in which cauliflower had been prepared,
each bringing its own element to balance out the others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were tiny pickled white florets to
provide tartness, dried cauliflower chips that tasted quite sweet, and the
charred purple florets bringing more sweetness and a touch of bitter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plumped golden raisins and a scant scattering
of walnut pieces complemented it all fantastically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As good as this dish tasted, it was even more
of a marvel to look at, with a color palate reminiscent of those remarkable
photos floating around of Alain Passard’s food.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On the more “out there” side of the menu, Parks is serving
something called “Pimento Burrata”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Burrata is one of those fantastic, just-leave-it-alone products, such
that this was a dish about which I had plenty of skepticism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It appeared that the inside, creamy part of
the burrata had been removed, blended with elements of pimento cheese, and then
stuffed back into the burrata skin, along with a crispy, thin piece of dark rye
inserted at the equator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mixed greens
with pimento vinaigrette surrounded the alien-ish cheese ball.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was it good?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yeah, it was quite compelling, actually.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Better than a plain ball of burrata with, say, a tomato?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Probably not, but you can only that so many
times in a summer.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The only dish that I wouldn’t order again unless it changes
was the Sweet Corn Humitas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The flavors
here were wonderful, but texturally, it just didn’t work for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The humitas were formed into U10 scallop
sized discs, then seared in a pan before serving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were dry and dense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, excellent flavor, but I think this one
could use some tinkering.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Save room for dessert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s a limited menu of just a few pies, but if the dutch apple pie I
tried is representative, you don’t want to miss it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As good as any apple pie in town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s big enough for 4 people to share, or for
two to order and take home a piece for breakfast.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As with Baume and Brix, Knife & Tine has an interesting
wine list with a focus on less common domestic places such as Michigan and New
York State.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had a remarkable $38
bottle of Finger Lakes chardonnay that paired very with the food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s nice to see a place like this doing something
a little different than the norm with the wine list.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The high ceilings and comfortable table spacing make this a
very nice place to linger over a meal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Service was attentive without being overbearing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A couple of people who looked like owners or
managers came by to check on us, and they seemed genuine about the desire for
feedback, and their hope to become a neighborhood fixture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I enjoyed Knife & Tine a lot, and will do
my part to help them make sure that happens.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Knife & Tine<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">1417 W Fullerton Ave, Chicago, IL 60614<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">773) 697-8311<o:p></o:p></span>Kenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-88841951710352321152014-05-19T08:43:00.001-07:002014-05-19T08:51:11.516-07:00Ceres Table - Lakeview<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We sent about half the dishes back, uneaten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grilled octopus had good flavors on the plate,
but I chewed for a good 30 seconds before spitting it into my napkin and
deciding that the flavors were not worth the choking hazard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two pasta dishes were the worst I can ever
recalling receiving at a restaurant of this supposed caliber.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Spaghetti nero was overcooked to complete
mush, and was swimming in a lagoon of mucilaginous mud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The dish had the precise texture of something
you’d pour from a can of Chef Boy R Dee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Linguine alla chitarra had so many problems that I’m not sure where to
begin. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First of all, it was not
linguine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was angel hair pasta.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It too was woefully overcooked and served in
a congealed state such that when I put my fork in to twirl out a few strands,
the entire thing lifted off the bowl in one solid chunk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not exaggerating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was truly horrible.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Our server at Ceres Table was a polished professional, with
good knowledge about the menu and a clear passion for food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was embarrassed for her every time we
brought an issue to her attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’d
clearly worked in successful restaurants and took pride in her job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wonder if she is trying to figure out how
the heck to get out of this horror show before it puts a black mark on her
career.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The manager she kept bringing over to our table seemed to be
trying his best too, but he didn’t execute quite as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a gap between our first course and
second, he came over to explain that the crudo we ordered had been 86’d.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With his apologies, he said he was going to
bring something over to us “on the house” to make up for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That never happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Between that incident and the multiple times
he’d come to our table in response to us sending dishes back uneaten, we’d seen
each other enough that by the end of the night, we all knew it was over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He apologized again for all of the mishaps,
and said he really wanted to bring us something – anything we wanted – to make
up for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He practically pleaded with me
to ask for something, but I think we both knew that it just needed to end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The last thing I wanted at that point was to
get another dish that I’d have to send back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We didn’t starve at Ceres Table, as our meal started with a
hefty portion of burrata, wax beans and bread, all of which was delicious and
filling. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that bright initial note,
it was hard to believe the steep downturn the rest of the meal took.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m trying to think of a way to wrap this
post up with something hopeful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But no,
the level of ineptitude I experienced last night offers not even a glimpse of
hope about this place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ceres Table<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">3124 N. Broadway,
Chicago, IL 60657<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">773-922-4020<o:p></o:p></span>Kenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-59204571212752959132014-04-28T12:50:00.003-07:002014-04-28T12:56:06.030-07:00Yum Cha<span style="font-family: Calibri;">From a quick scan of media reports, I gather that Yum Cha is
a collaboration between a celebrity chef called The Food Buddha, a couple of
suburban restaurateurs, and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Phoenix
Restaurant, the much-loved traditional dimsum restaurant in Chinatown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Certainly there were hallmarks of all three
when I ate there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Buddha, I presume,
is responsible for lily-gilding stunts such as topping classic Chinese egg tarts
with foie gras.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The suburban
restaurateurs are probably the ones that pushed for the shredded lettuce salad
with every lunch entrée.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Phoenix
Restaurant, I guess, is the partner that teaches Yum Cha how to serve a fairly
broad selection of traditional dimsum offerings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If this type of please-everyone approach
scares you, as it probably should, let me assure you that as long as you stay
focused on what that third partner is bringing to Yum Cha’s table, you’ll be
OK.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The traditional dimsum here is quite
good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I tried a few different varieties of steamed dumplings, and
all were excellent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Har gow (shrimp
dumplings) were perhaps not as translucent as the best versions, but the
wrappers were still light, while managing to hold together without sticking to
the paper in the steamer basket.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As with
all of the steamed dumplings at Yum Cha, the filling was well-seasoned and not
overcooked, as lesser versions can be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chive,
scallop and leek dumplings were more translucent and delicate, and even more
flavorful than the har gow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Best of all
