Stevie Wills

True Serenity within Striking Distance – The Anderson Japanese Gardens

August 12, 2018 by Stevie Wills

A 90-minute car ride due north will land you in one of the most beautiful landscapes in North America. According to its promotional literature, the Anderson Japanese Gardens on the southern outskirts of Rockford, is also rated one of the continent’s highest quality Japanese gardens.

Many may be familiar with smaller versions of Japan’s landscape aesthetic that places so much emphasize on serenity and contemplation. Previous experiences with more compact gardens like the Japanese garden in Jackson Park won’t prepare you for the depth of experience the Rockford gardens achieve. Rambling over twelve acres, every perspective in every direction is one of composed tranquility.

From our western outlook, nature’s untouched qualities define the height of what is natural. In eastern cultures, an opposite reality exists that believes nature can be enhanced by the touch of man. “From groundbreaking to today, the placement of every rock, alignment of every tree and layout of all paths has followed the careful planning and vision” of the architect, a Hiroshima survivor.

Inspired by trips to Japan and most notably by visits to the renowned Portland Japanese Garden, venture capitalist John Anderson determined to bring the timeless beauty of a classic Japanese garden literally to his back yard. Commissioning Hoichi Kurisu to lead the project in 1978, the landscape architect who designed the Portland gardens, Anderson was insuring that the same resplendence graced the Rockford project in addition to keeping the core contemplative objectives totally intact.

Both gardens are twelve acres in scale and both reflect Mr. Kurisu’s belief that “to understand nature is to understand the universe”.

On a summer day in August, the Rockford gardens are meticulous and lush with a hundred shades of green, occasional splashes of dramatic color, koi laden pools, and populated with structures and sculptures modeled from the 16^th century. There’s ample opportunity to pause, to sit and to absorb the beauty before you and use it to nourish your spirit.

Highlights include the stunning West waterfall, the beautiful Pond Strolling Garden and a captivating Garden of Reflection. Powerfully pristine, each proves the restorative properties of nature are real.

The garden’s visitor center houses a small quality focused gift shop and Fresco, an excellent dining option.

Anderson Japanese Gardens

318 Spring Creek Road

Rockford, IL 61107

815-229-9390

andersongardens.org

Story of Tragic Seduction Closes at Victory Garden

July 8, 2018 by Stevie Wills

Mies Julie closed late last month at Victory Garden and left us scratching our heads a bit as we thought about what we saw. If you came to the play blind and unfamiliar with August Strindberg’s original work, you took everything you saw and heard on face value because you didn’t know what this adaptation was referencing. Strindberg’s Miss Julie is a 19^th century one act play about the brief and tragic love affair between two people across the divide of class. The Victory Garden Mies Julie written by playwright Yaël Farber and directed by Dexter Bullard, ups the ante by adding the barrier of race to that of class.

With the action placed in South Africa rather than Strindberg’s Sweden, set designer Kurtis Boetcher’s brought a realistic look and feel of a country known for its heat and expansive vistas. And he’s done this despite the fact that all we see throughout the play is a kitchen. With just colors and textures and insinuations within the dialog, a sense of exotic unfamiliarity took a firm hold.

If you do a little homework to find out about the original Miss Julie, you can understand the thought of reinterpreting it within the race context. Acclaimed for her ability to treat complex and controversial themes, Farber is an able candidate to tackle the subject. Her redo does a beautiful job of helping to understand the unique tensions between black South Africans and the Boer minority that once controlled the country.

The kitchen and home containing it belong to a prominent landowner we never see and his impetuous and demanding daughter Mies Julie; impressively performed by Heather Chrisler. It is cleaned and maintained by Christine (Celeste Williams), a native African woman. Her son John (Jalen Gilbert) joins her there where he’s fulfilling one of his many jobs as the landowner’s de facto manservant. We meet him while he’s cleaning boots. When Mies Julie sweeps in, she wears her status like an impenetrable cloak and brings with her a palpable tension and unease.

The vast chasm between the ruler and the ruled makes Mies Julie’s seduction of John all the more disturbing. And by using her institutionalized power over him to insure his submission, the play’s trajectory resembles a meteor screeching menacingly through the darkness. There’s also something missing; a nugget of essential truth that impedes the absolute acceptance of the main characters.

