Ryan Poli's Tavernita opened just a few weeks ago to patrons hoping for the chic style of Mercadito, a bar dressed to impress and the flavors of Spain. Needless to say, guests haven't been disappointed.
The ambiance is sophisticated and trendy, and the food matches perfectly. The bigger problem is what to order. From crudos, to small plates and entree sized meals, there is almost as much to offer on the food menu as the drink menu. Here are four dishes worth the buzz.
I like Graham Elliot Bowles. I liked him when he was at Avenues. I liked his eponymous restaurant from the night of its soft launch. I was looking forward to Grahamwich in earnest. A gourmet sandwich place 3 blocks from my office - perfect.
Months ago when it had just opened, I waited a few days to avoid the line then went at about 1:30 for a couple sandwiches and an order of chips... which came out to over $20. On top of that the place was mobbed. It was going through some growing pains that any new place would have so the ordering process had some sorting out needed. There was no seating at the time in the place at all and what they did have boiled down to a large shared table that made seating and leaving very crowded. The place was standing room only.
The two sandwiches I had were super messy, albeit tasty (props for the plaintain bun) but all-in-all the hassle and cost were more than the flavor was worth. I chose to not write it up at the time thinking that I needed to give it another shot later.
Now (finally!) it's later. I found out that Ginza was closed for the holiday so on my circuit back to work I realized I could grab a Grahamwich and see how things were going. So I did. I didn't realize just how often I eat at Ginza.
In a very loud back room we ordered, and received, duck rillettes where the mustard lived up to the meat and Ricotta gnuddi, a word that makes small children giggle, which were more delicate than I expected and though good, didn't compete with the rillettes. Next came the English pea agnolotti - truffle butter was cheating as the pea filled raviolis were sweet and creamy-rich on their own.
Continue reading "Longman & Eagle – Comfort Food on the Hottest Day of the Year" »
Forget underground supper clubs… Iliana Regan, who has had stints with Grant Achatz at both Trio and Alinea and more recently with Michael Carlson at Schwa, has something bigger in mind.
Typically, underground dining is all about the mystery. It's called underground for a reason. You have to know someone who knows someone as it's rarely advertised. With one club in particular named 'Clandestino' you get the idea. Eating in a strangers home with other strangers is, what else, strange. But in this case it's more than the novel experience. It's about the food.
Here the Chef is also the farmer/forager/gardener. Iliana hand-forages morels from a location she seriously wouldn't talk, even remotely, about. She hand-gardens and farms greens (when possible). She owns One Sister Inc. where in addition to 'shrooms, she sells "pierogis, sprouts, pastas, decorative and edible flowers, berry plants, baked goods, soups, and preserves." Many chefs have gardens but not many depend on them for their meals. In this case it certainly seems to be a major part of her inspiration.
This all results in some seriously wild flavor combinations throughout a dynamic 12-course tasting menu. She does her resume justice. That she can even do this in an ordinary residential kitchen is really a feat. The best news is you can try it for yourself. The method is simple, a group of nice folks and a suggested donation and this email. You get an address, a time and a suggestion for what kind of wine to bring. In this case one of Alinea's ex-sommelier's was a stand-in (a ringer I tell you!).
After 12 courses you see what's important to the chef. Whimsy is a word that is used often with molecular gastronomy and tasting menus, and while there's some of that what struck me was intensity of flavors. The dishes were very focused and while the flavor intensity was up there the subtlety of them all working together so well was special.
The details after the jump.
Continue reading "Underground Dining v2.0 – Iliana Regan's One Sister" »
Though the recession is probably over at this point, good deals still abound for those still willing to eat out at restaurants, particularly at off-peak hours. At Nacional 27, I stumbled across a $27 prix fixe dinner that looked worth investigation, and included 3 courses plus wine or sangria. The catch is that it is available from 5-6:30 pm every day, and your party needs to be seated by 6:15 pm. No matter, I can eat at pretty much any hour of the day, and if anyone can make the early-bird special sexy, it's Nacional 27.
If you are unfamiliar with Nacional 27, it is named for the 27 Latin American countries south of the border. Their mission is to take traditional Latin dishes and serve them with a twist. This means your steak may be covered in a Malbec reduction, and your guacamole served with taro chips. Popular Chicago mixologist Adam Seger helms the bar offerings, and regularly teaches classes featuring his cocktail recipes. The restaurant also serves as a part-time dance hall, with complimentary lessons, salsa competitions and DJs spinning Latin rhythms after 11 pm on weekends. This is contemporary Latin with a flair for theatrics.
Unless you've been living with your head stuck in a riverbed, you have no doubt heard about the latest invasive species threatening to disrupt the ecosystem of the Great Lakes. Last week, the Chicago Reader published an issue highlighting the Asian carp, analyzing the battle to halt the carp's spread with electric barriers. How much longer will physical measures stop the invasion? In December 2009, when a six-mile stretch of the Chicago canal was poisoned in order to complete maintenance on the electric barrier, an Asian carp was found among the dead fish. The ensuing brouhaha led several neighboring states to file suit against the state of Illinois, demanding that the commercially-vital locks be completely closed. But it may already be too late. A new eDNA test that detects species-specific DNA in running water has found already found evidence of Asian carp in the waters above the electric fence.
With a PBS series, several cookbooks, multiple James Beard awards, and a prolific Twitter account under his belt, Rick Bayless is an undisputed elder statesman of Chicago's culinary scene. Despite my best intentions though, I never made it to either of his flagship restaurants, Frontera Grill or Topolobampo. There was always some new opening to see, another hole-in-the-wall to discover. Then last September, Bayless won Top Chef Masters, the lead time to get a reservation increased exponentially, and I put it off visiting some more.
