Posted by Robyn Lee, August 30, 2008 at 5:00 PM
Roy is right; the "black shit" is awesome.
I don't know who the hell Roy is or if I can trust his palate, but according to him the Korean restaurant San Soo Gap San in Chicago is "the greatest restaurant in the entire world." And after reading his maniacally enthusiastic review accompanied by photos labeled in a way that seems more appropriate for a sports recap, I almost agree with him. He may not give the most illustrative descriptions—he refers to the kalbi sauce as "mysterious brown goo that makes everything better"—but he tells you what you need to know: that [x food] tastes good. Now I want to feast on "egg disc things" and brown goo-slathered short ribs. (Warning: Watch his introductory video at your own risk.)
San Soo Gap San
5247 N. Western Avenue, Chicago IL 60625 (at Farragut Avenue; map)
773-334-1589
Posted by Michael Nagrant, August 28, 2008 at 4:45 PM
If Edward Hopper were Korean, he probably wouldn’t have modeled his famous Nighthawks painting after a Greenwich Village diner. Rather, he might have considered Susie’s Noon Hour Grill in Chicago’s Rogers Park. Susie’s doesn’t have much neon but there’s an ample flat-top, a vintage Pepsi cooler, and plenty of cheesy décor including some disturbing clown paintings.
The food is a mix of American breakfast diner standards like pancakes and bacon with Korean stalwarts like pa jun and bulgogi. Sometimes the two cultures meet in owner Soon Lee’s (she also goes by Susie) kimchee omelet. There’s plenty of good stuff at Susie’s, including Lee herself—a charming grandmotherly type who does everything from washing dishes to taking and cooking the orders.
I stumbled upon Susie’s Noon Hour Grill last week and ordered an array of dishes—all pretty good, but I was really intrigued by the chop chae. Generally the chop chae I’ve come across is a nondescript mass of super-salty limp noodles, flaccid vegetables, and steamed meat. But not this.
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As contracts with "refreshment car" vendors run out (the last one expires Friday), the regional rail network has chosen not to renew them: "The commuter rail line has decided to shut down its rolling taverns, ending an era that hearkens back to the days when executives in gray flannel suits climbed aboard club cars and lubricated the journey home with martinis."
Posted by Adam Kuban, August 27, 2008 at 11:00 AM
"Free ice cream. Cool ZIP code."
I have no idea what ice cream has to do with 90210, but the CW network has come up with a stunt to promote the revival of that icon of '90s teen dramas:
To promote its already much-hyped ZIP Code revival, The CW will give away 100,000 ice cream novelties over the Labor Day weekend. The network has hired ice cream trucks to drive around waterfront locations in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago to distribute the tasty treats.
The story at TV Week says there will likely be ice pops and "something from the chocolate family."
We'll be fine as long as there are no sideburn-shaped creamsicles.
Posted by Michael Nagrant, August 21, 2008 at 3:45 PM
Every writer suffers from at least a touch of melancholy. As a food writer, though, my touches of depression are not from anything as pedestrian as the existential weight of the world. Rather, at least once a week or so, I freak out that I’ve discovered all there is to discover in the world of serious eats.
This usually happens late at night, when I’ve been co-opted by fatigue and a frozen pizza. I start counting mediocre tacos and limp burgers I’ve had over the year, just to find the handful of truly transcendent goodies here in Chicago. Somehow, I can ignore that there are more restaurants in Chicago—not even counting satellites like bakeries, food trucks, and artisanal groceries—than I can ever hope to visit in a lifetime. But, the burden still comes, as if someone told me pork disappeared from the planet entirely.
Inevitably, there’s always a new dish, a new bite that rouses me from my F. Scott Fitzgeraldean funk. This week’s cure comes courtesy of Isla Pilipina in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood. As the name suggests, the restaurant is a celebration of culinary thrills from Manila—and the biggest of all is a Filipino-style fried, cured pork called tocino.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, August 14, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Bad pho doesn't mean the rest of the menu isn't worth trying.
Even though one burned down last week due to an unfortunate fire, it feels like there are almost more Vietnamese restaurants on or near Chicago’s Argyle Street in the Little Vietnam neighborhood than there are in Vietnam itself.
Over the years I’ve slurped down bowls of steamy pho from the majority of them as frequently as the McKenzie brothers drink beer. I figure the basic meaty broth of pho is a good indicator of the rest of a Vietnamese restaurant’s fare. If a spot uses prepackaged broths, they likely don’t care about putting out good food. If they make the broth from scratch and offer fresh-cut herbs, then I’m usually on to something bigger. Turns out that’s not quite a foolproof plan—at least not at New Saigon where the pho isn’t exactly transcendent.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, August 11, 2008 at 4:00 PM
I was woken up at approximately 1:30 on Wednesday morning by the sound of thunder and what looked like fireworks going off outside my window. When I raced over to the TV to check out what was going on, I saw a massive red blob stretching across nearly half the state, heading straight for Chicago. The storm had only begun. Somehow, I managed to continue sleeping through the storm and when I woke up later that morning, the sky was blue. I decided to head off to the farmers' market, not thinking that much about the storm.
I never imagined the storm would cause so much damage. As I walked up to Chicago's Green City Market, limbs covered the grass, enormous trees were downed, and some had been violently split. My thoughts went from, "What's fresh?" to, "Will the market even be open?"
Luckily, everything in the market was set up. Besides a few twigs I had to step around, the market was in top shape and had a lot to give.
Nearly every stand had a pile of corn sitting out front, ready for the picking. The corn was almost exclusively sweet bi-color. Nichol's Farm and Orchard from Marengo, Illinois, told me that no other kinds of corn would arrive, but I could "expect a lot more corn in the future."