No such obstacles stood in the way of understanding how much the land means to both the indigenous black population and to those who colonized it. Christine repeatedly reminds her son of the generations of ancestors buried just beneath the foundation of the kitchen they’re standing in and how time will eventually return the land to those with a natural right to it. Despite the means by which they ceased the land, the white population’s stake in keeping it goes back as far as the late 1700’s when the Dutch initially arrived in the country. Even post-apartheid, land rights continue to play a volatile and contentious role in the dynamics of South Africa.

Perhaps there was just too much happening in one act to engender meaningful plausibility. Or maybe once the play began to move in earnest and then zoom toward an inevitable precipice, the sense of helplessness that overcomes the two main characters, on reflection, seemed rushed.

South African accents may not be the easiest to master. Any accent can be hazardous if it infringes too much on comprehension as it sometimes did during this performance. How much greater clarity would have helped bolster the cohesiveness of the storyline will remain an unknown.

Character portrayals were wonderful. Celeste Williams as Christine, a mother watching her son jeopardize both his and her security for an empty dream was Fort Knox solid. Heather Chrisler as Mies Julie knew how pull out all the stops to deliver riveting from the gut acting. And Jalen Gilbert as John was a pleasure to watch as he adroitly flipped from hot to cold with startling alacrity.

Giving us a living picture of South Africa is what Mies Julie did best. That in itself made for an enlightening journey.

Mies Julie

Victory Garden Theater

2433 N. Lincoln Ave.

Chicago, IL 60614

Show Close Date: 6/24/18

Sunset Pho Caffe – A Destination that Delivers

June 6, 2018 by Stevie Wills

What is flavor? When you stop in at Sunset Pho Caffe in the far reaches of upper Western, you’ll have no doubt why it rhymes with pleasure. For those of us who go through life in an endless quest for taste sensations both satisfying and sublime, finding eye fluttering surprises make our searches imminently worthwhile and this place seems loaded with them.

A serene little spot just below Peterson and directly across from the recently reinvigorated and revitalized West Ridge Nature Preserve, the restaurant’s proximity to green space helps soften Western’s intensity and gives it an air of quirky exclusivity.

For more people than you’d expect, pho (sounds like fun without the “n”) reigns supreme. A noodle soup that most commonly uses thin slivers of beef as the protein, pho can be made with any meat. And there’s a seafood version that incorporates shrimp, mussels and squid. As uninspiring as it may sound, the chicken version is a personal favorite and I’ve slurped it up in some of the most renowned pho palaces on Argyle. When done right, it elevates something humble into something grand. Star anise is the delicious floral accent in this broth that’s so delightful that you’d seriously consider changing your spoon out for a straw. The chicken version is served with a side plate generously piled with basil leaves, watercress and jalapeno pepper slices that are as fresh as they are plentiful. You can probably ask for more lime wedges. And there’s plenty of heat elements you can add on the table.

Thursday turned out to be a busy night. The bartender, in all black and sporting his own unique brand of suave, was also taking care of the patio tables out front. Inside, the room had that shiny penny look. Crisp, efficient, immaculate, comfortable, colorful; the walls carried images portraying the union of two worlds; one Slavic and one Asian. The chef, Ngoc Stakic, who hails from Viet Nam and her Croatian husband blend their two cultures in the kitchen too.

The convergence worked especially well in the spring roll appetizer that uses Cevapcici rather than the delicacy of shrimp inside the transparently thin won ton blankets. This little bit of rich decadence in the form of small pork sausages makes the party on your tongue

sparkle and is neither heavy or greasy.

Ultimately, the wonderful chicken pho and tasty fusion spring rolls proved to be no more than preludes to a fantastic finish. A well-placed question to my slightly harried wait person hit pay dirt. Before she recommended the spicy lemongrass noodle soup, she checked to make sure the “spicy” part wouldn’t be a problem. “Oh, no. Spicy is never dicey.” From the name, you had really no idea what to expect but the first thing that hits you when they set the bowl down were the delectable aromas rising from the bowl. It smelled intricately layered and irresistibly appealing. Diving in was even more wonderful. Slices of beef so thin you’d think they’d had been shaved with a mandolin floated in a broth the color of pale bronze and the flavors were as softly complex as they smelled. Chili flakes swam on the surface and an array of vegetables were placed alongside to gild the rose. Strands of red cabbage, slivers of onion, basil, watercress and cilantro could be dunked in, get a soak and add harmony to the excellent broth. Unlike the chicken pho that uses vermicelli noodles, the lemongrass soup used more toothsome noodles to accompany the beef. Some meals are so good they can instantly uplift your spirits and this one certainly ranks in that class.