was what the menu called “Giant seafood and pork dumpling in broth,” which had
an extremely delicate wrapper enclosing firm, delicious filling, served in a
piping hot little pot of excellent chicken stock with a film of chicken fat
glistening at the top.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fried items were more of a mixed bag.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fried sesame balls were outstanding, with a
crisp, toasty exterior giving way to a glutinous layer and then some
not-too-sweet, tasty bean paste.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pan fried
vegetable rolls, on the other hand, were greasy and bland. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are two kinds of fried vegetable rolls
at Yum Cha – the greasy, bland pan fried ones, and others that were called “crispy
soy curd vegetable rolls,” which were texturally more pleasing, and had some
good, earthy mushroom flavor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go for
those.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ve seen pictures of the Food Buddha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has an infectious smile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve seen video interviews.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s engaging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You want to like him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You want to eat his food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, you might think, if he puts foie gras on
a traditional egg custard tart and triples the price, it must be worth it,
right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The foie gras slivers were so tiny that I couldn’t
even taste them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The $11.95 foie gras
egg tarts at Yum Cha taste exactly like the $3.95 egg tarts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t be convinced by the Buddah’s oxtail
potstickers either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The filling has the
mushy texture of canned pet food, and the $11.95 price is nearly triple the
price of the vastly superior traditional steamed dumplings, for the same serving
size.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I joked on Twitter that heading east, you’d have to travel
at least 150 miles to find a Chinese restaurant on par with Yum Cha (the
restaurant overlooks lake Michigan).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
reality is that this is the best Chinese restaurant within a pretty big
range north, south and west too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
blows away Tony Hu’s first attempt to bring a bit of Chinatown to downtown
Chicago, and it should be a most-welcomed restaurant for anyone who lives or
works in the area.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yum Cha<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">333 E Randolph St</span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Chicago, IL 60601<br />
<nobr>(312) 946-8885</nobr><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
</div>
</div>
Kenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-24167721882777392752014-03-24T10:02:00.000-07:002014-03-24T10:07:48.411-07:00Nico Osteria<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dinner at Nico probably costs about the same as dinner
across the street at Gibson’s, which ought to make one feel quite foolish for eating
at the latter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were some exquisite
bites at dinner last night, but I still left feeling the way I always feel when
I eat near Rush & Division.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nico
fits right into a neighborhood where the people and the restaurants are just
not my speed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We started with a striped jack crudo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Four paper-thin, miniature slices of fish totaling
maybe an ounce in weight were topped with radishes, chiles and lemon oil, all
of which complemented the fatty, mackerel-like flesh quite well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was fantastic, but $20 for what amounted
to an amuse-bouche-sized serving of raw fish was tough to swallow. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I had the same problem with the lobster spaghetti, though
this time I started to feel as if I was being genuinely conned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were told about the $45 price in advance
(it’s listed as MP on the menu), but the server described it as a 1-1.5 pound
lobster cooked with classic stuff and removed from the shell before stuffed
back in, its roe then tossed with the pasta along with other stuff from the
cooking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was no 1-1.5 pound
lobster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It looked like one of those
langoustines you get at Mexican restaurants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Half a pound, three-quarters at most.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Maybe 4 or 5 forkfuls of meat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll
take part of the blame for being enough of a rube to order something like this,
but they didn’t have to take advantage so blatantly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If dishonesty was the problem with the lobster, it was the
opposite that really baffled me with the fritto misto, which last night
included razor clams, oysters, and some kind of white fish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the dish arrived I popped a fried oyster
in my mouth, and the server came over at that moment to ask how everything
was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I nodded with approval, he gave
what would turn out to be the first of two very strange explanations of this
dish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Yeah,” he said, “We got some
pre-shucked oysters in by mistake, and thought, what the heck are we going to
do with these?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He explained that they
contemplated sending them back to the purveyor, but then the chef said “What
the heck, let’s just throw them into the fritto misto.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s the $25 fritto misto, in case you’re
wondering.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It got worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We kept
eating the fritto misto, which was all pretty good if a bit too greasy, and he
came by again to inquire about how we liked it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I think I said something like “It’s quite good,” to which he replied, “Yeah,
we use the same fantastic fish we use for the crudos in the fritto misto.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When they’re not fresh enough to serve as
crudos anymore, they become fritto misto.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Did he really say that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I’m
typing it now, I have the same incredulous look on my face as I had in the
restaurant, with what now tasted like a perhaps-just-a-little-rancid piece of
fish in my mouth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But yes, I’m sure
about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s what he said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For better or worse, we’d lost our appetite
for fried fish at that point, and the rest was taken away by the runner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Too full for pastry (or perhaps too queasy), we opted for a
couple of small scoops of ice cream and sorbet to end the meal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both were disasters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Blood orange sorbet was loaded with ice
shards and tasted like nothing more than sugar-water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pistachio gelato had decent texture but no
pistachio flavor at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s quite a
bit of dessert pedigree in this kitchen, but I can’t believe that anyone
deserving accolades ever tasted these concoctions.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Given the choice between Nico and Hugo’s Frog Bar or Carmine’s
or whatever other hell holes exist around there, I guess I’d go back to
Nico.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But more than anything last night
reinforced that, respected newcomers or not, this neighborhood is to be
avoided.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Nico Osteria</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">1015 N Rush St, Chicago, IL 60611<br />
<nobr>(312) 994-7100</nobr><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Kenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-59995338476654494472014-03-05T15:02:00.000-08:002014-03-05T15:08:28.808-08:00The RadlerThere are a lot of reasons I love The Radler. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Near the top is its unique beer list, which sources a ton of German-style
beers from local breweries, and some great ones from Germany as well. The list
is focused and committed to the theme, with just a few outliers. There's
nothing like this list in the city, and one could spend a most-enjoyable time
doing nothing but sampling from it.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Service is fantastic at The Radler - friendly, very knowledgeable, willing
to sample anything. So are the prices. I spent the same here as I did at Resi's
Bierstube for a meal with similar amounts of food and drink. I even like the
decor.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Where's the food on this list of reasons to love The Radler? I'll answer
that with one dish description: Crispy bread dumplings with horseradish roasted
mushrooms, spinach, pickled beef tongue, kohlrabi and currants. It's the best
dish I've had in a 2014 that's seen quite a few good ones so far. It may be the
best dish I've had in a much longer time than that. It's just perfect.
Contrasting textures. Rich flavors balanced by tangy ones. A little earth. A
little sweet. I need to stop writing about it. I want it again. Now. Badly.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Go to The Radler. Enjoy all the things there are to enjoy about it, but
don't miss the crispy bread dumplings. The dark, warm and crisp bread
dumplings. The tangy, tender pickled tongue. The earthy roasted mushrooms. The
little strips of cool, crisp kohlrabi. The bursts of dill that seem to appear
from nowhere to enliven your palate just when you think you can't eat anymore.