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Though the musical acts packed their bags and left Chicago last weekend, Lollapalooza is still in the air—in the form of new BYOB sushi restaurants. Rollapalooza just opened in Boystown, further proving that sushi makes for some pretty lame puns. Despite the allusion, the music here isn't so hot according to one Yelper: "Nobody at 10PM on a Friday night wants to hear 'You Light Up My Life' and a Lionel Richie medley."
Posted by Michael Nagrant, August 1, 2008 at 3:30 PM
The huarache, sort of like a Mexican version of pizza, is a sandal-shaped flatbread made of corn masa. My favorite is usually from Chicago’s Maxwell Street Market, where sunbaked abuelas hand-pat big balls of corn meal with their crinkly-skinned hands, throwing their efforts on the grill until the air fills with corn perfume. Problem is, the market is only open on Sunday, so if I get a mid-week hankering for a transcendent huarache, I’m out of luck—that is, until I discovered Huaraches Dona Chio.
Located in a basement level storefront, Huaraches Dona Chio is a rock bottom affair decor-wise. There's a big rug that says “copier” with a knit image of a photocopy machine that looks like it was stolem from the set of Office Space. (PC load letter, anyone?)
Unlike the aesthetics inside, the food is top-notch Mexican from the Distrito Federal, also known as Mexico City. From puffy corn picadillo-stuffed gorditas to slightly floppy corn tortilla tacos, they have it all. And the huaraches are a street food lover's dream.
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Posted by Jamie Forrest, July 29, 2008 at 1:15 PM
Photograph from mjkmjk on Flickr
Carr Valley Cheese won big at this year's American Cheese Society competition, held in Chicago last weekend. The renowned Wisconsin company, family-owned for more than a hundred years, won Best in Show for their Snow White Goat Cheddar, along with 17 other awards including third runner-up overall. Second place went to Virginia's Meadow Creek Dairy for their incredible washed-rind Grayson, a cheese similar to Taleggio or Livarot.
Down a bit from last year's record-breaking 1,209 entries, this year saw 1,149 cheeses in the competition. Thirty tireless judges tasted each one, evaluating aesthetic criteria (taste, texture and aroma), and technical criteria (how well the cheese is made).
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Posted by Erin Zimmer, July 28, 2008 at 7:30 PM
Last week, Time Out Chicago hosted a create-your-own hot dog contest, judged by none other than encased meat overlord Doug Sohn of Hot Doug's. After 2,235 votes were cast, software consultant Kevin Haas from Portage Park won with his "New Chicago" entry, which carried 42% of the vote.
Mexican chorizo sausage, Asian pear chutney, Indian paneer cheese, chili mustard, served on a multi-grain roll. As the original Chicago dog reflected our immigrant heritage (Greek, Italian and Jewish immigrants), this encased meat reflects our new and future immigrant population. Latinos now account for 1 in 4 city residents, our Asian population is expected to grow over a third in a matter of a decade, and India presents the third largest group of new immigrants to Chicago. This new sausage celebrates this new Chicago.
That's pretty sociologically deep for tubular meat. How would you represent your city in hot dog form?
Team up your eating powers for a discount: if 11 people—perfect strangers are fine—join the Hai Yen Group Discount group at thepoint.com, they'll all get 25% off their final bill for lunch on August 13. Pretty cool concept. [via Gapers Block]
Posted by Michael Nagrant, July 25, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Whoever coined the phrase, “Ain’t no thang, but a chicken wang” was clearly a careless philosopher. Because, after a lunch of jerk wings at Ja’s Jerk Chicken in Chicago’s Garfield Park neighborhood, I’ve found some wings that are quite clearly the thang. In fact, two hours after supping on them, my lips are still delighted, if not a touch inflamed, by the chili burn from their jerk sauce.
Anyone considering collagen injections should just consider a weekly order of these instead.
Ja’s has no tables or even the stainless steel chest-high counter—a Chicago staple found at beef stands and rib shacks everywhere. I had to dine with the styrofoam clamshell while holding the wings precariously perched on the console of my vintage scooter—by vintage I mean 1994 Honda Elite—underneath the Lake St. Green Line elevated train. Still, even with the train spitting the occasional drop of El juice as it roared by, I was hardly bothered. I was too busy sucking my way to the chicken bone.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, July 18, 2008 at 3:15 PM
At one point, Chicago's Le Passage was sort of the windy city's modern version of Studio 54. It had a storied history of celebrity appearances, exclusivity, and general craziness. Fast forward to last November when the club changed hands and the VIP section transformed into The Drawing Room, a modern cocktail lounge.
Much has been written about the Drawing Room's food coming from Nick Lecasse, a chef who recently beat Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard in a head-to-head cooking battle with his excellent foie gras with pickled fennel and kumquat gastrique. It's all deserved praise. My recent visit yielded some favorites, including a jerk-spiced quail and fresh housemade gnocchi tossed with farmers' market vegetables and a pan jus. But the real object of my affection on that particular visit was their Japanese Julep.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, July 17, 2008 at 1:30 PM
coloribus.com
A McDonald's in Chicago is featuring a billboard of a giant egg that cracks open at 6 a.m. and stays open until 10:30 a.m. to represent the time that eggs are available on the menu. It's a cool way target early risers, but as for the post-breakfast crowd, they'll just see a giant white blob. [via BuzzFeed]
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In Videos: The Off-the-Menu McDonald's Brunch Sandwich
Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, July 14, 2008 at 8:00 PM
The ground was a little soggy this Saturday from an earlier rainstorm, but beyond some muddy shoes the weather was warm and welcoming for my first excursion into Chicago's Green City Market. Advertised as the city's only sustainable market, not to mentioned home to regular cooking lessons from notable Chicago chefs, I absolutely couldn't wait to experience it for the first time.