It’s hard to think of a better place to take a big group of family or friends to enjoy delicious food in a relaxed and welcoming space. And you’d probably have just as much fun with a posse of one.

Sunset Pho Caffe

5726 N. Western Ave.

Chicago, IL

773-275-2327

Dinner Only

Opens at 4

Stefani Prime Italian – Attractive and Uneven

May 5, 2018 by Stevie Wills

Sitting on a site that’s been vacant for years, Lincolnwood’s new Stefani Prime Italian is undoubtedly a welcome addition to the neighborhood. With its sleek décor and menu focused on the tried and the true, the anticipation was that the food be as delicious as it is straightforward. There’s a raw bar, conventional appetizers that include steak tartare and caprese, a rustle of very familiar pasta dishes and; aside from a few seafood choices, lots of meat. It’s the meat dishes that get all of the love in the kitchen. Both the center cut filet and the bone in filet were very well prepared, marvelously tender and delectable. Nothing else shone with the same brightness. Portions are reasonable and, when considering the prosciutto and mozzarella appetizer, sometimes even generous. Fortunately, the dishes we took issue with were merely disappointing rather than truly objectionable.

The pasta primavera received the biggest sigh of regret. A rustic no-nonsense dish with rigatoni, peppers, eggplant, zucchini and basil pesto; we were all geared up for a bowl of vegetable bounty. Stefani Prime’s version keeps the green ingredients in startlingly short supply. Some couldn’t be found at all. Pasta primavera doesn’t ordinarily have a very thick or rich sauce but here it was particularly sparse; leaving most of it virtually dry. Fortunately, the chameleon nature of pasta makes it very accommodating. The thinly dressed rigatoni could be brought home and re-purposed with some homemade ragu. As a precaution, our waiter, Peter, also mentioned that the pasta would be cooked al dente. Another person ordered the dish as well and found it so much to the tooth that she asked that it be cooked more.

There are some automatic triggers on a menu that you order just because you see them. Fried calamari is one of them and it’s always interesting to see how different restaurants approach this mainstay. Will they be perfectionists who take the calamari to a higher level or will it be rather ordinary and uninspired. The calamari at Stefani Prime leans toward the latter. Portion size is not epic. Because of the calamari’s general mediocrity, there was little disappointment in not having more.

The room itself is handsome, efficient and refined. But it is the wait staff that proved to be the restaurant’s most appealing feature. Staying within a traditional steak house theme, all of them appeared to be male and were seasoned veterans. Peter was on point all evening and gracious throughout. By the end of the meal he even allowed his sense of humor to surface allowing the evening to climax in laughter over coffee.

Stefani Prime Italian

6755 N. Cicero Ave.

Lincolnwood, IL 60712

847-696-6755

opentable.com

Pisolino – It’s That Good

April 22, 2018 by Stevie Wills Leave a Comment

Sometimes Check Please comes through in a big way and introduces you to a restaurant that lives up to the all the gushing. Sitting flush on the sidewalk on Belmont just east California, Pisolino Italian Caffe’s got that super urban neighborhood feel; hard edges on the outside and soft and pretty on the inside. Although Rachel De Marte who owns the restaurant with her chef husband James calls the restaurant cozy, I’d lean more to warm and welcoming. In a town with hundreds of restaurants that aren’t, that description shouldn’t be taken lightly.

With a reservation for four, we were looking forward to getting a decent sampling of what the restaurant has to offer. The impression is that Pisolino’s is primarily a pizza house with classic Italian pasta options. Which is true but sounds limiting. I’d flip it and emphasize the pasta first even though the pizzas are very very nice. Even though our table thought the smoked burrata and smoked prosciutto pizza on special would have been even more enjoyable if the prosciutto was torn in smaller pieces, my palette couldn’t care less and was turning somersaults over the sensational mild yet distinct flavors. The chef spent a decade or more in Italy cooking in a number of renowned restaurants and brought all of that acquired knowledge and skill to his own kitchen. What you get is a commitment to quality and a love for authenticity. Even before the pizza, both of those attributes came through in, of all things, the cocktail.

