Feed Me Chicago

Giant Stands Up to the Test

December 28, 2018 by Greg Threze

After reading John Kessler’s explosive Chicago Magazine article about the waning “mojo” of the city’s dining scene, you can’t help but reassess your own views of what it’s like to eat in this rambunctious town. Drawn from his expansive view of local trends across the country, Kessler’s in a unique position to see and taste how Chicago compares to other cities who pride themselves on the multiplicity of their culinary options. It also brought to mind a recent special occasion dinner at Giant, one of a cluster of restaurants enjoying mad love from Chicago’s dining legions. From purely an eating experience, Giant proved a surprising simply because everything we ate was so undeniably delicious. But if we were to measure Giant using Kessler’s yardstick, would we have enjoyed the meal just as much?

Chicagoans haven’t had to go downtown to reach culinary sublimity for decades. Wonderful restaurants continue to wedge themselves into both offbeat and marquee neighborhoods alike. Finding its home in hip Logan Square, Giant looks and feels like its surroundings. Young, confident and welcoming; a regular Tuesday evening visit felt like prime-time Saturday night. A persistent hum of success and satisfaction rode heavy in the air and you could almost smell contentment rising from the restaurant’s diners.

One of Kessler’s more pointed observations about the city is that the dining public is not terribly demanding nor very hard to please. He has point. There is a lot of band wagon hopping and not a lot of reasoned well considered criticism about either the restaurant scene or the restaurant industry here.

Sweet and sour eggplant with cashews and pancetta

With its proletarian leanings and fondness for posting recipes on its web site, there’s cause to belief the transplanted Atlanta food critic would approve of Giant. The recipe that currently up tells you how make their wonderful sweet and sour eggplant with cashews and pancetta. And it’s one of the restaurant’s staple crowd pleasers. epitomizing the restaurant’s approach to making people feel good, two wonderful naan like patties join the eggplant adding rich textural contrast to the dish’s silkiness. Deep complementary flavors run rampant revealing the keen attention taken to that commitment to excellence comes through in even the humblest dishes; like the onion rings. Light as angel wings with a coating that shatters gently and deliciously with each bite, they are self-effacing little knockouts.

When a server asks the allergy or food sensitivity question, count it as an opportunity to make your meal even more enjoyable and pleasing. If your body finds too much salt sketchy, say so. You might be surprised how much better you’ll respond to a dish with that extra shake taken out. The king crab tagliatelle with chili butter didn’t seem to miss those few shakes in the least. The dish’s flavors flowed together as harmoniously as the Manhattan Transfer and couldn’t have been gratifying.

Saffron Tagliatelle with King Crab and chili butter

Not exactly a small plates kind of place, there’s still a lot of actively encouraged sharing going on. Because their approach to food is so fresh, accessible and interesting Giant makes plate passing exciting and fun.

People go out to eat for many reasons but they all want to say the next day that the food was wonderful. At Giant, you are all but guaranteed to sing the restaurant’s praises because the restaurant has been consistently making people happy with their food since they threw open their doors last year. Chicagoans aren’t the only ones who like value for their dollar and on this point, Giant resoundingly delivers.

Like so many well-regarded restaurants in town, the emphasis here seems to be on making sure every dish nails palette pleasure. Keefer’s point that nearly all of our restaurants can get a lot more serious about seasonal availability is well taken and something to take more notice of when spring and summer roll around. Tapping more aggressively into the region’s seasonal bounty would add even more shimmer and exclusivity to their already impressive menus; even Giant’s.

Giant

3209 W. Armitage Ave.

Chicago, IL 60647

773-252-0097

Dinner only

closed Sunday & Monday

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Goosefoot 7.0

November 14, 2018 by Stevie Wills

Goosefoot vanilla/matcha tea/truffle/cherry/pink peppercorn

At seven years old this coming December, Goosefoot; that oasis of fine dining on along Lawrence Avenue, has the feel of a well established and confident veteran. The spirit and energy driving the restaurant remains unchanged. Thanks to the combined vision of super chef Chris Nugent and his imminently versatile wife, Nina; the restaurant continues to bewitch. The imagination that’s so beautifully evident in the kitchen and in the dining room’s sly take on elegance are a reflection of two highly creative minds.