Sure enough, as soon as I walked in I was given a cute little cup of cherry porridge with sweet Israeli cous cous, a creation from Jason Hammel and Amalea Tshilds of Lula Cafe. Luckily. I've visited that excellent restaurant before, and this was a great reminder of their remarkable menu. What a perfect way to start shopping.
Not that I needed any help. The only thing that could have held me back was my own lack of imagination. Whether it was a mountain of berries, elk meat, or fava beans, I felt overwhelmed in the best possible way.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, July 11, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Last week while driving down an empty road in Midlothian, just south of Chicago city proper, I spotted a knotty pine wood cabin and a sign featured a dancing pig that said “Hog Wild." As soon as I saw that sign, I squealed my tires and headed to the parking lot. Though I haven’t quite affixed the bumper sticker yet, I always brake for smoke.
Smoke, however, isn’t exactly what I got, except maybe in liquid form. With no pink ring to be found on the ribs at Hog Wild, I definitely wasn’t getting the slow version.
What I did find was a monster thick, salty, sweet pork chop as big as Thor’s silver hammer. It was nothing like the humble child’s fist-sized, succulent chops smothered in caramelized onion or served with a side of apple sauce and sour cream from my youth. Like Barry Bonds who one day had gone from lanky Pirate to San Francisco giant with a superhero torso, this bad boy crept up on me. Pink at the bone, brined and juicy, and featuring a California highway-like system of griddle marks, it was one of the better pork chops I’ve had in Chicago.
Hog Wild
14933 Pulaski Road, Midlothian IL 60445 (b/n 148th Place and 150th Street; map)
708-371-9005
hogwildpitbar-b-q.com
Posted by Michael Nagrant, July 10, 2008 at 8:27 AM
We figure there will be some hardcore Apple faithful in Chicago ready to line up outside the Apple Store on Friday morning to get their hands on a new iPhone 3G as soon as it's out. We asked Michael Nagant, our Windy City contributor and the editor of Hungry Magazine, for some of his top choices near the Apple Store here.
Wow Bao: Like a shiny new iPod, steamed Asian-style yeast buns here offer the ultimate functionality. Portable and stuffed with goodies like spicy kung pao chicken and barbecue pork, they'll fuel you for hours of intense line-waiting. The whole-wheat version filled with edamame will probably keep you most spry. Fight the heat and wash down the buns with Wow Bao's spicy-sweet homemade ginger ale. 835 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611 (map)
You wouldn't expect to find healthy and quick sustenance at a mall food court, but this Water Tower Place market is the grand exception. The Foodlife Market , which features one of the most diverse salad bars around, is your best bet. (Don't miss the herb-filled Green Goddess dressing). If you don't DYI, head to the Eat Greens kiosk to score a protein-filled Cobb or a sweet and tangy Asian Chicken salad. 835 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago IL 60611; 312-335-3663; foodlifechicago.com
Sayat Nova: It's almost a shame you won't have time to slink into the white grotto booths here, but at least these Middle Eastern flavors are portable. Try the lulla kebab pita filled with sweet, spiced smoky beef and lamb shawarma, onion, and tomato. The beefy perfume is so good it may lull linemates to grab their own sammie, thus moving you ahead in the queue. 157 East Ohio, Chicago IL 60611 (map)
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, July 3, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Nothing says 4th of July like a smoky cookout. Unfortunately for city dwellers here in Chicago, outdoor space for monster barbecue gatherings comes at a premium. Likewise, because the Fourth is a major national holiday, hopping over to your local barbecue shack isn’t really a viable alternative, as most of them would be closed.
Thankfully, we’ve got no shortage of restaurant-owning Chinese immigrants here in Chicago who happen to be fond of ignoring major American holidays and keeping their places open. There are a lot of options to check out, but after lighting a few hundred sparklers and popping off a brick or two of Black Cat fireworks, my personal 4th of July Chinese barbecue spot of choice in Chicago is Sun Wah BBQ.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, June 27, 2008 at 11:15 AM
Perennial
From the team that opened popular spots Boka and Landmark comes this farm fresh-focused American-style bistro. The kitchen is helmed by chef de cuisine Ryan Poli, formerly of Butter, named by Esquire as one of the best new restaurants in 2005. When Butter closed, Poli headed to Spain to study pastry and hone his savory chops once more under the Spanish new wave, with stints at El Celler de Can Roca and Alkimia in Barcelona. Though he's also worked for Ferrán Adrià disciple Sergi Arola at La Broche and done time at the French Laundry under Thomas Keller, Poli is one off those chefs who believes culinary learning is a lifelong process.
When we spoke with him recently, he told us that he's excited about his pork tenderloin with corn and fava bean succotash, and roasted corn spoon bread (aka poor man's souffle). Appetizers run about $10, with most entrees around $20. 1800 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago IL 60614 (near North Clark Street; map); 312-981-7070; perennialchicago.com
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, June 26, 2008 at 1:15 PM
Margie's sundae sure looks good, but is it Chicago's best? Photograph from lisa_h on Flickr.
There’s nothing more exciting than a “best of” list from a national publication, probably written from a cubicle and based on surfing a few websites. People who actually live in the spotlighted regions perk up when an outsider chooses the best. Blogger Andrew Huff of Gapers Block, for example, was not a fan of Forbes Traveler's choice for best Chicago ice cream in a recent national round-up, and I am totally with him.
Writing about America’s best ice creams in the middle of summer is as journalistically unique as a story about Britney Spears gracing us with another crotch shot. But, geez, you figured Forbes could at least pony up and send a writer out to the Midwest who actually went beyond choosing an 80-year old soda fountain that Al Capone may or may not have patronized, as the best and only option from Chicago.