Smoked burrata and smoked prosciutto pizza

Old school to the bone, they keep it as uncluttered and sharp at the bar as they do in the back of the house. Using just rye whiskey (Dickel’s), sweet vermouth and bitter liqueur, the bar staff created one outstanding Manhattan. It was so wonderfully balanced and clean; a solo trip might be in order to see if lightning can strike twice. And, if they have time, maybe even chat up the bartender to talk about “process”.

It can be a little daunting when one of your dinner companions is a famously picky eater. And this one is also considering going vegan. No worries. Settling on a potato gnocchi with fonduta di Asiago and white spring truffle, also on special, she practically chortled her pleasure with the selection. Once again, the quality of the ingredients was a luminous as the flavors. Forks from all directions dove kamikaze style into her bowl followed by a chorus of mmm’s and ahhhs. The bucatini carbonara got an equally warm reception. With bacon, yolk and pecorino, it’s by design rich, creamy and delicious. People started talking about bringing out of town friends and family to the restaurant and wondering if Pisolino does brunch. It doesn’t.

Hoping for rustic, dense flavors with depth and character, the orecchiette with spicy sausage, rapini, confit garlic and shallot with pecorino cheese looked promising. Asking for a little direction from the waitress, she was almost joyful in her enthusiastic endorsement of the choice. Which points to another great thing about Pisolino. The service was the most casually impeccable experienced anywhere. So much so that my jaded inner self kept saying “There’s no way this young lady can be as nice as she’s coming off”. If it was an act, even Ms. Streep would be impressed and it lasted through the whole meal. And yep, the orecchiette met every blissful expectation. Hearty, complex, with an ideal heat level and flavors that were decidedly artisanal, it was instantly understandable why it was a diner favorite.

Priced low enough to stay in the sphere of reasonable, but high enough to say this is a serious enterprise; the quality of the food and its preparation wouldn’t have anybody quibbling about cost. One thing you can’t put a price on is the unassuming conviviality of the space. That does mean the restaurant can get loud. But to these ears that also means people are enjoying their dining companions and their meals. It’s a happy sound. And it pairs with the food brilliantly.

Chicago Loves Valerie June

February 28, 2018 by Stevie Wills

Sometimes it seems we to focus far too much on the things that keep us separated. Things that highlight our differences. One of the few exceptions lies in the world of music. It is the common ground that doesn’t differentiate. The welcoming sphere that attracts people who love creativity, imagination and beauty manifested in sound and song.

Finding an artist who guilelessly defies categorization simply by being themselves and consistently creating exceptional music is like stumbling on exquisite treasure. One such treasure arrived in Chicago on a recent Thursday night at the Vic in the form of Valerie June Hockett. She goes simply by Valerie June and sinks her musical roots into many fertile fields. Bluegrass, R&B, folk, blues, country; she’s at home with them all. Replete with her massive dreads and lovely songs, she captivated the audience with her utterly unique voice, idiosyncratic style and songwriting skill. With its patina of weathered grace and long musical legacy, in many ways the Vic was the perfect venue for her talent.

Hockett readily reminds you that the banjo arrived as a musical instrument from Africa and that it’s unwise to make presumptions about what you can expect to hear when you see someone playing it.

Her banter was as interesting as her music. Casually weaving the mundane and the profound and talking as if she had just run into some old friends at the supermarket, she shared charming stories about how she writes her songs. How they can come to her in dreams and voices and how at other times she has to catch them lightning bugs. When she checked herself and said, “Ya’ll didn’t come here to hear me talk”, a woman’s voice affectionately shot back, “Yes we did.”

Birds of Chicago, Allison Russell & J.T. Nero

That spiritual essence that defines so much of her work shone though in those snippets of chat and endowed even greater depths of understanding of her music as the audience listened to her sing. Backed up by a wonderful band that kept the room shuttering with excitement, the atmosphere took on the aura of the transcendent.

So old school it still uses smoke machines to create a haze on the stage while artists perform, the Vic ups the ante with flawless lighting; imperceptibly melting colors from blue to lavender to pale pink over the stage. The affect remains seductively beautiful.