What a dish. My goodness.<br />
<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Radler<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2375 N Milwaukee Ave<br />
(773) 276-0270<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span class="i-wrap ig-wrap-biz_details i-phone-biz_details-wrap mapbox-icon"><span class="biz-phone" itemprop="telephone"> </span></span>Kenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-20930766650319029282014-01-06T07:50:00.000-08:002014-01-07T14:59:23.527-08:00Next - Chicago Steakhouse Menu. Exclusive First Look!!!! <br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Black","sans-serif";">Next – Chicago Steak<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cocktail<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">2” by 2” cube of
double-purified, blast-frozen Hydrogen Dioxide from Lake Michigan. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Topped with spirits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hors d'oeuvres<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">91 hand-carved
semi-ovals of marble-sized transparent, odorless liquid that has been aged in
our own temperature-controlled enclosure for at least 24 hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Served with carrot sticks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Appetizer<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fluid matter that has
been transformed through nucleation and crystal growth into a solid state, then
pommeled with a blunt instrument to form irregularly-shaped shards that are
then hand-placed into a 26 degree metal bowl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Shrimp garnish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Salad<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Latent heat is
released through an exothermic process from 5,000ml of a non-linear molecule in
its liquid state, causing solidification which takes place in a proprietary capsule
designed just for us by famous Japanese box-maker Yakimoto Toto. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Greens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Entree<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Warm meat to cleanse
the palate for the final course<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dessert<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Sno Cone 86”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each diner is provided with a vile filled
with raspberry-flavored syrup, along with an eye dropper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>86 small mounds of shaved ice, each with a
distinct water source and texture, are provided in an engraved cooler
chest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Diners are instructed to place a
drop of syrup on each mound one-by-one, to experience the subtle profile each
brings to the experience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Executive Ice Chef –
Hans Frigidein<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
Kenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-74231362432215675772013-12-16T19:30:00.002-08:002013-12-16T19:32:54.850-08:00Marching With The Sheep for Italian Food - Eataly & CicchettiI lied my way into an Eataly pre-opening party, then spent 5 consecutive days visiting during its initial week in Chicago. Ready to move to the newest hotspot, I showed up at Cicchetti on the Sunday before it opened, having misunderstood internet postings about the place's grand opening. Unable to talk my way into a mock service they were doing to train staff, I had to wait until they officially opened today for lunch. Make fun of me if you want, but I am hungry for good Italian food in a city that sorely lacks it. And my office is steps away from these places. And I am a sheep. I couldn't resist.<br />
<br />
More has already been written in this town about Eataly than about The Bears, so I'll keep this brief and highlight a few specifics I haven't yet seen described elsewhere. Eataly is very, very good. There are interesting products that simply don't exist anywhere else in town, and there is a focus on handcrafted goods that's wonderful in some cases (the filled pastas and the mozzarella ), and admirable even where it works only modestly well (the bread and the pastries). Among the many restaurants, I've already found some truly special dishes. The pizza is now my favorite in town, with a crust full of character and flavor, quality toppings that are applied judiciously, and the wet center characteristic of many great Neapolitan pizzas - a characteristic that was sadly abandoned by other local pizzerias in deference to customer complaints. At the restaurant focused on fried stuff, there's an ultra-simple radish dish that I can't stop thinking about. No breading or coating - just the carefully-cleaned radishes with their greens still attached, deep fried in olive oil and drizzled with honey and salt when they come out. I've never had anything like it, and I want it more and more.<br />
<br />
At Cicchetti I ate a soup and a pasta. The white bean soup was served with whole beans, pickled greens, toasted garlic and speck-infused whipped cream in the bowl, the server then pouring the piping-hot pureed bean soup over the top tableside. The flavors worked well, with the each element powerful on its own in a way that balanced things out well in the end. I had a small problem with the texture of the beans, some of which seemed rubbery and chalky, as if they'd been undercooked. Still, it's a dish I'd happily eat again, which I can't say about the pasta. The squid ink orecchiette were clearly handmade, because only about half of them were actually orecchiette. The others failed to curve into the characteristic shape and texture, so were essentially just uniformly round coins. The point of a shape like this is that it forms a little cup that captures and holds sauces, so this was a real failure in pasta-making execution. The dish also had an American-style oversaucing problem, with way too much tangy tomato sauce for a restaurant with any real Italian ambition.<br />
<br />
I'll be back to Eataly many, many times. There's some terrific food to eat in, interesting handmade and imported products, and staples like bananas and milk and reasonable-enough prices that one could easily make Eataly a primary grocery shopping venue. I'm sure I'll return to Cicchetti too. The soup was good, and Mike Sheerin and Phil Rubino have each cooked food I loved at former venues.<br />
<br />
<br />
Cicchetti<br />
671 N St Clair St, Chicago, IL 60611<br />
<nobr>(312) 642-1800</nobr><br />
<br />
<nobr><br />
Eataly<br />
43 E Ohio St, Chicago, Illinois 60611 <br />
</nobr><br />
<div class="kno-f">
<nobr>(312) 521-8700 </nobr></div>
<nobr>
</nobr><nobr><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
</nobr><div class="kno-f">
<nobr> </nobr></div>
<nobr>
</nobr><br />
Kenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-88222494842355960422013-10-11T15:30:00.001-07:002013-11-26T07:41:02.986-08:00MichoacanitoOn the outside, Michoacanito looks like a hundred other humble Mexican restaurants - bright pictures of menu items, Mexican flag-themed signage, handmade signs touting tacos, tortas, etc. But after a few observant seconds insite, I could tell this place was different. The cooler was filled with fully-gelled stocks in see-through storage containers. A woman in the kitchen was peeling and chopping papayas with the utmost precision and care, while a man pressed tortillas by hand. The stove in the fully-open kitchen was filled with steaming pots emitting powerful aromas of meat and spice.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwxQCaXbLNClxGOwo7rb2MiX0vL3FuPm8soSTrFiEdEGwmhSsx07-19QZdutKpgcnkYJA-nS-B1FG5Mh5S-zaA7rvmtJYq6mBrNdR5Rsks1obe7rYZfU5uaTs63vy3otSMmwZgDZWNc2w/s1600/michoacanito+lamb+unadorned.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwxQCaXbLNClxGOwo7rb2MiX0vL3FuPm8soSTrFiEdEGwmhSsx07-19QZdutKpgcnkYJA-nS-B1FG5Mh5S-zaA7rvmtJYq6mBrNdR5Rsks1obe7rYZfU5uaTs63vy3otSMmwZgDZWNc2w/s320/michoacanito+lamb+unadorned.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I ordered the consome de borrego (lamb soup) per my server's recommendation. A hunk of lamb and bone sat starkly in the center of a bowl of not-quite-clear broth with bits of fat floating atop. On first glance, it appeared that this soup would be just pure lamb without much other flavor. The kind of thing that, though occasionally enjoyable, I expect more from a Central Asian place than from a Mexican restaurant.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk4vhO3zJRR1minPoONKaokOK5jSdpZuNyJ6Z1-Ydalf_058Di6IIdVGEdYReR6T8yzqMGE2q50M6ulPj3gZch0t6-3qu6Gfqmb3brJ83-sDGR3n3nJpuXrSj4Vrum4Fy2zJfK7SR9sK4/s1600/michoacanito+lamb+doctored.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk4vhO3zJRR1minPoONKaokOK5jSdpZuNyJ6Z1-Ydalf_058Di6IIdVGEdYReR6T8yzqMGE2q50M6ulPj3gZch0t6-3qu6Gfqmb3brJ83-sDGR3n3nJpuXrSj4Vrum4Fy2zJfK7SR9sK4/s320/michoacanito+lamb+doctored.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
As I started to dig in, the server brought a plate of accompaniments intended to Mexicanize the soup. I added the onion, cilantro, lime, and a bit of dried chile. Then when my spoon reached the bottom of the bowl, I realized that there were other goodies - lots of nicely cooked hominy, and a reconstituted chipotle pepper that had been part of the broth-cooking. The fruitiness of the chipotle balanced the gaminess of the lamb broth beautifully.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsYhoeb0ggnAteIJqItSc6ncgVi9jR0T6NPisQtp5Hle6KUzhbXqIL0TRI1xY34rCYQFoQjqHA6O2_X3Ob5a6gz-jR15J32r-l9ZCfXY0SR6IB8z3U1TI-hcBt3f8XK047TJ-R2zwi9v4/s1600/michoacanito+tortillas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsYhoeb0ggnAteIJqItSc6ncgVi9jR0T6NPisQtp5Hle6KUzhbXqIL0TRI1xY34rCYQFoQjqHA6O2_X3Ob5a6gz-jR15J32r-l9ZCfXY0SR6IB8z3U1TI-hcBt3f8XK047TJ-R2zwi9v4/s320/michoacanito+tortillas.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Michoacanito makes tortillas by hand, and the homey,very thick, haphazardly-shaped rounds make that clear. Be warned, these are probably triple the thickness of most tortillas, so they fill you up fast. They were great for dipping in the soup.<br />
<br />
There's a big menu here, filled mostly with stuff you can find all over town. With a menu so large it's possible that not everything is a winner, but I feel very confident about the soups. I also learned from someone at the next table that Micoacanito has something of a secret menu. People in the know seek out the cook's gazpacho and special fruit cocktail recipes, none of which are on the regular menu. Ask about fruit, I was told.<br />
<br />
<br />
Michoacanito<br />
4315 N. Kedzie<br />
773-267-2820<br />
byobKenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-64898117397265474072013-10-07T08:53:00.001-07:002013-10-07T08:53:44.787-07:00Mexique<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I walked into Mexique with negative biases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The attention given to the Michelin rating
system is something of a joke to me, so I’m prone to discount anyplace with a
star.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When restaurants take to Groupon,
as Mexique did last year, I view it as a sign of decline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, the place is called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mexique</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Have you ever tried Mexican restaurants in France?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If so, you would know not to name your
restaurant after that take on the cuisine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">With my first taste of the night, I was nearly
converted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A spoonful of the “spiced
bouillabaisse broth” served in a bowl with something called a “Pescamal”,