The immediate sense of serenity and peace when you enter the small foyer also remains a constant. There may be minor tweaks, usually in the center of the room where a visual homage to the legacy of the Beatles is often found. Currently the theme encompasses Woodstock with a forest of miniature multi-colored trees covering one table with a gorgeous continually changing blue sky projected above them. The concept couldn’t be more enchanting.

Other little changes make themselves evident. Like the employment of a helper in the front of the house. She didn’t introduce herself and we didn’t ask, but she assisted in greeting, seating and serving. Not only her accent but also her demeanor strongly suggested a European approach where deference and efficiency are highly prized attributes.

If there is anything that acts as Goosefoot’s muse, other than an understated and refined sense of beauty, it would be music. The couple’s Beatles affinity doesn’t restrict their musical taste. The voice of Nina Simone can still be heard over the low hum of dinner chatter. Easily accessible jazz and standards from other genres also softly flow from speakers to reveal sophisticated and nuanced musical perceptions.

One surprise, a streamlined the menu, serves three purposes. Nugent hasn’t had to prove his pedigree since setting Les Nomades on its ear a decade ago. Now he seems to be challenging himself, flexing his culinary muscles to both excite and delight. Rightfully known for the ethereal perfection of his soups, his usual tact is to focus on the continuity of the soup’s harmony with every spoonful celebrating flawlessness of flavor. Never overpowering, his soups always seem to maintain incredible balance and absolute purity. Now, to add substance to the course, he’s sunken a bounty of treasures into the intoxicating broth and calls it big easy pumpkin soup. With pheasant and crab; and using smoked paprika and espelette, a Mexican herb, as flavor enchanters; the dish is a stunning love child of New Orleans and Paris. To add mystery and adventure to the experience, Nugent hides this wonder under a light and delicious cloud of sculpted foam. The change in approach helps reduce the number of entrée’s, lowers the prix fix price and expands the chef’s repetorie. Everybody wins.

Another very welcome change in the way things are done was found in Nina’s pasta; a veritable staple on Goosefoot’s menu. Recruiting both parmasean and pecorino in its base, the final profile can be quite strong; even bracing. Nugent’s shaved off the sharp edges making the final product a more rounded and appreciably smoother.

Everything else remains consistently wonderful. The fall angus beef is decadently succulent recalling the beautiful richness of duck. A recurring suite of diver scallop, lemongrass, coconut and lobster was so good it was humbling.

One thing that sometimes goes under appreciated because it is such a constant is the celebrated Goosefoot chocolate bar. It’s not unusual for chefs, like any artist, to be multi-talented. But it’s not often they’re also accomplished chocolatiers. Nugent’s perennial little chocolate bar encased in gold and stamped with what appears to be Mayan hieroglyphic symbols are show stoppers to the eye and for the tongue. According a Tribune piece more than a decade ago, a good chocolatier must possess mental and physical robustness, exercise Zen like focus, and be immune to both pressure and the psychological toll relentless repetition exacts. The bar’s bottom layer of contrasting flavors and the high quality of the chocolate’s preparation prove that Nugent has checked all of the requisite boxes.

In a business that can be brutally unsparing, it’s gratifying to see a restaurant of Goosefoot’s stature, caliber and warmth continue to thrive.