Margie’s Candies is certainly charming and the 25-scoop Royal George sundae could feed the entire pre-weight loss cast of The Biggest Loser. But the lure of Margie’s is way more about nostalgia and sundaes as big as Jay Leno’s head, and even in these categories, there are rivals. After the jump, find my guide to the best Chicago-area ice cream.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, June 23, 2008 at 4:45 PM
While on a trip to Chicago, teacher and comedian Bryan Bowden found heaven on Earth in the form of Whisky Road's ALL U CAN EAT BACON! On Mondays, at least. Which is good because it gives you six days to recover from the bacon-ing, at which point you should be ready to go back for more.
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Photo of the Day: Bacon Mat
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Photo of the Day: Bacon Not Done Yet
Posted by Michael Nagrant, June 20, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Rob Levitt makes fresh pasta at Mado
A couple of month’s ago I profiled husband and wife chefs Allison and Rob Levitt’s new restaurant Mado. While I’ve definitely eaten Rob’s food in the past and sampled various morsels, I hadn’t actually dined at the restaurant until a couple of weeks ago when my folks and my grandmother came to town.
When I heard my grandmother was coming, I was a bit nervous. She’s not the ultimate version of the cautious soft food-chewing, earlybird special-loving cheapskate, but she’s pretty close. I was concerned that Mado, with its house cured meats and olive oil cooked octopus with Calabrian chilis, might throw her for a loop.
Normally, as a food writer, chicken would be the last thing I’d order at a restaurant. Chicken is pretty much now in the “yawn” category along with crab cakes, steaks as big as Shaquille O’ Neal’s head, and caprese salad. That’s not to say I don’t love a great roast bird, but I tend to make my own a few times a month. In the name of research, I’m naturally drawn to the craziest looking stuff on a restaurant menu. You can bet that if a restaurant has braised and then deep fried bear claw coated with crunchy grasshoppers and sauced with the bile of an antelope, I’m there. But, in order to appeal to grandma’s sensibility, I ordered up the roast chicken with pistachios.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, June 13, 2008 at 10:45 AM
Nothing will make dad feel better than some great drinks and a touch of comfort food. Here are three spots that’ll fit the bill for Father’s Day in Chicago.
Kuma’s Corner
Kuma’s is so hardcore that owner Mike Cain won’t hire anyone unless they have at least one tattoo. That hardcore-nature seeps through to their incredibly deep beer list and perfect burgers. Given the chance to sup here, we’d probably go with the Moylan’s Kilt Lifter Scotch Ale, a rich malty brew which should cut nicely through a big fat juicy Kuma Burger, a 10-ounce patty topped with bacon, cheddar, a fried egg and nestled in a toasted pretzel roll. 2900 W Belmont Avenue, Chicago, IL 60618 (at N Francisco Avenue; map); 773-604-8769; opens at noon on Sunday, kumas-corner.com
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Posted by Matthew Amster-Burton, June 9, 2008 at 10:15 AM
The good news is, someone in my family is eligible to enjoy a prix fixe menu at Chicago's Frontera Grill, Osteria di Tramonto, One Sixtyblue, or Coco Pazzo Cafe for $4. The bad news is, I have to pay $20, and we don't live in Chicago.
If we did, however, I'd be all over Kids' Restaurant Week in Chicago, which runs June 21-28. Nineteen of Chicago's top restaurants are participating. The rules are: (1) come in between 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.; (2) kids under 12 pay their age; and (3) adults and older kids pay $20.08.
The web site doesn't say anything about the menus, so I called a couple of the restaurants to find out what kids should expect to eat. Read the menus, after the jump.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, June 6, 2008 at 3:30 PM
Photograph taken by Brendan Lekan
While New York has Milk & Honey and Pegu club and their ilk, Chicago is still cocktail challenged. We only have one really dedicated cocktail palace, Violet Hour, and then a handful of restaurants with dedicated bartenders, like Peter Vestinos at Sepia, John Kinder at MK, and Adam Seger at Nacional 27. It’s a mystery why the city of Al Capone—a city built on bootleg liquor, a city that kept drinking at an all-time high, even when it was illegal—lags behind. Why is it that we don’t drink like we dine?
As General Manager, Sommelier, and Chief Mixologist of Lettuce Entertain You’s Nacional 27, and a former kitchen stage in the Michelin-rated Chez Julien of Strasbourg, Adam Seger has both the culinary and mixology skills to take Chicago to the next level, spirit-wise. Last week I had a chance to sample some of his new spring cocktails including a Ruby Red Hemingway with Cuban Oregano and a hibiscus-spearmint mojito.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, May 29, 2008 at 2:00 PM
L20: For Unconventional and Luxurious Seafood
Inside L20; lamb tartar, ebi shrimp, pickled peach, tarragon; butter dome.
Chicago’s been patting itself on the back for the better part of the last couple of years as the new food capital of the world. While I try not to be a one sided cheerleader, I’ve certainly showered my fair share of praise on Windy City eats. It’s a reasonable thing to do when you look at the breadth of offerings here, from the high end to the low end. Truth be told, we had a handful gems at the high end, but really luxurious Michelin-style dining was generally elusive. Even a spot like Alinea, which definitely deserves the accolades it received as America’s best restaurant from Gourmet, tended to eschew luxury for luxury’s sake as they tend to challenge all conventions.