Valerie June’s lyrics don’t romanticize or castigate the Janus faces of love. A clear-eyed pragmatism permeates songs of desire and songs of disappointment. It’s the music behind the songs that provide the essential pointer on how to read them. Shakedown might be about somebody looking for love; but based on the song’s beautifully bottled frenzy, it’s clear they’re having a blast during the search.

Solidly anchored in up tempo roots rock and completely comfortable doing ballads and traditional folk, the husband wife duo Birds of Chicago was a brilliant choice to open for Hockett. Allison Russell’s enjoys remarkable control of voice and the couple delivered a set noted for its perfect pitch and artistic passion. The caliber of musicianship she and her husband J.T. Nero delivered made the opening set feel like a terrific main act.

Rightfully known for its great acoustics, the even dispersal sound couldn’t compensate for the Vic’s microphone problems which left the singers voices compressed; squelching clarity. Judging from the enthusiasm of the crowd, no one seemed to care.

Valerie June

February 15, 2018

The Vic Theater

3145 N. Sheffield Ave.

Chicago, IL 60657

773-472-0449

Rene Marie Conquers Chi Town

January 30, 2018 by Stevie Wills

A lot of people were there Thursday night to make up for last year. That’s when René Marie was originally scheduled for a show at the Logan Center with Freddie Cole and cancelled due to illness. As she and her trio walked on stage and prepared to begin, a woman in the audience exclaimed, “We love you!”. The statement threw Ms. Marie off guard for a second before she jokingly responded, “Thanks, Mom.”

Similar short and warm exchanges between the artist and those assembled to hear her peppered the entire set. Without giving details regarding her health, she simply said I’m sorry (about last year) with humble sincerity. All was forgiven even before she spoke those words and eased into a program full of beauty, nuance, humor and joy.

Following the audience’s suggestion, Ms. Marie went off script and sang songs from a number of her CD’s, not just her latest project, the Grammy nominated, Red. She even opened with somebody else’s work entirely; Turn the Page by Bob Seeger, a poignant and lovely song about the realities of being perpetually on tour.

Most times you can’t hear ‘em talk, other times you can

All the same clichés: “Is that a woman or a man?”

And you’re always seem outnumbered, you don’t dare make a stand

The vocalist has a knack for molding songs to reflect her view of the world and in that way, makes other people’s material sound as if she wrote them. Her interpretations are revelatory and have embedded within them the unmistakable gleam of wisdom. Add an exceptional and versatile voice to all of that and you have a portrait of an extremely gifted artist.

Quinton Baxter (l), Elias Bailey, Rene Marie, John Chin

Early on it was clear a unique bond was forming between the singer and her audience. Both seemed to be inspired by the other. Stimulated by Ms. Marie’s candor and openness, the audience seemed to subliminally validate and encourage her frankness. Even her band plugged into the vibe. John Chin, who’s worked on piano with Ms. Marie for over a decade, played with a soulfulness and vigor that had everyone sitting high in their seats lapping up the sweet and often rocking rhythms. Drummer Quinton Baxter and bassist, Elias Bailey, played with equal fluidity, control and musical sensitivity.

Inspired by “lust and imagination”, If You Were Mine typified Ms. Marie’s unique outlook, vocal gifts and style. With the slightest hint of jump blues folded into the sophistication of her jazz format, the song swung hard and was chock full of the kind of wit and insight that draws smiles of recognition to every face.

If You Were Mine may have been about the wanton desire of a woman for a man, but it did not warp the unconventional feminist bent in the overall tone of the evening. Stating at one point that “This is a wonderful time to be a woman”, she recounted how she followed her son’s advice that she take up singing professionally, talked of the courage it took to take that leap and the rewards of following your instincts. She then brought it forward to today and spoke admiringly of the burgeoning consciousness and impact of women’s empowerment and activism. Her comments were just part of the conversation that evening. Linking one wonderful song to another, leaving a deliciously sated audience and creating a long queue for CD’s after the show.

Chicago Sinfonietta King Tribute Superb

January 20, 2018 by Stevie Wills

The draw was three-fold. First, it was one of the few high-profile tributes to Dr. King. Second, it featured an important and obscure work by a literary giant, Langston Hughes. Finally, music performed by Chicago Sinfonietta would form the performances core. Reconnecting with their sound would be exciting.