Goosefoot

Avant-garde American Fare

2656 W. Lawrence Ave.

Chicago, IL 60625

773-942-7547

goosefoot.net

Slab Bar-B-Que Shoots to the Top

October 12, 2018 by K.J. Stone

How many marks of excellence does a BBQ house needs to become a return destination? Not many; but each one is critical if you want that repeat business to be assured. Your product can’t be dry, bland or skimpy. Good BBQ is meaty, succulent, flavorful and, if the Q gods are in the house, bountiful for the price. That’s why there’s usually a large and unexpected mix of humanity clustered in the front of Slab BBQ on 71^st St. during the lunch and dinner hours.

One Saturday a young guy from Skokie said he made the pilgrimage to Slab because a buddy of his raved about the barbeque. After doing a little voice tally with everybody else waiting for their orders, it turned out every one of us was a brand-new customer. All had high expectations to match the high spirits in the air. One woman shared what she didn’t like about another (highly regarded) BBQ establishment on the south side. And she was anything but charitable.

A worker going about his chores in the front of the house and wearing a slightly risqué T shirt alluding to his manliness kept announcing, “Once you eat these ribs you will definitely be back for more! And you should try the greens! They’re good!”

Friendly and sincere, his banter added to the lighthearted air of anticipation. Our order, simple and direct, would put the restaurant to the test: a full slab of St. Louis ribs and a large order of rib tips. Rather than go for the greens as a side, something said give the baked beans a go. Shouldn’t have listened. Thin and sweet, they didn’t have either the hoped-for heft or zing. But once teeth sank into the ribs and tips, the mediocrity of the beans was immediately pardoned.

Unless you’re a purist, you too probably don’t understand the tradition of putting a couple of pieces of white bread and fries on top of a BBQ order. It’s so pervasive you might as well regard it as sacrosanct. They seem to do it everywhere and Slab’s no exception. Both the bread and the fries end up as soggy and unappetizing roadblocks to the main event.

During the first Slab experience, both the rib slab and the rib tips were incredibly perfect. Each was so moist they were almost juicy. The slightest pull brought the meat from the bone and initiated a wonderful chew. Meat and sauce blended in heavenly harmony. They were the kind of ribs that make you want to be greedy.

Several weeks later, fulfilling the worker’s prophesy, a return visit saw the order vary only slightly. This time though all sauce was on the side. One mild and one hot. Behind the glass wall was a beehive of hyperactivity as orders flew, meat met flame, and meals got packaged. The young cashier remained peach cobbler sweet as she tweaked orders to customer specifications and rang up transactions. “No bread and fries. No worries.”

Even though both ribs and tips retained that wonderful tenderness and natural sweetness, we’ll go back to having the sauce lightly lacquered onto the meat by fire. Penetrating the flesh just enough to bond the two complimentary flavors, and brought together by some excellent queing techniques, the ribs at this latest entry into the BBQ wars can contend with the best. If this keeps up, Slab BBQ will be staying on the destination list for some time to come.

Slab Bar-B-Que

1918 E. 71^st

Chicago, IL 60649

773-966-5018

slabbq.com

FoodBowl ?!

August 29, 2018 by K.J. Stone

Even with the Tribune’s official announcement of its three-week long eating extravaganza dubbed the Chicago Tribune Food Bowl, it was pretty hard to determine exactly why this mega event was taking place. A little scratching revealed the newspaper is emulating its one time sister paper, the Los Angeles Time’s and its super successful May event of the same name. By saying L.A.’s a place where a lot of fun things happen in bowls, like the Rose Bowl and the Hollywood Bowl, L.A. offered a reason for calling their festival a “food bowl”. Similar explanations were curiously missing from the Tribune’s promotional publications. Also, in Los Angeles, the event places a strong emphasis on altruism by “promoting conversation of sustainability, food waste and hunger”. Such aspirations are notably absent in Chicago’s iteration of the festival.

But let the comparisons end there. The two cities took very different approaches to the party and we were interested to see exactly what the Chicago festival “felt” like. If the two events we hooked into were any clue, it’s all about having fun in an elevated form of sport dining.