Enter L20, the new seafood-focused spot from Laurent Gras, former disciple of Ducasse. Gras not only challenges convention, offering up a small circular case of upside-down hanging butter and custom table side shabu-shabu service designed by Martin Kastner of Crucial Detail (Alinea collaborator who created their serviceware), but he’s also an unabashed devotee of luxury and delivering on more than you promise. Four course meals turn into eight course meals with extra mignardise and amuse bouche, like passion fruit marshmallows with chocolate ganache. Likewise, Gras flecks ebi sweet shrimp and lamb tarter with gold leaf and edible flowers, and dollops citrus cured fluke with a quenelle of Osetra caviar. L20 feels like you threw French Laundry, Masa, Alinea, and Tru restaurants in a blender and poured the resulting mix out as a new restaurant. It is definitely one of Chicago’s best new restaurants.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, May 23, 2008 at 11:30 AM
Though the name sounds the same, Ben Li is not the mop-headed Australian born musician that dated Claire Danes—that’s Ben Lee. On the other hand, chef Ben Li also rocks it out…Sichuan style in the kitchen at his spot Double Li in Chicago’s Chinatown.
Many of the restaurants in Chinatown are run by Chinese immigrants who are decent home cooks, but not formally trained. Even if they’re formally trained, they tend to serve up a lot of Cantonese-American style eats, like cloying sweet and sour chicken, almond boneless chicken, and that tiki-fave crab rangoon to appeal to American palates.
Ben Li, on the other hand is a culinary school trained chef from Chongquing. As a result, he understands nuance and balance. He undergirds his fiery chili-inflected dishes with the right amount of sweet, sour, salt and umami.
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Where to find hard-to-find "forbidden foods" in Chicago including absinthe, foie gras, Iberico bellota ham, raw milk, Szechuan peppercorn, and unpasteurized cheese.
Posted by Michael Nagrant, May 21, 2008 at 1:30 PM
I wonder if Miamians get bored with the Cuban sandwich or Philadelphians forego the Philly cheesesteak for long periods of time. I know, with so many new restaurants opening each day and so many tasty leads to follow, sometimes I take the local food icons here in Chicago for granted. I even forsake them occasionally. But, with so many fanny pack clad tourists descending on our city in search of salad dogs, deep dish pizza, and the Italian beef, I don’t really think they need me.
Fast forward to last Thursday when I just happened to be driving through Elmwood Park, a suburb adjacent to the Northwest side of Chicago city proper, and I spotted one of my favorite Italian beef stands: Johnnie’s. You know the soup nazi? Well, Johnnie’s proprietors are the beef Nazis. They make you wait in a single file line and if you’re the next person in line in front of the entrance door and you thing about holding it open to suck up some warm beefy air on a cold or rainy day, don’t do it. If you let so much as a minor draft sneak in to the store, you’ll get glares from the employees and customers alike. You also better have your order together when you hit the cash register and it better not include cheese on your beef (which is pretty much an equivalent crime in these parts to putting ketchup on your hot dog), unless, of course, you want to get laughed at.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, May 14, 2008 at 4:05 PM
The Chicago Tribune is reporting:
Over the shouted objections of Ald. Joe Moore (49th), the ban's sponsor, the council used a parliamentary manuever to put the ordinance on the floor for a vote.
The council voted 37-6 to repeal the two-year-old ban, which critics argued had made Chicago--and the City Council--a national laughingstock.
And the folks at D'Artagnan just sent out an email blast celebrating. The D'Artagnan missive, after the jump.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, May 10, 2008 at 2:00 PM
It seems like every year one of my favorite Pakistani restaurants burns down. Two years ago it was Khan BBQ, my favorite spot to grab green chili slathered charcoal tandoor fired chicken boti. The fire turned what was once a dingy smoky cabbie joint, thick with smoke from poor ventilation, into a relatively elegant peach colored banquet hall with a chandelier that would be at home in the Taj Mahal.
Last year, apparently due to faulty wiring, my other go-to spot, Sabri Nihari, burned down. Unlike Khan BBQ, the new incarnation, a narrow El car-wide corridor of a restaurant outfitted with more mirrors than a ballet studio, is a step down from the old, pure white Liberace-like garishness of the old spot. The owners assured me this was a temporary location, though it’s been open for over a year now, so maybe not.
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Posted by Ed Levine, May 10, 2008 at 11:00 AM
I asked some of my food critic friends and some of the correspondents from around Serious Eats where they would recommend taking your mom on Mother's Day. Intel poured in from around the country. And I added my own picks, too.
Atlanta
John Kessler, food columnist and feature writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, says:
We're going to Watershed, which has a great, often overlooked brunch with cream biscuits, lard biscuits, toad in the hole, poached eggs with spinach and country ham, house-cured salmon, candied bacon. 406 West Ponce De Leon Avenue, Decatur GA 30030; 404-378-4900; watershedrestaurant.com
A nice new choice might be Parish, a very cool-looking New Orleans cooking spot in an old bleach factory in one of the suddenly new in-town nabes that was all crack houses and kudzu just a couple of years ago. It had a fine roast beef debris sandwich with mustard and pickles, but I think Mother's Day brunch is more. 240 North Highland Avenue, Atlanta GA 30307; 404-681-4434; parishatl.com
[After the jump, some serious recommendations from D.C., Dallas, Chicago, New York, and L.A. that are worthy of that special lady in your life.]
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, May 4, 2008 at 9:00 PM
Cinco de Mayo is a day of national pride for Mexicans around the world, commemorating Mexico’s victory over French forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. We join in the celebration with our favorite Mexican food and drink.
- Best Tacos in Chicago: when it comes to finding the best regional Mexican dining outside of Mexico, Chicago is the best spot in America.
- I Drove 40 Miles for a Taco: In the suburbs of Chicago one finds Bien Trucha, an iconoclastic taqueria.
- Chi-Mex: A New Frontier: Mexican Inn turns out to be a very inspired delicious meshing of cultures, a unique Chi-Mex blend, and holds the middle ground between Bayless and Taco Bell quite nicely.