They all converged to create something unexpected, new, intensely strong and mesmerizingly beautiful musically. The multi-media jazz and symphonic masterpiece by Laura Karpman carries the name of Hughes’ little known opus of a poem, Ask Your Mama. It won two Grammy Awards following its 2009 performance at Carnegie Hall. And on its Symphony Center debut, the production made for a very crowded stage. With three featured vocalists and two readers sharing the stage with the musicians and the conductor, the scene was more extravagant bounty than congestion.

Karpman, a highly successful contemporary composer who fluently incorporates technology into her compositions, declares she was “bowled over” when she initially stumbled on Hughes’ poem. An avid devotee to many forms of music, Hughes had recently attended the Newport Jazz Festival in 1960 before writing the poem. Music became an important parallel language running through his mind when he penned the work and it spilled out onto the work’s pages.

De’Adre Aziza (l), Nnenna Freelon, Janai Brugger

Her own eclectic introduction to a wide range of music expressions as a child immediately allowed her to bond with the poem. German lieders sit elbow to elbow with jazz, Spanish influenced material and hip hop. It’s a stew tailor made for richness.

Broken up into three parts, the 2 ½ hour program dazzled from the outset. The Sinfonietta’s sound is clean, precise and lush. Performing the music Karpman wrote to accompany Hughes text; the orchestra sailed from light and beautiful to brash and bold at lightning speed. Mei-Ann Chen, the orchestra’s music director and conductor, was flawless in her governance over both the orchestra and the singers. The sense was one of watching an exquisitely constructed machine operating at top performance.

Ask Your Mama as Hughes penned it was a response to white America. Pointed humor is a hallmark of his work and Ask Your Mama eloquently follows suit. Awareness, indignation and race pride fueled him creatively. When asked silly, inane questions that are so inappropriate or ludicrous to deserve a answer, a common response that can still be heard in the black community is, “Ask your mama.” Hughes makes it politically and socially relevant.

Much of the text was sung and the cast of voices assembled for that job was staggering in its excellence. The Carnegie Hall performance featured Jessie Norman. Three different New Yorkers were brought in for Chicago’s performance. Each has a unique pedigree and a voice that not only marvels on its own; but melds gorgeously with others.

Primarily known for her acting abilities, De’Adre Aziza’s vocal focus lies in jazz and soul. Because of her ability to “go low”, she jokes people call her the lady baritone. When she sings, she wants people to feel something. She wants to connect.

The scale of Ask Your Mama is epic. To carry off such a program so peerlessly is a bonanza for the audience. Each performer astounded with the beauty of her voice and the skill in which she molded it to the needs of the piece. Janai Brugger, a gifted soprano and native Chicagoan, was essential to the evening’s success. As was Nnenna Freelon whose distinguished career has accumulated six Grammy nominations for her jazz vocals.

Chicago Sinfonietta does something wonderful every year to commemorate Dr. King’s birthday. As they’ll tell you in an instant, the orchestra existence is the result of a change meeting in an airport between King and the orchestra’s founder, Paul Williams. The bald joy and clear sincerity in current conductor Chen’s voice when she recounts the story is stunning and may be one reason the orchestra is thriving so well under her leadership

Exotic Comfort Food at Chicago Curry House

December 15, 2017 by Stevie Wills Leave a Comment

In Chicago’s dynamic food universe, it’s easy to overlook the tried and true. Places that seem to always be there cooking solid meals with consistency and distinction day after day with or without tremendous acclaim or fanfare. Places like Chicago Curry House, a quiet little spot tucked away in the 800 block of Plymouth Ct that specializes in Nepalese and Indian staples.

There’s only one pre-requisite for visiting the restaurant. You must have a deep appreciation for well prepared, delicious food. Then it doesn’t really matter if you know a lot about either cuisine. Both rely on a broad knowledge of spices that run the gamut from mild to piquant to hot. Like good chefs all over the world, the cooks preparing the food at Chicago Curry House seem to have an innate sense of flavor balance. Expertly composed, the curries always taste delicately complex and are full of the most wonderful flavor touches.

The restaurant’s nine-page menu lets you choose from a two-culture spectrum of meals that will accommodate tiny as well as robust appetites. You’d expect plenty of vegetarian options and the menu dutifully delivers.

Bordered by China and India, Nepal is vastly more influenced by the latter and the similarities extend deeply into the food. There may be a few spices used that are unique to the Himalayas but many of the most common are prevalent in Indian cuisine as well. The difference is in application and if Chicago Curry House is typical, Nepalese cuisine has a tendency to take a subtler approach to the use of spices that shape flavor.