Scene from Tribune’s Food Bowl launch announcement at Cindy’s Rooftop photo by Chicago Tribune

With over 100 venues offering wonderfully tempting things to eat, the festival covers a lot of ground. You could hitch your star to a Chinese cuisine boat as it putts from downtown to Chinatown, go cheese crazy at an evening with Bistronomic or hang out with Bill Kim and his Korean chef posse as they do BBQ home-style on bellyQ’s patio.

Panel discussions on topics central to the restaurant industry were held throughout the three weeks. Food related tours and functions that entailed pouring were also be available.

For us, it was farm to table rooftop dining at the Marriott on the Mag mile and a mixology demonstration with pro tips at Remedy’s in Wicker Park that lured us in.

Despite the roof top part of the Marriott event not happening, the consolation prize of dining in the kitchen turned out to be more than satisfying. Besides, it’s always best not to gamble with Mother Nature when thunderstorms are in the forecast.

Kicking off early at 5:30 or 6, the evening began sedately in a sleek and sparsely furnished meeting space converted into an impromptu lounge. Lovely hors d’oeuvres, champagne and Sophia beer were generously served. Each guest was assigned a table before they were escorted to the cavernous kitchen. Five or six tables with seven people per made it intimate and low lights added a sense of adventure.

Using a number of ingredients grown on the hotel’s rooftop garden, the five-course meal included heritage prairie greens, cured whitefish, smoked chicken, steak roulade and a thoroughly original strawberry basil shortcake. Each course was paired with an excellent wine or beer option.

Ample servings and pours from seemingly bottomless bottles encouraged conversation and it wasn’t long before each table was swimming in a sea of words. Ours was made up of a Floridian couple celebrating a respectfully numbered anniversary, a spunky birthday girl flanked by her spirited entourage, a refugee from Milwaukee hungry for art and the curious. Marriott’s Executive Chef, Frank Sanchez proved the most congenial of hosts as he provided the inspiration and reviewed the preparation of each dish.

As worthy as it was of its 80 bucks per head price tag, the totally free mixology event at Remedy was right on the Marriott’s heels according to the fun meter. Showing up early to insure ringside seating proved completely unnecessary. Only eight souls ventured out to get the skinny on cocktails that night.

At first, nobody at the bar seemed to know what was going on. “I think they’re doing it at that end of the bar”, the attending bartender said a little warily. She hadn’t been briefed on the Food Bowl concept and was waiting for someone with more knowledge to show up. In the meantime, the drinking acolytes continued to trickle in.

Over custom gin based cocktails, the Rhubarbarella and the Puns and Roses, a lot of experienced knowledge, useful advice and genuine encouragement got passed our way by the time everything wound down two hours in. Don’t be reticent about experimenting with bitters. One dash can alter an experience and black walnut is particularly versatile. Selecting ingredients to complement or contrast flavors is a learned skill. You have to do in order to become proficient. And Imbibe magazine is a great resource that’s well respected in the industry.

The Food Bowl was proving enlightening as well as entertaining. But I can’t help but wonder, where’s the heart?

Chicago Tribune Food Bowl

August 8 – August 26, 2018

www.ctfoodbowl.com

Three Little Wonders – Bacci, Noon o Kabab, Peach’s

August 7, 2018 by Greg Threze

None of the following three restaurants have anything in common other than their knack for consistently offering delicious food at reasonable prices. In a couple of cases, the prices are remarkably low.

Bacci, even though they’ve been around since the mid 90’s, was a complete surprise. Suddenly it was just there when I found myself very hungry in an unfamiliar part of town. Montrose and Milwaukee in Jefferson Park turns out to be loaded with the no frills charm of a robust Chicago neighborhood where commerce and the everyday chug along in easy harmony.

Noted for their jumbo pizza slices that measure almost a foot across at the top and run 15 ½ inches down to the pizza’s point, Bacci’s menu is a lot deeper than you think. The pies are filling, well prepared, satisfying and popular. But if you ever find yourself near one of the restaurant’s eight locations, trying one of their pasta offering might prove a terrific idea.