though more like a thick mole than a broth, was packed with intense roasted
chile, complex spicing, and a shellfish undertone that made it unlike anything
I’d ever tasted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Had the kitchen served this compelling puree simply with
fresh tortillas instead of the sad rectangular starch plopped in the bowl, it
would have been great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Pescamal , described
on the menu as a corn tamal, had the texture and taste of a bake-and-serve dinner
roll, stuffed with rubbery bits of fish that were devoid of flavor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A trio of sopes furthered the possibility that the chef
might be shopping in the Trader Joe’s frozen food section.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The masa pucks were equally sized and perfectly
rounded as if by a machine, and they were dense, greasy and tasteless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The toppings tasted far more pedestrian than
their menu descriptions implied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bizarrely,
two disparate-sounding sauces tasted identical – like balsamic vinegar
reduction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe the kitchen made a
mistake with the plating.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The best dish of the night was one featuring braised veal
short ribs served with orange-scented mushrooms and peppercorn gastrique.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A well-executed dish even though every
component pushed the sweet, fruity side a bit too far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had the advertised escabeche de fresas
actually tasted pickled instead of just macerated in sugar, this might have
been a nicely balanced dish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Worst was a special of seared tuna loin with chile-infused polenta
and “mole de la casa”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tuna was
seared nicely, but the polenta was so full of lumps that I was shocked that a
restaurant of this ambition would serve it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The mole was way too sweet and overpowered by cinnamon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Put a straw in it and call it an horchata,
and I’d believe you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The chef at Mexique is mixing a lot of different flavors and
techniques, and I suspect there are cases where this produces more winners like
the broth served with the Pescamal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Unfortunately, everything skews very sweet and there is a lot of flawed
cooking, including a special level of ineptitude with cornmeal based dishes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For a place with any degree of Mexican
makeup, that’s hard to forgive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mexique<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1529 W Chicago Ave</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Chicago, IL 60642<br />
<nobr>(312) 850-0288</nobr><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
Kenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-9212180653558140532013-08-19T11:26:00.001-07:002013-08-19T11:32:25.425-07:00Mott Street and the Lens of Asian Food Experience<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“…flavors are as safe and unthreatening as a night on the
couch with a bong.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- Mike Sula, Chicago
Reader in an article titled “Playing it Safe at Mott Street”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“…the cooking equivalent of driving 45 in a 55 mph speed
zone.” – Kevin Pang, Chicago Tribune<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Chicago and other major cities have dozens of humble,
first-generation-run Asian restaurants which, even though we Americans are welcome,
are cooking food targeted mainly at fellow recent immigrants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because of this, and because so much of this
food is cheap, there isn’t a food writer or aficionado in Chicago that hasn’t tried
pungently fermented kimchi, scorchingly hot curry, and salads flavored with
fishy funk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I think it’s through the lens of that experience that we end
up with what I believe are misguided sentiments expressed in quotes such as the
ones above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mott Street is “safe,”
perhaps, when compared to the translated Thai-language menu at Sticky
Rice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But why compare it that instead of
to restaurants with similar ambition, chef pedigree and price.? Are the dishes
at Mott Street “safer” than those at Avec, La Sirena Clandestina, Le Bouchon or
Vera?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pang did compare Mott Street’s
crab fried rice with Balena’s uni pasta, but that is even more bizarre and
useless than comparing it to something one might find at TAC Quick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Past experiences are valuable, but Mott
Street is its own place and it would serve writers well to remove their lenses
and evaluate the place on its own terms.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Some of the dishes at Mott Street are far from “safe”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grilled mackerel with incredible, crispy skin
and moist flesh is served with head, tail and spine all attached – a bold
decision that most restaurants with similar ambitions and customer bases would
not make.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wok-fried Gai Lan uses greens so
intensely bitter that I’m sure many people refuse a second bite, along with oyster
sauce that’s fishier and funkier than any version I can remember having.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kimchi udon challenges safety-seeking palates
with tiny bursts of fish roe and a delicious set of complementary
garnishes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found all three of these dishes highly compelling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The kitchen at Mott street shows creativity too, which
produces a winner and a loser.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The “stuffed
cabbage” bears no resemblance to its moniker, but it is a fantastic combination
of contrasting textures and bold flavors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Everything wings,” on the other hand, have a mess of bland seeds and a too-mild
effort at tzatziki dipping sauce that would have paired poorly even had it been
bolder.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I found the service at Mott Street welcoming and
knowledgeable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had a drink and a
snack on the nice patio and were made to feel like part of the crew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the dining room for dinner, everyone
served us efficiently and with a smile, including members of management who
stopped by a couple of times to check on things and solicit feedback. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We all have our own lenses through which we evaluate new
restaurants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through mine, Mott Street
is a winner.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<br />
Mott Street<br />
(773) 687-9977<br />
1401 N. Ashland Ave. <br />
Chicago IL 60622<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
Kenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-25932194835792535312013-07-29T19:49:00.001-07:002013-07-29T19:49:14.954-07:00DaVanti Enoteca<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">During a
short stint in the kitchen of an Italian restaurant, I made a lot of gnudi and
gnocchi. I was obsessive about getting
them just right, and so when I eat gnudi in a restaurant I’m usually critical. In general, it’s just something I shouldn't order
because I know in advance I’m going to dislike it. Sometimes I’m a glutton for punishment though
(or, some would say, I like writing blog posts about stuff I hate), so I
recently ordered the gnudi at the new DaVanti Enoteca in River North.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">DaVanti’s
gnudi were wonderful. So good that they
could serve them with little more than melted butter or simple tomato sauce and
I’d be thrilled. That these gnudi come
bathing in a rich, viscous and intensely delicious pork stock takes the dish
over the top. The dumplings have that
ethereal outer skin which is characteristic of great gnudi, barely holding
together a light interior of well-seasoned, quality ricotta. The serving is relatively small, but the dish
is so rich and intense that although I wanted more (even after sopping up every
drop of pork stock with Davanti’s sub-mediocre bread), I was glad there wasn't any.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Impossible as
it seemed for any dish to top DaVanti’s gnudi, the cauliflower steak from the
antipasti menu did just that. A flat,
inch-and-a-half-thick slab of cauliflower was charred on the grill and barely cooked
through to lend a meaty texture that was just-right for the massive steak knife
served with it. The grill lent a smoky,
earthy flavor that was fantastic with the sharp lemon jam, the briny, tiny-minced
olive tapenade, and the nutty, crunchy toasted ceci beans. This is now on a short list of favorite
dishes in town, and might be the best restaurant dish I’ve eaten all year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">That this
post focuses on the food rather than the annoying enforcement of a “small
plates” service philosophy at DaVanti really says something. It <i>is</i>
annoying. This was my third experience
at an outpost of what I think can at this point fairly be called the DaVanti
chain. I’ve enjoyed them all, and if
this is what chain dining can become in 2013, please put one in every town
small and large to which I’ll be traveling in the coming months and years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Davanti
Enoteca (the outpost on which this post is based)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">30 E
Hubbard St</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">
<span style="background: white;">Chicago, Illinois</span><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><nobr style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">(312) 605-5900</nobr><span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Kenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-64206579146523221022013-07-26T14:59:00.002-07:002013-07-26T14:59:31.541-07:00My New YorkNo matter how long I spend there, there are 3 things I never fail to have on
every trip to New York: bagels, pizza, and time at the bar at Gramercy Tavern. On
a recent trip, I had those 3 and more, including pasta and tofu at wonderful
Italian and Korean restaurants that remind me that cronuts and other nonsense
obsessively covered by food media have not yet ripped the guts from what is
still a great, diverse, sometimes humble food city with an unchangeable core.<br />
<br />
Here's a post about the bagels and pizza part of my trip. The other stuff will follow at a later date.<o:p></o:p><br />
<o:p> </o:p><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bagels:<o:p></o:p></b><br />
I'm not going to rehash <a href="http://fuckerbergonfood.blogspot.com/2012/12/four-midwestern-bagel-service-atrocities.html"><span style="color: blue;">all
that's wrong with bagels outside of New York</span></a>. In fact, it turns out that
New York is no longer immune to bagel atrocities, as 4 out of 4 bagel shops on
this trip were guilty of the cross-cutting I railed against in the linked post.