Posted by Michael Nagrant, May 2, 2008 at 2:15 PM
Screw the Michelin guide and its ilk. Like the SAT or personality tests, reductive rating systems that award mini constellations, forks, spoons, or pepper shakers can never see what's in a restaurant's heart.
The endurance of these systems often encourage readers to skip the meat of a review and go straight to the final number as an arbiter of whether they should call for reservations.
Some of these systems are just plain impossible. Consider the S. Pellegrino 50 Best Restaurants in the World. Did Gordon Ramsay U.K. really improve 11 spots in a year while its proprietor was out traveling the world berating and dehumanizing line cooks and restaurateurs? In one year, did Charlie Trotter's, which has been fine-tuning things for 20 years, really suck it up so bad as to drop from 31 to 38 and lose the title of Chicago's best restaurant to upstart Alinea?
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, May 2, 2008 at 11:15 AM
In Chicago, we have not yet been blessed with a noodle god like Momofuku’s David Chang. We’ve instead had to settle for noodles from a handful of lower level deities, like Tony Hu at Chinatown’s Lao Szechuan or Vanna Gumtrontip at Spoon Thai. Last week, I discovered a new star to add to the mix. I may not actually know the star, as I didn’t get the chef’s name, but his fried duck noodle soup speaks quite well on his behalf.
Served at a new Argyle St./Little Vietnam storefront named Pho Xua, this bowl of soul is filled with a fresh nest of pliant egg noodles, a deep, rich ducky broth, and a fat, fried, crunchy-skinned duck leg, along with a garden of bok choy, scallions, and little earthy mushroom rafts. Slurping it down banished the seasonal mood swings I’d been indulging after a string of weeks of ubiquitous overcast, slate gray days of drizzle and chafing wind.
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Posted by Melissa Hall, April 25, 2008 at 3:30 PM
Southern Foodways appears on Fridays as part of our collaboration with the Southern Foodways Alliance, an organization based in Oxford, Mississippi, that "documents and celebrates the diverse food cultures of the American South." Dig in!
Photographs taken by Amy C. Evans
SFA oral historian Amy Evans just returned from a weeklong fieldwork-gathering trip to the Windy City, looking for stories of transplanted Southerners who left their homes but held on to family recipes. Some of the people she visited include:
- James Lemons of Lem's Bar-B-Q, who left Indianola, Mississippi, as a young man, following his brothers to Chicago and into the barbecue business.
- Barbara Ann Bracy, who laughed as she remembered her Mississippi-born father opening the barbecue joint she still runs on the South Side and naming it after her.
- Edna Stewart, who recalled the moment when Civil Rights workers first visited her restaurant, Edna's, and when the Reverend Jesse Jackson fell for her sweet potatoes.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, April 24, 2008 at 3:30 PM
"Each of the 46 flavors spanning the international scene, from Jamaica (Fire Jerk, Rum BBQ) to Italy (Parmesan, Tomato Basil Pesto), is a study in balance and contrast."
Chicago's Wings Around the World is like the Baskin Robbins of Chicken Wings. When they opened in January of 2007, they had 34 flavors of wings. A year and a half later, another twelve have been added to honor their motto, “Flavors to Infinity”. Abeng Stuart founded the spot and concocted the sauces with his mother Lorna Greene and his manager Andre Palmer.
What’s crazy is that this isn’t some spot where they throw chicken in the deep fryer and haphazardly toss the half soggy/half crunchy overcrowded fried chicken with a drippy Franks Red Hot Sauce and margarine glaze. Each of the 46 flavors spanning the international scene, from Jamaica (Fire Jerk, Rum BBQ) to Italy (Parmesan, Tomato Basil Pesto), is a study in balance and contrast. The selection is a thoughtful cornucopia of glazes and seasonings spiked with the right amount of heat, sour, and sweet. The chicken itself is uniformly crunchy if deep fried, or soft, pliant, and smoky if you get the wings grilled. Of course, on this stretch of 35th street lined with a Churches, Popeyes, KFC, and a local JJ Fish and Chicken chain, you gotta bring the goods if you want to survive more than a year.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, April 19, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Rosario’s has a serious pig problem. There are little porky tchotchkes on the counter, statues of swine behind the counter, and a few huge piggy bank–looking porkers above the freezer case. Even the neon sign on the front of the building depicts a bunch of happy piglets jumping in to a grinder. Of course, I wouldn’t expect anything less from one of Chicago’s best Italian sausage makers.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, April 11, 2008 at 8:30 AM
Last week, Good magazine named Chicago’s Broadway as one of the tastiest streets in the U.S. Good magazine’s criteria said a best street features “exquisite food you can actually afford." Haute cuisine is out of the equation. That said, as usual, a bunch of dudes writing from the coasts (this time L.A.) get it wrong. Broadway’s not even the tastiest street in Chicago.
It may not even be in the top five. Off the top of my head, I say 18th Street, Devon Avenue, Clark Street, Halsted Street, and Milwaukee Avenue, amongst others, might be better. My gut says there’s no question that the real tastiest street of all though, is Western Avenue.
Western Avenue, which runs 23.5 miles, is the longest continuous street in the city of Chicago, but its strength goes beyond length. There’s a density and diversity that just can’t be beat.
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Does the name Rosscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles in Chicago sound a little too similar to that of the long established Roscoe's House of Chicken 'n Waffles in Los Angeles? Just a tad, perhaps. Besides the extra "s," other similarities include their logo designs and names of their menu items. The Chicago Tribune says that the original Roscoe's is sueing the Chicago imitator and gives some of the history behind the chicken and waffle restaurant.