At $4.95 during lunch, it’s impossible to find a better value for your money. Choose from five noodle options and six sauces. The Pomodoro (tomato) sauce couldn’t have been more splendid with robust flavors and perfect density. A later visit found the meat sauce just as impressive and also displayed all the distinctive hallmarks of a made to order dish. You can get additional ingredients like spinach or mushrooms ($1 @ lunch, $2 @ dinner) but weigh that possibility carefully. You may have to do a deep dive search for some of them once your meal arrives.

In more familiar territory, Noon o Kabob in that beehive known as Albany Park has been around nearly as long as Bacci’s but decided to stay rooted in the turf they were born in. True to its name, the restaurant has ample selections of skewered meat to choose from and also has a few hints of what else this ancient cuisine cooks scattered over the menu.

Typical plating construction at Noon o Kabab

Like Bacci’s, you order at a front counter and wait for the food to be brought to you. Much of the lunch menu is priced below $10. Besides selecting your protein, you can choose between dill or saffron rice or do a combo. Vegetables come fresh as salads on the plate or grilled. There’s a lightness in the preparation that gives the food a particular purity. Dining as part of a trio on the last visit, each meal varied from the next and each was delectable. Neither heavy nor dry, the falafel was aromatic and softly textured. Both the chicken and beef kababs were succulent and expertly seasoned. The small container of a tomato based sauce that accompanies most orders was nicely piquant and added just the right snap when mixed with the rice. If anything, Noon o Kabab has gotten better over time.

Peaches, down on the other end of the lake in Bronzeville hasn’t been around for 20 plus years but they’re still a well-loved fixture on the corner of 47^th and King Drive. Featuring southern comfort food to the bone with a concentration on breakfast, they’ve taken to elevating their offerings and giving them a little fine dining flair. Their shrimp and grits, both a staff and customer favorite, is a perfect example of how well a simple concept responds to a little creativity. Using top flight ingredients, large juicy shrimp loll in the buttery cheesy creamy grits along with a generous sprinkling of bacon chunks and sliced mushrooms. Garnished with a small mound of julienned green onion stems, the presentation is beautiful. Rich to the point of mild embarrassment, the final product is an indulgence you may only allow yourself once a year if you’re watching your nutrition numbers. Keep in mind the kitchen intentionally does not always give the shrimp a thorough rinse. Let them know if you have sodium concerns and they’ll gladly make the necessary corrections. At $13.95, the shrimp and grits are still a hands down bargain. And you can rest assured, there are many many equally appetizing meals on the menu to choose from.

Peach’s Restaurant

4652 S. King Dr.

peachson47th.com

773-966-5801

Noon o Kabab

4661 N. Kedzie Ave.

noonokabab.com

773-279-8899

Bacci Pizza

4367 N. Milwaukee Ave.

baccipizza.com

773-304-3000

A Tasty View of the Taste

July 13, 2018 by Gladys Anson Leave a Comment

Just one hour past noon and the Taste of Chicago’s Main Street, Columbus Drive, was swimming in people and all of them seemed to be in terrific spirits. That good times energy stayed locked in place throughout the 2 hours of back and forth looking for that perfect “taste” that would mark the discovery of a new dining jewel.

Excursions to the Taste tend to be couple and small group affairs which meant the air was filled with questions like, “Where should we start first?”, “What do you feel like?” and “How many tickets do you have left?”

If you haven’t been to the Taste of Chicago in a while, enough has changed that you might feel a little disoriented. Grabbing a map when you snag your tickets would be a smart move.

Tickets come in $10 blocks of 14 tickets. On average, $20 or 28 tickets should easily fill the tank. But if your strategy is to spend several hours in the mix, you’ll need to up your investment accordingly. Options remain clearly listed in front of each booth, pop-up or food truck. And as usual, you can get full portions as well as taste servings. Most people still opt for the smaller portions and the size of that taste still can vary wildly.