There’s also an interesting and wide use of goat, lamb and fish choices that are virtually unheard of in standard Indian fare. Chicken of course is ubiquitous and can be found here in abundance.

Opportunities do a little sampling can be found and the vegetarian or non-vegetarian dinner are good starts. The equivalent of a generous combination platter; each is substantial. The non-veg of the two arrives on a wooden serving board carrying butter chicken, tikka masala, tandoori chicken and lamb sausages. They’re all surrounded by fresh cut onions, carrots, cucumbers and sliced lemon. Pillow soft naan floats down. Beside it is a bowl of vegetable curry with corn, lima beans, green beans and carrots. Here the curry is thin and light enough to be a beautifully flavored soup with a pleasing second note of heat following every spoon full.

Rice is something we all too often take for granted because it’s usually just used as a platform. A stage for some other star. The Curry House’s long basmati rice is gold. Impossibly light, each grain is its own delicious morsel; the polar opposite of sticky rice.

If you can judge a restaurant by who it attracts, this calm eatery has ingratiated itself on a wide variety of palettes. Strategically located just outside the Loop and easily accessible from all directions, the clientele is as varied as a Red Line car during rush hour at the Roosevelt stop. And it’s no wonder. Who doesn’t like reasonably priced genuinely good food. During dinner, there’s even an air of refinement that surrounds the experience.

What’s baffling is why the buffet isn’t more popular. It could be that the set format of buffets lends themselves to staid predictability. And the commitment to making every dish sparkle simply isn’t as rigorous as it is at dinner. Still, at $11.95 (weekdays), CCH’s buffet is a bargain writ large. The variety of choices is as interesting as it is impressive. The Sambar soup, accented with cloves and cooked down to the point of near disintegration, was silken and wonderful. Sure, the Khasi Ko Maasu, an appetizing goat dish, could have been a couple of tads more tender; but it was still great amusement on the tongue. Add to that samosas, a Nepali style spicy potato salad, eggplant curry and both Tandoori and butter chicken. The list goes on. With that kind of fuel in the furnace, you’re set for any battle you possibly face.

Chicago Curry House

899 S. Plymouth Ct.

Chicago, IL 60605

312-362-9999

www.CurryHouseOnline.com

Santiago Sessions Soars

October 28, 2017 by Stevie Wills Leave a Comment

It’s hard to imagine a style of music so big and embracive that it can consume whole cultures and nations. Latin dance music is one such beast and the renowned Fania Records in NYC has been celebrating its explosive energy since the mid 60’s.

The label ended up with its own tribute a couple of years after Jose Marquez deejayed the Manana Festival in Santiago de Cuba. Marquez, who began building his name as a formidable DJ and producer in 2010 by kneading his love of Afro-Latin, Caribbean and other World music into electronic and dance formats, introduced his remix of Hector Lavoe’s and Willie Colon’s classic Aqualine at the festival. Fania had originally produced the piece. Marquez was stunned by the crowds resoundingly positive response to the remix. And so impressed were Fania representatives in attendance that the label eventually offered Marquez a full remix EP deal that culminated in Santiago Sessions.

Sara Skolnick, Fania’s director of music experience, elaborated. “That was a special opportunity to connect with Jose, as so many of the sounds in his productions and also in the formation of the Fania sound originated in Cuba and in the African diaspora that is reflected there.”

An homage to the label and the cavalcade of exemplary talent nurtured by it, Santiago Sessions is a sizzling accumulation of joy. Not only is Marquez’s remix of Aqualine splendid during its entire 10:49 minutes, his reimagined Herencia Africana, originally performed by Celia Cruz, shines just brightly.

Nearly all of the tracks reflect how easily Latin and African rhythms blend to become the other’s natural complement. The vocal solo in Un Bembe Pa’Yemaya has the sense of echoing through time and space before being absorbed in a scintillating dance beat. Indestructable constitutes the most traditionally rendered cut on the album and opens with a sweetly suggestive piano intro before sliding into a decidedly buoyant melody with a uniquely Latin spin.

Beautifully reinterpreting past classics into a more contemporary dance idiom, Marquez’s Santiago Sessions is a master lesson in how to seamlessly fuse dynamic musical forms.