I'll use this space instead to rank 4 rather popular places I tried, from worst
to best.<o:p></o:p><br />
<o:p> </o:p><br />
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
4.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Worst was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pick-A-Bagel</b>
(3rd Ave and 23rd St), with monstrous bagels with no flavor and a soft,
crustless texture throughout. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
3.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In 3rd place came the famous <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Murray's
Bagels</b> on 8th Avenue in Chelsea, with bagels more reasonably sized and
better flavored, but still missing the textural contrast I want between a
crisper exterior crust and a chewy interior. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
2.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Next came an outlet of a place called <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Brooklyn Bagels</b>, this one also on 8th Avenue, just a block from
Murray's. Bagels here were as huge as Pick-A and lacked textural contrast, but
the unique malty, sweet flavor won me over. My love for these bagels might stem
from nostalgia, as these are very similar in style to the now defunct H&H
bagels I enjoyed many times after late night bar hopping on the Upper West Side
in my early 20's. The bagels are probably too sweet, but the everything-bagel
variety has enough big salt crystals to balance that out beautifully. I don't
think I'd want to eat a plain bagel or any non-salt-topped variety from
Brooklyn Bagels. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
1.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In first place came <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ess-a-Bagel</b>
on 1st Avenue at 21<sup>st</sup> Street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This had everything I want: a reasonably small size, great contrast
between the crust and the interior, and excellent yeasty flavor accented by
just a touch of malt and a little sweetness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And don’t try to order a toasted bagel here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They know better than you.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p></o:p><o:p>I should note that besides Pick-A, all of the bagel shops above are better than bagel shops anywhere outside of NY. </o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b> </div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pizza:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
Almost every article about “NY Pizza” gets it wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lists of “The Best NY Pizza” are comical in
their misunderstanding of the genre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Di
Fara, Lombardi’s, Patsy’s – these are all fine pizzas similar to the best
pizzas you can find in places like Arizona and Kansas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’re distinctly New York places, but they’re
not making distinctly New York pizza.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New
York pizza is not made by artisans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
has no resemblance to the Old Country, and although it is undeniably great, it isn’t
necessarily good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What makes something “New
York Pizza” is the fact that’s it’s cheap, fast, foldable for consumption on
the run, reheated in a scorching oven, and ubiquitous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s all great stuff that exists almost
nowhere else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where is the best New York
pizza?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wherever you happen to be
standing when you’re hungry and have just some loose change left in your
pocket.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
Kenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-13192702030486261112013-06-06T09:33:00.001-07:002013-06-06T09:43:15.984-07:00Doubt Conquered, Hope Shattered (Baume & Brix, Cantina Pasadita)<br />
When Moto was in its hot early days and clients insisted that I take them
there, my heart would sink. Test tube salads, ice cream that tasted like fried
chicken - everything at Moto seemed like an experiment designed to produce
something uniquely undelicious. Though I haven't been back to Moto in years,
from what I hear it has evolved into something even more bizarre and less
delicious. So, when I see "former Moto chef" on resumes, it doesn't
exactly lead me to rush right over. It's pretty close to where I work and I
have tried one dismal place after the next in the area, but Baume and Brix had barely
made it to my radar screen before I finally tried it this week.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
I cast doubt aside after eating the remarkably straightforward and delicious
asparagus salad. Thin spears had been charred beautifully and served atop an
intense asparagus puree. Asparagus is a strong and distinct vegetable, and I
think it marries better with strong and distinct ingredients from other food
groups than it does with other vegetables, which tend to get lost amidst the
poweful greenness of the asparagus. The gamey chicken liver pate on the plate
with it at Baume and Brix worked perfectly. Again, just a straightforward,
gimmick-free pate topping some well-toasted bread. Sure there was a poached egg
on the plate too, which they insisted on telling me was prepared at a precise
63 degrees in a circulator, but I can shrug that off and just acknowledge that
this was one heck of a tasty plate of food with well-selected,
carefully-prepared, seasonal ingredients.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
The potato chip gnocchi was a bit more gimmicky, but no less delicious. The
gnocchi were crisp and feathery, plated with a grown-up take on sour cream and
onion potato chip flavors. There were sweet caramelized onions melted into a
silky butter puree, thin chives, creme fraiche, and lightly pickled mushrooms
that added sourness and a squeaky texture that served as a great contrast to
the gnocchi. Good ingredients, thoughtfully combined and very well prepared.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Service was attentive and informed, though I should note that mine was one
of just two occupuied tables during my lunchtime visit. I also found the wine
list was well curated, with an especially wonderful and somewhat novel
domestically-produced Gruner Veltiner which I enjoyed a lot. Baume and Brix
surprised and delighted me, and I consider it among the very best of last
year's restaurant openings.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
------------------------------------<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
When I moved 6 years ago to my current home, there wasn't a single bar or
restaurant that could just as easily call Lakeview or Wicker Park its home.