Aunty Joy’s Jamaican Kitchen, new to the party as of this year, should be a favorite for all the right reasons. Jerk options are all over the place but I doubt if many of them can clear the high bar Auntie Joy’s has set. Succulent isn’t a word you usually hear about a Taste of Chicago experience but it certainly applies to the offerings at booth #38. The taste portion includes two respectable drumsticks and your choice of a slice of white bread or, what’s highly recommended, a Festival which is a chubby cylinder of fried dough. With its slightest hint of sugar that plays off so beautifully with the wonderful spices used to flavor the chicken, the dish is a hands down winner. Moist, tender and delicious, thoughts of scoring the full portion were seriously entertained. But no, more adventures beckoned.

Jerk Chicken with Festival – photo by Jaclyn Rivas

Sun Wah, a staple in little Viet Nam up on Broadway and Argyle, has been enjoying notable fame and glory for their prowess with duck for years. Another newcomer to the taste this summer, the curious wondered how they’d be treating their renowned Peking specialty. Heading to booth 24 to find out, a new Taste reality reared its head.

Not all vendors are there for all 5 days of the festival. There’s a little strip of booths dedicated to Pop Ups, or one day concessions, that change from one day to the next. Sun Wah’s day in the sun was yesterday. So, if not duck, what?

There are certain combinations that sound heavenly. Lobster and mac and cheese is one of them which may explain the long line waiting patiently in front of Da Lobsta, a food truck on the far south end of the drive. The decision to wait in that queue verified you can’t always believe a long line means good food. With small flecks of fake lobster studded on top of mediocre mac and cheese, you have the Taste of Chicago of old. Perhaps not a rip-off, but definitely a disappointment. Chucking most of that sad delusion into the trash and beginning to wither in the heat, a break and a rethink were in order.

The Taste of Chicago has never been known to be very accommodating when considering the comfort of the thousands of people prowling the thoroughfare for fun food. But on the north end of the strip and beneath a thick haven of shade trees, a wide and long swath of brightly colored and inventively decorated astroturf was provided for folks to stop and drop. Located in an area designated as the Artist Garden, it proved the perfect to spot to recharge and decide to go back and check out what some of the other new concessions had to offer.

Hakka Bakka Indian Kati Rolls was doing their one day shot on Pop Up row and had something called the chicken tikka kati roll. After hearing the server’s rather vague description, it still sounded like it had potential. My understanding of Kati rolls is that they’re usually crisp and dry. These are not and remind you more of a thick, moist crepe. Even though the portion size may have been modest compared to Auntie Joy’s, the flavor satisfaction compared favorably to those delightful drumsticks. The spice profile was definitely on point and the chicken was beautifully prepared. If anything, the dish could have used just a small sprinkle more of salt to allow all of the flavors to bloom more fully. It was still a wonderful choice and, for some, having two exceptional experiences at a Taste outing is practically unheard of.

But there were still 10 tickets looking for reason to fly and, for all practical purposes, only one place to release them. Esperanza, also making their debut this year, was featuring mango sorbet with swirls of red chili syrup and topped with fresh mango chunks. Ideal for any otherwise sated but weary and overheated hedonist. Granted, 10 tickets is steep and the diced mango may have been far from ripe, but the cup was deep and the satisfaction of repeated spoon dives in restorative sorbet was mighty. Those 10 tickets were well used.

It’ll be a challenge to get back to the Taste before the tents fold on Sunday, but it’s definitely worth a valiant try.