But, strange things happen when you decide to move out of town. My normally procrastination-friendly mindset has evaporated and I am suddenly scrambling to check off items from an ever-growing bucket list. Should I be trying new restaurants? Revisiting old favorites? Should I be embarrassed that I've never eaten a burger from Kuma's? Is it really worth waiting in line for 4 hours at Great Lakes just to say I've tried the "best pizza in America"? I think I've covered a fair amount of territory already, but there are certainly missing Legos. Where would you go if you had two months left in Chicago? Anyway, the combination of impending deadlines and Restaurant Week was sufficient motivation for me to make a reservation at Topolobampo, 6 weeks in advance. And now that I have finally tried the Mexican maestro's work, I am upset that I didn't haul myself here earlier.
Take the elevator to the Terzo Piano. It is hard to tell if the Art Institute's Terzo Piano restaurant was really designed with art-lovers in mind. On the one hand, it is ideally placed, being on the third floor (the ‘terzo piano’, see?) of the Art Institute’s modern wing. However, on the other, going there for lunch can really interfere with a culture-filled day out. Once you have had a look over the menu and ordered a pre-dinner drink, you start to realize that this is not somewhere you'd want to rush your lunch.
We started to get some strange looks as we tried to see "what everyone else is having". We settled on the butternut ravioli (very rich, the kind of dish you can get away with eating only in winter. I’m talking waistline, ladies), and my friend ordered the Uno, Due, Tre burgers, a plate of three small burgers, beef, lamb and shrimp.
I suspect the waiter was overjoyed when we finally ordered, because we had already spent far too long looking at everything on the menu. We changed our mind multiple times, as we saw more and more interesting dishes emerging from the kitchen. But, to be honest, I’d go here every week if only for the desserts and the wine (the financier with lavender ice cream is definitely worth trying).
And for those of you who lean towards French wines, you'll know it’s rare to find a bottle of Château d’Esclans this side of the Atlantic, and certainly this side of Lake Michigan. Speaking of which, after lunch, stop and take a look out at the view from the restaurant terrace. On a clear, blue-sky wintry day it makes you happy to be in Chicago.
After months of anticipation, delays and rumors, the Elysian Hotel finally unveils two new restaurants this week. Ria is an upscale dinner-only concept with a focus on seafood, while sister restaurant Balsan is more casual, featuring a raw bar, wood-fired oven pizzas and housemade charcuterie. Both restaurants are on the third floor of the sparkling (literally) new Elysian Hotel, whose elegant European courtyard entrance is worth a detour by itself. Executive Chef Jason McLeod leads the helm for both restaurants, and has ample amounts of luxury hotel experience under his toque from San Diego's Grand Del Mar resort and Four Seasons. He is also wont to walking around with a cast-iron skillet of sizzling sausages. The rich, meaty smell was making heads swivel like a turntable.
Ramen deserves a dissertation. Most people are only familiar with the msg-laden shrinkwrapped brick sold to poor college students and eaten with a bizarre sense of pride. I won't go into detail at this moment (but I sure will soon) but that point of comparison is exactly like dismissing Italian pasta because you have only tried Ravioli-O's.
This time of year a huge bowl of ramen, with sheets of nori and wakame (both wonderful seaweeds... don't flinch like that) half an egg, fishcake... yes the Japanese stole gefilte and made it better, beads of glistening fat. It's awesome.
Ginza, so far, is above and beyond anything else I've had in Chicago... Won't somebody let me know where else to go!
(Yeah Ginza again... where the curry rice is also good. And again for Udon)
Ginza (in the Tokyo Hotel)
19 E. Ohio St.
Por Ernesto Adduci
Es notable lo del Chef Rick Bayless: un Americano muy americano, que supera a los mexicanos preparando su propia comida. Considerando la extension y variedad de la comida mexicana, esto es un verdadero logro. Cierto, ganar Top Chef Masters lo ha encumbrado a la fama a nivel nacional, sus libros venden y la gente mira sus programas de tv, pero nada de esto se compara al triunfo de cada una de sus creaciones culinarias.
Hace tiempo queria ir a Frontera Grill, el restaurant que se transformo en su marca bandera, pero no fue hasta hoy que logramos encontrar una mesa en el bar. Probamos tres “Platillos Pequeños”: las empanadas de puerco, los sopes rancheros y del menu de Topolobampo, las mollejas de ternera en mole verde. Pedimos las flautas de pato, pero se habian terminado. El tener una mesa en el bar resulto beneficioso, pues pudimos probar platos de ambos menus, incluidas las deliciosas mollejas de Topolo, el restaurant formal de Bayless.
Continue reading "Frontera Grill – Profeta de Tierra Ajena" »
...is a damned, dirty lie. But a lip-smackingly tasty one at that. Though the haute dog looks benignly similar to a regular Chicago hot dog, its innocuous appearance is a facade for daredevilish things. But fear not, there is nary trace of ketchup on this hot dog.
So, what do you get for your hard-earned $18? For starters, your hot dog wiener has been replaced with a delicate, slow-poached sausage of lobster mousse. The bright yellow is not mustard, but a vivid saffron-ginger sauce. In lieu of onions and a dill pickle spear, we have leeks and a cucumber spear. The entire ensemble is topped with cherry tomatoes and slices of green pepper, and served on a hefty potato bun. A Chicago-style hot dog this most certainly is not, as it does not evoke the bold, in-your-face chutzpah of the classic Chicago dog.
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