Fast forward to now, with Leader Bar right on my corner and Pithfork a block
away, this stretch of Irving Park could almost be Wrigleyville. Though I was
happy when a Pasadita taco stand moved in a couple of years ago and have
enjoyed it many times for a quick, just-fine snack, the largely-Gringo
clientele add to a feeling that the neighborhood was trying to turn into
Division Street between Ashland and Damen.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
None of this bothers me at all, by the way. I like what it might do for my
property value and I also like having a place on my corner to escape occasionally
from a house of screaming kids to watch a game on some high definition TV's
while drinking a pretty good beer. I also like margaritas. A lot. And I like
drinking them outside in the sun. So when signs came up showing that Cantina
Pasadita, a full-bar, table-service branch of the taco chain was taking over
the space across from Leader Bar, with its nice sidewalk seating area, I was
hopeful. I met the GM a few weeks before it opened, and he described the coming
place as "high-end," with things like "tableside guacamole and a
mixology program". He also said that they'd hired a chef with years of
experience at well-known local restaurants. "It's going to be nothing like
the taco stands," he said. I was skeptical, but really if all the place
had were fresh chips and decent margaritas made with real lime, I'd be a
regular.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
The margaritas are fake and they suck. The chips are stale. There is
crazy-expensive guacamole that's completely bland, and the table salsa tastes
like ketchup. there's also something called "Cachos," described by my
server as "authentic Mexican nachos". Whatever. More stale chips with
some cheese, topped with cubes of watery chicken breast.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
I hope potential buyers for my condo don't read this blog. Cantina Pasadita
is horrible.<o:p></o:p><br />
<o:p></o:p><br />
<o:p>----------------------</o:p><br />
<o:p></o:p><br />
<o:p>Baume & Brix</o:p><br />
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<o:p><span itemprop="streetAddress">351 W Hubbard St</span><br /><span itemprop="addressLocality">Chicago</span>, <span itemprop="addressRegion">IL</span> <span itemprop="postalCode">60654</span><br /> Neighborhoods: Near North Side, River North</o:p></div>
Cantina Pasadita<br />
2958 W. Irving Park Road<br />
<br />Kenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-74538022667812461412013-04-26T13:22:00.002-07:002013-04-26T13:38:19.137-07:00Foods I Like (Yes, you read that right)<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">People tell me that I have a reputation for hating
everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the first beautiful Spring Friday of
2013.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s a little extra sunshine:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jerk wings and
festival from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jerk – Modern Jamaican
Grill Food Truck</i></b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wings are juicy and fresh, and have hot, no-holds-barred
jerk seasoning with an especially <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>potent
garlic component.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hand-cut fries are
well-seasoned but a little limp and greasy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Skip those and opt instead for a side of festival<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- crisp, slightly sweet corn fritters that do
a great job cooling down all that spice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Smoked whitefish Caesar
salad from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bavettes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></b>Most of the time when people mess
around with toppings on a Caesar salad, they ruin a good thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The salty, slightly-smoky fish here was an
exception.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It tasted great and had a
firm enough texture to hand up to the crisp greens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was a well-executed salad with a little
something to take it up several notches. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i>
creamed spinach).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lentil soup at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Salam</i>.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The food at Salam is generally much better than
at any other local place serving similar food, and this soup is a real
highlight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has a refined, creamy, extra-strained
texture you’d expect at a French restaurant, with lightness and balance
unmatched by other lentil soups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love
it, and it’s my 3 year old’s favorite delivery food (mango lassi is a beverage,
not a food).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Smoked salmon at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jam</i>.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The smoked salmon dish is a real
standout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A dish of beautifully contrasting colors and
complementary flavors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Granduca cheese from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">JP Graziano</i></b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This Sardinian pecorino is incredible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s hard and I suspect intended mainly for
grating, but I’ve just been eating it straight with young, cheap Southern
Italian wines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Kenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-35272486176070425902013-04-22T14:18:00.002-07:002013-04-23T07:51:59.491-07:00Jekyll & Hyde at Howells & Hood<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you order the seafood salad at a massive,
corporate-looking sports bar at the bottom of a downtown Chicago office
building, you deserve the mushy, tasteless fish with gloppy dressing you’re
likely to get.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a marvel that at
Howells & Hood, the dish rivals the best versions at seafood-focused
restaurants in places like Boston and San Francisco.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tender, well-charred octopus mixes with a
variety of delicately poached shellfish, all adorned simply but robustly with
lemon and oregano.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eat this and you can reasonably
imagine being at seaside restaurant in Sicily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You’ll have to tune out the very-American couple next to you as they
order their burgers to be made without salt, and the very American sorority
girl a few feet away as she requests a round of Sex on the Beach for her table.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The good vs. evil theme suggested by my post title is
inaccurate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Howells & Hood is not 2
things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not 3 things, 4 things or 5
things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Howells & Hood is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">everything</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a restaurant for locavores, run by a
chef who passionately espouses things like rooftop gardening and hyper-local
cuisine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a sports bar for the
heavy-drinking frat crowd, such as the ones who, during one of my visits, did shots
of Jack and high fives every time their school’s basketball team hit a
3-pointer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the place where 14
office workers grab lunch together and ignore the gigantic beer list while they
drink diet cokes and make fun of the boss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s where tourists go to lay out their guidebooks before planning their
Mag Mile shopping adventures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the
spot for beer geeks who want to explore what must be the city’s largest tap
beer list. Howells and Hood has high tops and low tops and medium-sized tops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indoor bars and outdoor bars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Booths, tables, and semi-booth-tables.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">everything</i>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Not surprisingly, Howells & Hood even has a burger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A very, very bad burger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At about 6 inches tall, this burger is inedible
as a sandwich unless you pull some of the parts out first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started with the inch-thick onion rings,
breaded so thickly that the batter inside was still gooey and raw.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took out the tasteless tomato next, and
then brushed off some of the slaw-like shredded lettuce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was barely able to get my mouth around the
thing now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I sneezed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pepper in this monstrosity was ground
very coarsely, and there was so much of it that my nostrils were not able to
cope. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next flavor to hit me was
carbon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The exterior was blackened with
a burnt crust that obliterated all other flavor. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had ordered the burger medium rare and there
was indeed a corner of the thing that was cooked that way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rest of the burger ranged wildly – parts of
it were reddish pink and juicy, but more parts were totally grey and dry and
there were some parts in between – signs of a cook that doesn’t understand how
to manage a fire.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ve been to Howells & Hood several times, and for the
most part I’ve liked the food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
seafood salad is special, and I expect to find other gems as I continue
exploring the menu. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Howells & Hood
is everything, so it takes a bit of time to sort through it all to find the
somethings you like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I work steps away,
and with the limited options for good food around, I will be happy to keep
exploring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One can eat at The Purple Pig
only so many days in a row.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Howells & Hood</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">435 N Michigan Ave. 312-262-5310</span></div>
Kenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-31049503758465774482013-03-07T19:14:00.001-08:002013-03-07T19:14:48.187-08:00Flour and Stone"We're running a lunch special. A pizza for one and a salad for $19". This was the start of my dialogue with the Flour and Stone staff, and at prime lunch hour I witnessed several other conversations that started the same way. I stayed for lunch, but more than half of the others left with various levels of huff and head-shaking.<br />
<br />
I'm not sure what Flour and Stone is trying to be, but whatever it is, I don't think it's going to work. There is a huge and captive business/ tourist lunch crowd in this area, with a whole lot of crappy choices for them. It's hard for me to imagine shunning this crowd the way Four and Stone does. When the place first opened, it was dinner-only. That really baffled me. Now they're open for lunch, but a solo luncher would be hard-pressed to get change back from a 20. If they're shooting for some sort of upscale restaurant vibe, neither the counter-service setting nor the sparse decor are going to make that work.<br />
<br />
But readers don't want paragraph after paragraph analyzing decorations and business models and what might or might not be going on in the mind of a restaurant's owner. The Sun Times would still have a food section if you did. You want to know how the pizza is, and I'm going to tell you - not that good. The crust is thick and overly bready. It's got more char than Pizza Hut, but it's in the same ballpark. The sauce is tart and watery, and could use salt. Toppings include onion and garlic that are still raw after coming out of the oven, and mushrooms that are bland and need more cooking time too.<br />
<br />
I saw an interview somewhere, where a Flour and Stone Owner said, bizarrely, that what he is describing as Brooklyn-style pizza is based on the style of pizza he ate growing up in Rochester, NY. I believe him.<br />
<br />
Flour and Stone<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 16px;">355 E Ohio St Chicago, IL 60611</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;" /><nobr style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;">(312) 822-8998</nobr><br />
<br />Kenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-21359414632773301632013-02-19T09:47:00.002-08:002013-02-19T09:54:16.275-08:00Naha in 2013<span class="yiv530628749title">With
the tsunami of internet and reviewer activity every time some hot-named chef so
much as blinks in the West Loop, I wonder whether there are stalwarts languishing in
other neighborhoods as they try helplessly for
attention in an era when only the newest places seem to get any press. Erwin. Crofton. Trotter’s. Once-famous places run by chefs once seen as the
best around seem to be dropping out rapidly and suddenly in this environment.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="yiv530628749title">It
was with concern about this phenomenon that I paid three visits over the
last few months to a stalwart that I’d put in the same mix as the places
above. I’ve been eating at <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Naha</st1:place></st1:city> for almost a decade,
and did so with regularity in the early years.