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 5, 2008 at 2:30 PM
Good magazine rounds up a list of the seven most delicious stretches of pavement in the United States. And they're all cheap eats. Making the cut are:
- Roosevelt Avenue, Queens, New York
- Travis Street, Houston
- Fremont Avenue North, Seattle
- Broadway, Chicago
- Southwest 8th Street, Miami
- Nolensville Road, Nashville
- West Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles
Did your favorite eats street get snubbed?
Posted by Michael Nagrant, April 4, 2008 at 9:45 AM
Mercat a la Planxa: Jose Garces, former protégé of Stephen Starr and Douglas Rodriguez, took a break from building his mini-empire in Philly to unveil some Catalan tapas-style love on his hometown of Chicago at the newly refurbished Blackstone Hotel. The mod space outfitted with gleaming hexagonal tiles and mirrors etched with organic (think birds and leaves) motifs and bare hanging bulbs is one of the funkiest dining rooms to grace our austere storied hotels. The term “smoke filled rooms” actually originated in the Blackstone, and it used to refer to the cigar laden atmosphere in which party bosses once chose Warren G. Harding as a presidential nominee. Today it refers to the smoky romanesco sauces and salbitxada served with deep fried peppers, or the grill-marked succulent lamb chops and head-on shrimp from the grill. The rabbit agnolotti with black truffle may be my favorite dish of the year, and the restaurant itself is one of the best openings of 2008.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, March 28, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Rick Bayless, chef/owner of Chicago's Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, has me brainwashed. Inspired by his example for the last few years, I’ve been telling everyone that you either go regional Mexican or you go home.
If the shadow of a Chipotle and their swaddled infant-sized burritos fell across my path, I’d consider taking a shower. Scarfing down Oaxacan moles and Yucatecan puerco pibil meant I was living right; chewing on chimichangas and noshing on Nachos Belgrande, not so much. Then a few weeks ago, I discovered Mexican Inn.
Mexican Inn is a 47-year-old corner joint located in the shadow of the Chicago skyway. It’s in a south side neighborhood called the East Side, an island of land separated from the rest of the city by the Calumet River and surrounded by behemoth factories with flatulent smokestacks. The East Side is closer to Indiana than it is to downtown. It’s a place most Chicagoans never stop for, though many drive through when the tollway gets backed up.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, March 21, 2008 at 11:00 AM
When people find out I’m a food writer, they always ask me what my favorite restaurant is. I always respond that answering the question is like asking me who my favorite child is. I usually ask them what kind of food they’re looking for and give them a top three list of options for that particular cuisine.
Truth is, though, if some hungry felon held me up at gunpoint and needed to know my top five favorite spots, Hot Doug’s: The Sausage Superstore would absolutely make the list.
Owner Doug Sohn, a culinary school grad, brings his chops to bear on the humble hot dog. He serves the best Chicago style salad dog in the city. But, it’s not the basic dog I come for. It’s the duck fat fried French fries glistening with sea salt and the custom sausages with ridiculous luxury ingredients.
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Posted by Ed Levine, March 19, 2008 at 7:00 PM
Steve Plotnicki's Opinionated About Dining Survey hasn't even been out a week and folks in Chicago have let him know in no uncertain terms how they feel about it and him.
First, Chicago Reader's Julia Thiel calls into question Plotnicki's insistence on revealing his presence to the chef because he (Plotnicki) wants to get the chef's best shot. She correctly points out that Plotnicki's policy simply guarantees that he will not get the same treatment an anonymous critic or average diner would. Plotnicki's recent blog post about Momofuku Ko speaks volumes about this issue.
Then Serious Eats' Chicago correspondent, Michael Nagrant, ratchets up his colleague's criticism more than a few notches on his site, Hungrymag. He calls Plotnicki a shill because of similar objections.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, March 14, 2008 at 11:15 AM
There are at least a thousand taquerias in Chicago city proper, though only about ten of them actually sear their meat and season it properly. Still, ten is a pretty hefty number. Hell, growing up in the suburbs of Detroit, we didn’t even have one good taqueria, only a second rate Chi-Chi’s serving up enchiladas “Cancun” filled with fake crab meat and krill-sized shrimp. Faced with this gluttony of “local” options, I wondered why I was driving 40 miles to check out a suburban taqueria. But I try not to leave any stone unturned when it comes to food tips, and I'd heard from a good source that the folks at Bien Trucha were tearing it up.
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Posted by Zach Brooks, March 12, 2008 at 4:45 PM
Photograph from Fabrizio Rizzo on Flickr
Whiskey can be an amazing or terrible cooking ingredient depending on who is using it. For example, Jack Daniels in the hands of an old college roommate led to some pretty obscenely terrible "bourbon burgers," "bourbon whipped cream," "bourbon marinated steaks," and "bourbon everything else he ever cooked"—and none of it could've been eaten in enough volume to fill you up before it got you trashed.
On the other hand, give Dirk Flanigan, chef at the Gage in Chicago, a bottle of Jameson and a brisket and he'll make you a serious sandwich that is so obscenely good, you'll have no problem getting stuffed on it.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, March 7, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Chicken boti at Khan BBQ
When looking for serious ethnic spots, I find if you're the only white anglo dude in the joint, you're probably in the right place. Khan BBQ, on Chicago’s Devon street—a strip of Pakistani, Indian and orthodox Jewish bakeries, restaurants, and clothing shops—is one of those places.