Taste of Chicago

July 11 – 15, 2018

Grant Park

Chicago

Band of Bohemia – Paradise on Ravenswood

June 26, 2018 by K.J. Stone

If there was ever a restaurant in Chicago achieving a perfect balance, it would be Band of Bohemia. Nailing the basics with their exceptionally prepared dishes and sophisticated approach to a complete dining experience, they’ve moved on to conquer higher peaks. Distinguishing itself by making food far better than most, the restaurant’s leadership has also built an alliance between the kitchen and the floor staff that compliments both. It may be their success in doing so that explains their Michelin star.

In its neighborhood digs a little south of Lawrence on Ravenswood, the vibe is total chill. After all, Band of Bohemia is technically a brew pub since they make their own beer. And as such, you’d expect a certain non-chalance. But most brew pubs don’t feature upholstered furniture, dense exotic curtains and custom cloth napkins. And, because the restaurant also serves very high quality food along with their booze, they can just as accurately be termed a gastropub. Since beer is their touchstone, every dish is composed to complement it.

Comprised of three connecting spaces, the first two open to an expansive high ceilinged dining room that is overflowing with visual riches. Fabric, metals and wood combine to make up a room that is inviting, comfortable and completely happy with its unorthodox good looks. A large, long and welcoming bar acts as the bulwark for the large kitchen a distance behind it. Attractive ambient lighting abounds and adds to the spaces warmth; encouraging both conversation and conviviality.

As good as the beer may be, it is only nominally the star. Phenomenal attention is given to the food. There’s also a gentle but determined emphasis on making sure you understand what you’ll be eating. Everyone in the waitstaff seems to know the menu well and are able to talk about its nuances. “Is the coconut broth with the halibut noticeably sweet?” “No, not really. You taste the coconut but it’s leavened with other spices that makes it an accent; not overly dominant.” They could have gone on to say that the broth, painting the palette as it did with coconut and Asian flavors, was arrestingly delicious. Chinese sausage, ramps and endive rounded out the plate and enhanced the halibut and its wonderful broth beautifully.

If you like texture and the way it can be used to playfully tease as well as satisfy, you’ll love the fried eggplant. Word play is a popular sport in the restaurant business and Band of Bohemia has decided to theme their menu like symphonies. Appetizers are prefaces and interludes are small plates. The eggplant is a preface that has its true origins in Mexico because the naan plays the part of a tortilla. Everything else is assembled in its circle with the eggplant leading.

It’s kind of remarkable because nothing is blanketing the radishes, chilies, eggplant or herbs to the point they are overwhelmed. The aioli is a light connecting thread that pulls all of the components together and gives the freshness and textures of each of them a chance to shine.

Describing his food as progressive American, chef Ian Davis has played at the top of the food game in both London and New York before choosing to redirect his destiny to Chicago. It’s difficult to fathom the depth of attention to detail needed to captain a starship like Band of Bohemia. Davis credits mentor Matt Rudofker at New York’s Momofuku Saãm Bar for his zeal for detail. It’s the detail that gets you closer to perfection and at Band of Bohemia you can taste it in every bite. Without it the magic would completely disintegrate.

Some things are better not ordered if you lean toward the ravenous when you dine out. A dish may be delectable, but it may not be substantial. The lamb saddle is a good example. A premium cut of the lamb’s flank, the actual amount of meat may be 4 ounces. With just a sprinkling of fava beans, petite greens, lamb bacon and crisp polenta like fingers called panisse, it is an elfin portion even though it sits in the conclusion (entrée) section of the menu. You definitely won’t walk away bloated and may be a little disappointed if one of your purposes was to leave with a topped-out tank.

Reimagined desserts are as interesting and delicious as any of the restaurant’s offering. Some, like the wonderful milk chocolate crème brûlée with cashews, green tea sponge cake and yuzu sorbet are even head turners sitting in its glass terrarium bowl. And it tastes as beautiful as it looks.

Band of Bohemia

4710 N. Ravenswood

Chicago, IL 60640

773-271-4710

info@bandofbohemia.com

Closed Mondays

Tues – Sun Dinner Only

Brunch – Sat & Sun 10 – 2

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

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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.