It was among my favorite places, but
for no good reason it had been three years since my last visit, and I started to wonder whether I’d
been playing a role in the demise of the type of restaurant that
puts great food and great service before great social media strategy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="yiv530628749title">In
2013, Carrie Nahabedian doesn’t get the kind of press that someone like Stephanie
Izard gets, but their cooking styles are similar. Both marry sweet with savory flavors
in ways that might at first sound odd, but end up working. At <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Naha</st1:place></st1:city>,
bacon is served lacquered with syrup in a pastry crust with pineapple and
fennel. Chicken thighs are treated with middle
eastern liqueur and served with sweet
oranges. Even a burger gets an extra
dose of sweet via a slow roasted tomato and deeply caramelized onions. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="yiv530628749title">Izard does it better. Her flavors are bolder and more sharply
contrasting. At <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Naha</st1:place></st1:city>, the sweetness dominates rich-tasting but otherwise
muted broths, sauces and marinades with spicing that’s too subtle to work the
kind of magic that happens on <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Randolph
Street</st1:address></st1:street>. In
the bacon tarte tatine, the bacon had sticky-sweet lacquer, the sweet pineapple
was caramelized to make it even sweeter.
Fennel added an even further sweet note, and there was just nothing to give an Izard-style jolt
to what became palate-tiring dish after just a couple of bites. The chicken thigh tagine sat in a sweet,
anise-flavored broth with raw honeybell slices.
The dish needed the advertised coriander seeds and “Turkish spices”
to add some complexity, but they’re way too far in the background. An heirloom squash soup had deliciously deep squash flavor, but garnishes that included herb spaetzle and horseradish cream needed more oomph. I couldn't taste any herbs or any horseradish, and as good as the squash flavor was, it was one-dimensional and I wasn't interested in coming close to finishing the soup.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="yiv530628749title">The pastry chef's name was printed in bizarrely big, bold letters at the top of the dessert menu. Something like "Our Famous Pastry Chef So and So Introduces The following Desserts". I'm sure he's a respected guy even though I'd never heard of him, but this sort of showmanship seemed out of place at Naha. </span><span class="yiv530628749title">Perhaps it should have warned of a chef interested in glitz and glamour over taste. I had an almond dacquoise. Actually, it was barely a sliver of dacquoise amidst a veritable kaleidoscope of garnishes. There were white powders, off-white stick-shaped things, tiny purple berries, a flavorless tan gel that might as well have been aspic, some greenery, and surely more. Other than the aspic, nothing on the plate tasted bad. None of it made any sense to me either.</span><br />
<br />
I'm not sure whether Naha has declined or my tastes have just changed since those days when I loved it. You'll probably find me contemplating that question with everyone else at the next iteration of Fulton-Market-Buzz-Restaurant.</div>
Kenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-47688579522838171992013-01-14T11:49:00.003-08:002013-01-14T11:49:58.694-08:00Phil Stefani 437 Rush Under Christian Fantoni
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Almost a decade ago, Christian Fantoni ran the kitchen at Fiamma,
a Michelin-starred Italian restaurant in New York City with a big following.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few years later, he was making wedge salads
and chicken parm at a Portillo’s branch in Aurora.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s been a strange career, but with knowledge
of his early accolades I was intrigued when I learned that he’d taken over the
kitchen at Phil Stefani’s 437 Rush, normally the kind of business lunch,
try-to-please-everyone place I avoid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
3 meals during the early part of 2013, I saw a tiny glimpse of what might have
been the Fiamma Fantoni, but for the most part I still see the same Phil
Stefani 437 Rush that’s always been there, with perhaps even a slight decline
in basic execution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A delicate bibb lettuce pesto was crisp and bright without
overpowering the meticulously-prepared clams and tender cuttlefish that were
the stars of the dish. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These ingredients
sauced <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>flavorful potato gnocchi that,
while not as light and dreamy as those at places such as a Tavola and Spiaggia,
were well-crafted <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- not the gummy,
leaden balls found at most restaurants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Textures
and flavors worked in harmony here, and I started to see why a NYC Michelin
reviewer or James Beard House representative might have taken notice.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Then I tried the butternut squash soup and imagined a multi-gallon
vat of premade glop adorning a Portillo’s quick-service counter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was thick like spackle and utterly devoid
of flavor, but for some crumbled cookies used as garnish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a vile bowl of food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Two more pasta dishes failed to invoke any of the joy I felt
with the gnocchi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Orecchiette with rapini
and sausage were cooked pleasantly al dente, but the advertised broccoli puree
was either non-existent or flavorless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neither
the rapini nor the sausage had much flavor either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the kind of bland, inoffensive dish
you’d expect to find at a place like this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nothing more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Worse yet were
ravioli, advertised as being stuffed with ricotta and herbs, then sauced with some
kind of lettuce pesto.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The filling was
indeed green as if herbs had been used, but I tried really hard and failed to
taste anything beyond plain ricotta.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
pesto was a vile, separated mess of flavorless green oil in a massive pool, and
flavorless clumps of dry greenery with sliced almonds that hadn’t been
pulverized at all.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Fantoni hasn’t been at the helm here for too long, so there may
be some hope that he will influence the menu and execution in a positive
way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My confidence about that isn’t high
though, and after the dreadful soup and ravioli it’ll be a while before I try
again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Kenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-76854488579727495352012-12-04T08:31:00.003-08:002012-12-04T08:38:28.161-08:00Four Midwestern Bagel Service Atrocities<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I tried to leave my New Yorkers know best attitude at the
door when I left to become a Midwesterner 16 years ago, but there are some
things that people in these parts really need to learn from Gotham.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That your legs don’t stop working when you step
onto an escalator is one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another, which
will be the subject of this post, is bagel service.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mind you, bagel service is not complicated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By no means am I implying that only New York
minds could come up with the proper way to serve a bagel with cream cheese.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can’t even figure out a reasonable way to
transport people to our airports, for goodness’ sake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, serving a bagel with cream cheese the
right way is so easy that even a PS 169 grad like me can do it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You slice the bagel and you put cream cheese
on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s nothing more to it, yet there are countless
ways in which Midwesterners overcomplicate the process and ruin it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve listed some of these egregious errors below with
the hope that anyone with bagel service responsibility will heed <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>my warning, and that anyone who knows a person
with such responsibility will pass it on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After 16 years, I’m getting angry about this. Do not keep screwing up
my bagel with cream cheese.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Four Common Midwestern Bagel Service Atrocities:<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>4. Double slicing.</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
bagel should be sliced across its equator so that cream cheese can be
applied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Under no circumstances should
it then be sliced again longitudinally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I don’t know if it’s the more heavily Christian population here or what,
but this cross-pattern slicing has got to stop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The cream cheese oozes out of the center and it’s a mess to eat this
way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stop it. Really.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>3. Cream cheese on the side.</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If a man orders a bagel with cream cheese, he wants a bagel with cream