It shouldn't be, as I and a few others have written about the perfume of coriander from the tandoors, the puffy stacks of Naan bread, and the grilled succulent meat over the last couple of years. Yet, last week when I stopped by for a bite, the dining room was filled with the usual smattering of cabbies and Pakistani families.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, February 29, 2008 at 10:15 AM
It would seem that a man who wore a Jason (of Friday the 13th) mask for a living and took more than a few discs of frozen rubber to the head during his career isn’t the best person to take food advice from. But Tony Esposito, the Chicago Blackhawks hall of famer was, in hockey parlance, a serious grinder. And as it takes one to know one, Esposito definitely knows his grinders. His framed signed picture hangs in the back of Bari Foods, an Italian grocery brimming with tinned cans of San Marzano tomotoes and gleaming jars of pickled goods, praising the house giardiniera
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, February 22, 2008 at 8:15 AM
With Quartino, Osteria via Stato, and now A Mano all slinging cured meats, Chicago’s downtown lunch arena is sporting more sausage than the Chicago Bears locker room after a big game. A Mano, the newest of the triumvirate, is helmed by Bin 36 veteran chef John Caputo and offers a wide selection of salumi, including the handiwork of Seattle’s sausage king, Armandino Batali. In addition to the charcuterie, A Mano features all manner of Italian-focused goodies from wood-fired pizzas to zingy crudo.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, February 15, 2008 at 2:00 PM
For those of us without backyards, it’s tough to sate a hankering for moist roast pork with shiny laquered cracklins. As much as I’d like to park a Caja China in my Chicago condo and vent the porky smoke out to the street, I’m afraid the hundred year old timber trusses, which happen to be as dry as an AA convention, would somehow spontaneously combust. So it’s with great relief that I can at least head up to the north side and drop maybe the best $6 of my week for some tosilog at Tapsilog at Iba Pa.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, February 8, 2008 at 10:15 AM
I stopped in at Takashi, a month-old spot in the former Scylla space in Bucktown, last Friday night. The restaurant’s namesake, chef Takashi Yagihashi is a 2003 James Beard Best Chef Midwest award winner. He’s slinging an Asian-French fusion that includes crisp sweetbreads in arimasansho (Asian green peppercorns) and sake, soy, and lemongrass marinated chicken fried in duck fat.
I’m still on the fence about the spot, mostly as a function of value—this place offers a lot of $14 small plates that are barely satisfying for one person. Portions fall somewhere between amuse bouche and appetizer quantity and would make more sense at $7 or $8 a pop. That said, the flavors and execution are spot on. People have been making comparisons between foie gras and sweetbreads for years, but other than both being offal meat, that’s where the similarities ended for me.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, February 1, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Jerry’s has a hundred and twenty plus signature sandwiches named after musicians, cartoon characters, customers, and pop culture icons. Given the wide choice, the journalist in me yearns to work through each and every one of them. But, while I stray occasionally, my stomach's desires trump my investigative nature, and I almost exclusively order the Marky B (named after owner Mark Bires).
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, January 29, 2008 at 11:15 AM
This week, Crisp, a Korean fried chicken joint landed in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. Joining the ranks of excellent Chinese, Guatemalan and Thai versions of crispy oil bathed poultry, Chicago now has a decent army of ethnic fried chicken that can hold it’s own in a battle with the Colonel, Popeye, and favored local chain Harold’s. Here’s a run down of my favorites:
Crisp (Korean) – Seoul Sassy: Teriyaki style marinated crispy skin flecked with garlic, ginger, and pepper wrapped around succulent meat clinging to its smoky bones. Crisp also offers, bbq and “Plain Jane” versions, but Seoul Sassy is where it’s at.
Spoon Thai (Thai) – Kai Thawt: This stuff is very similar in crunchiness to Crisp’s version, but with more of a Thai chili and lemongrass spice kick with a deep brown crust. The accompanying tamarind dipping sauce is the perfect cooling counterpoint to the fiery skin.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, January 25, 2008 at 11:00 AM
“I once dated this dude who worked as a trapeze artist in the circus.”
“Really, like Ringling Brothers?”
“No it was like one of those traveling carnie things. He was getting really annoying and I wanted to get rid of him, so when he asked me what my bedroom fantasy was, I told him I wanted to dress up like Pluto.”
“Like the planet?”
“No, like the Disney character.”
“Oh my god. I wondered how you’d dress up like a planet?”
Like any good bistro, Cyrano’s located in the bowels of the Wells street canyon in the shadow of Chicago’s Merchandise Mart is a cozy affair. Sometimes so cozy, you hear your fellow diner’s conversations, like the one above, loud and clear.
Though, on a recent Friday night at about 7:30 p.m., other than our Disney friends, there wasn’t much to listen to. As we were dining, chef/owner Didier Durand (pictured) posted a notification that Cyrano’s would now be closed for lunch through January in one of the hottest business dining districts in the city. If there was an Eater.com in Chicago (and word is there will be this year), Cyrano’s would be on hardcore deathwatch.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, January 16, 2008 at 9:30 AM
Technically, the empanadas at Lincoln Park’s Lito’s Empanadas are not balls, rather more like half moons. But they’re definitely deep fried and good. Colombian-born Carlos Escalante and his wife, Eve, used to make the deep fried stuffed dough packets for raving friends, earning so much cred that they finally opened a legit business. Based on some early buzz and the allure of a shoe box sized storefront selling nothing but empanadas I stopped by to sample the wares on Friday.
Rolled, stuffed, and deep fried fresh daily, the crust, which has a crispy and dimpled exterior like a McDonald’s apple pie wrapper and a melty, moist, and pliant interior reminiscent of the inside of a fresh custard donut, is probably the best of its kind in Chicago.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, January 11, 2008 at 11:00 AM
You gotta have bulletproof glass, utilitarian decor, and a grizzled soul man stoking an aquarium-style smoker or a black pit drum with hickory and fruitwoods to have great barbecue, right? In Chicago, until about two years ago, this seemed the rule.
In these parts, good ‘cue was predominantly an African American community–driven affair. Finger-lickin’ piles of ribs sandwiched in clamshell styrofoam that are