cheese <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">on it</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This practice of handing over an unsliced
bagel with a plastic tub of cream cheese and a flimsy plastic knife is
insulting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those flimsy knives can’t
even slice a ripe, peeled banana.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’re
hopeless against a bagel, and even more hopeless in spreading the rock-hard
cream cheese in that tub you took directly from the ice box.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you give these knives out because you’re
worried about customers having weapons to use against you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Continue this cheese on the side practice,
and such worry might become justified.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>2. Calling the thing a “schmear”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></strong>This is the only one that makes me think,
maybe Midwesterners really are less intelligent than New Yorkers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Schmear?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You’re an adult, for Willett’s sake!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>1. Toasting</strong>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Toasting
ruins a bagel’s chewy reason to exist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Toasting
is for, well, toast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A bagel is not
toast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stop this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you encounter customers who insist on
having their bagel toasted, I’ll allow you to decide whether or not you want to
accommodate such misguided people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
you’re the kind of place that allows people to add grilled chicken breast to
any salad on the menu, then you should go ahead and accommodate this equally
ridiculous request too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But so many
places toast by default, without even asking if that’s what the customer
wants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stop this. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People complain to me:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“But what if the bagel isn’t fresh?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Isn’t it better toasted then?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’re eating or serving a stale bagel, stop
reading this blog and think about what your life has become.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span>Kenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-79366629243059424432012-10-31T09:06:00.002-07:002012-10-31T09:13:40.587-07:00La Sirena Clandestina<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I walked through the door at what turned out to be a few minutes
before opening time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The staff was busy
readying for service and I felt bad for interrupting, but right away John
Manion smiled and invited me to have a seat while they finished things up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt like a welcomed guest in somebody’s
home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>La Sirena Clandestina is a tiny
place, decorated humbly but warmly with candles and flowers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The setting, the smiles and the relative
quiet at 4PM were a great respite from the more typical hustle and bustle of
other hot new West Loop restaurants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Things are surely different at prime dinner time and later, but I
suspect that at its core, this place will always be warm and welcoming.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The two dishes I had were good, though I wonder if it’s that
same vision to be a welcoming respite for all comers which held the food back
from being what I’d hoped for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take the
Acaraje, for instance: black eyed pea fritters which were split and stuffed/
topped with dende-poached shrimp and pickled onions, with dime-sized circles of
dark-orange (not that) hot sauce brightly decorating the plate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a pretty dish to look at, and an
enjoyable one to eat, with a crisp outer shell giving way to relatively light
interior, much like some of the better falafels around town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The oil poached shrimp had a soft texture and
mild, sweet taste.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s to complain
about?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing, perhaps, but this was my
first time trying Acaraje, so I did some research after dinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While there seem to be variations, it sounds
to me like many of the best and most authentic ones are packed with powerfully-flavored
dried shrimp, often pounded <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>with nuts
into a paste, and crispy bits of shrimp shell that provide big taste and crunch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>La Sirena <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clandestina’s dish was good, but it didn’t
seem to push the envelope in any way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was safe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As with John Manion himself when
I entered the restaurant, the Acaraje wouldn’t turn anyone away.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The same seemed true of the crispy chicken thighs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were very nicely done and served with
the advertised rapini, chili and garlic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was balanced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It tasted homey.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The use of garlic was very restrained, with
just a few ultra-thin fried sliver.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ditto for the chile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Certainly I
knew they were both there, but for my taste, much, much more punch would have
made the dish better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s a wonderfully
inviting space with well-prepared food and one of the friendliest staffs I’ve
encountered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The restaurant deserves to
do well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Based on admittedly limited
menu exploration though, the food at La Sirena Clandestina doesn’t quite resonate with me as I’d hoped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
La Sirena Clandestina<br />
954 W. Fulton Market<br />
312-226-5300<br />
<h1 class="title1respage">
<strong></strong> </h1>
Kenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4132927487928614221.post-21332894609961434732012-10-11T14:51:00.000-07:002012-10-11T15:11:48.294-07:00AvecWhen people ask me what the best restaurant in Chicago is, my reply is "I have no idea, but if it's the best cooking you want, that's at Avec." When I've felt down about what I've eaten lately or about food in general, Avec has cheered me up. Has an inedible bowl of cartilage-laden crab at the hot new Italian restaurant pissed you off lately? Go to Avec and discouragement will vanish. Avec takes food seriously. Even restaurants I like sometimes fail to clean shellfish completely, occasionally overcook a piece of fish, or forget to taste a dish for seasoning once in a while. In dozens of meals at Avec, it's been my experience that that kind of thing just doesn't happen there. Never. Of course, it's not enough to merely avoid screwing up. Right now, Avec is also putting out some of the most flavorful, exciting food in town.<br />
<br />
On a cold fall afternoon, you won't find a dish that warms the soul more than the wood-fired squid cooked and served in a piping hot cast-iron cazuuela with fideos, tomato, and guanciale. The fideos seem to wiggle around in your mouth, adding a playful texture to an otherwise seriously rich, garlicky, and smoky dish. I had a similar dish at Avec a year ago, and while I liked it then, this was a whole different level of delicious. One difference came in the aioli that topped the cazuela; last time it was a somewhat bland cream that didn't add much, but this time the aioli was flavored robustly with fennel, simultaneously adding a jolt to the dish while bringing all of the ingredients into harmony.<br />
<br />
The sweet, moist flesh of merluza at Avec is going to make it hard for me to eat fish anywhere else. Merluza isn't the cheapest type of fish at the market, but it's not the most expensive of luxury ingredients either. If what's served as Avec is representative, merluza should cost double what lobster or dover sole are fetching. This fish tasted similar to but even sweeter than halibut, but was substantially meatier and more interesting to eat. I don't know if it's the fish or the cook or, quite likely, a combination, but I want more merluza right now. As with the fennel aioli with the squid, the creamy garlic sauce with the merluza was robust but sweet, rounded and not overpowering. With a bit of grapefruit juice that seeped from the bright pink segments garnishing the plate, the garlic sauce turned into something magical, and with bitter treviso and sweet, tiny olives, it was a wonderful complement for the fish.<br />
<br />
Veal sweetbreads seem to be the ingredient du jour around town these days, and perhaps excepting The Trenchermen, nobody is doing them on par with or better than Avec. One huge, meaty, crisp but incredibly tender specimen was served with pungent cauliflower caponata and a slice of crisped Serrano ham across the top. Nothing fancy, just absolutely delicious.<br />
<br />
That's Avec. No soil on a plate, no delicious liquids turned into chalky powders, no gimmicks. Just straightforward, fantastic food. Just the best cooking in Chicago.Kenny Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13778495685129438565noreply@blogger.com1