Chicago (Italian) - Aldino's

Aldino’s
626 S. Racine Ave., Chicago, IL; 312-226-9300
Date of Review: June, 2010
http://aldinoschicago.com/

Aldino’s is a nice addition to the already impressive group of excellent Italian restaurants across the entire city that Chicago is home to. They have moved into an area that is highly competitive and are trying to find their own niche. From the looks of it, they have some good ideas of how to get there with an establishment that offers a variety of food and drink related entertainment options.

Aldino’s is located on Racine right off of Harrison a stone’s throw away from Taylor Street. If you didn’t know, Taylor Street is Chicago’s “Little Italy” and is home to many of Chicago’s big name Italian restaurants including Francesca’s, Rosebud and Tuscany not to mention many other traditional restaurants with loyal clientele like Gennaro’s and RoSal’s. Aldino’s offers something different and seems to be successfully inserting itself into this competitive mix. The location on a busy section of Racine with a decent amount of traffic is well thought out as it is a block away from the Racine Blue Line stop and is far enough from Taylor not to be classified as one of the spots on Taylor. They are focusing on using local and sustainable ingredients from all regions of Italy in a style they refer to as Italian comfort food. The waiters, cooks and bartenders are impressive and are all very knowledgeable on the products, dishes, beers and wines that are served. This is a restaurant that prides itself on quality ingredients which includes those that are for sale in the small market that is adjoined to the bar which serves Panini’s and pizzas for lunch and sells organic vegetables, cheeses, olive oils and meats. The market can be reserved for parties and is also used for special events like wine tasting. The bar that is situated between the market and main dining room is worth mentioning because it is much more than what you would expect from a restaurant bar. It is has a long counter with plenty of bar space, a few tables and nice large windows looking out onto Racine Avenue. In addition, there are TV’s to watch sporting events making it a venue itself to enjoy a drink at, a casual meal or an after dinner drink. The main dining room is large and airy with high ceilings, dark wood and well spaced out tables.

The menu has many items that someone that hails from Italy or who has travelled there would enjoy. The dishes aren’t overdone with too many ingredients but offer simplicity and quality. They have a variety of over 15 different appetizers including things you’d expect like bruschetta, prosciutto and veal meatballs to some more adventurous dishes like grilled pheasant sausage with house made giardiniera (which is outstanding) and braised pork terrina. Every appetizer I’ve tried has been excellent including the generous portion of olives for $4, pheasant sausage, roasted beets and grilled octopus.

They have an average size menu of 7 pastas and main dishes with some specials and a few side dishes. I have sampled enough dishes here that I can say with confidence that I don’t think you are really going to go wrong with anything. On one visit, we had the squid ink pasta with braised calamari which was done very well. The pasta was cooked al dente and the taste was perfect with just enough, but not too much squid taste. The bucatini ‘all amatriciana features bucatini pasta with a traditional pasta sauce based on dried pork cheek or guanciale, chili pepper and tomatoes. This subtle sauce is one that creeps up on you until you are finished with the dish and using a piece of bread to make sure the dish is clean with no hint of left over sauce. This place speaks of doing homestyle Italian food and I found out what they meant on my first visit when I ordered one of their specials, porchetta. Porchetta is a traditional home style dish consisting of a boneless pork roast that is layered with a meat stuffing that includes fat and skin and herbs that is then rolled, spitted, and roasted, traditionally over wood. The pork products are local and outstanding as every bit of my slice of porchetta was outstanding with fatty pork belly, tender roast meat and crispy skin. It was served with potatoes that had a bit of spice and a whole lot of wood grilled flavor.

I have been to a wine tasting event on one occasion and the people presenting the products were every bit as knowledgeable about the olive oils, balsamic vinegars and wines they poured as the servers were on the food. The wine tasting event was done in collaboration with Gentile’s wine shop and was great value as we tasted 8 wines and sampled 4 to 5 different types of appetizers for $20. The event was held in the market section of the restaurant and was a great place to socialize and sample menu items in addition to some of the excellent wines featured on their menu.

Aldino’s prices are fair with most appetizers in the 7 to 9 dollar range, pastas from 15-17 and mains around 20. The portions are good size without being obnoxiously large. On our last visit, the bill for our party of 3 came to $150 with tax and tip for 2 appetizers, 3 entrees and 9 drinks between our party of 3.

Chicago (American) - Mado

Mado
1647 North Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL; 773-342-2340
Date of Review: May, 2010
http://madorestaurantchicago.com/

If you like local produce, organic vegetables and grass fed meat, you will appreciate Mado and what it is trying and succeeding in doing very successfully. If you don’t value those aspects of a meal, you might still want to swing by to try a very good BYOB restaurant in the trendy Wicker Park neighborhood. Mado is a small restaurant near the busy North, Milwaukee and Damen intersection that is located just far enough from the chaos of this junction to allow for a quiet dining experience. The restaurant has a clean design that is minimalistic and works well. While they have traditional menus, the ever changing menus are also displayed tastefully on the chalkboards hanging on the walls.
The service is efficient and the servers are extremely knowledgeable of the ingredients and the menu which is important given the importance of the ingredients and where they come from at a restaurant like Mado that hangs it hat on meat and produce that comes from Midwestern farmers.
For appetizers, the roasted carrots with goat cheese, pistachios and cumin honey are out of this world with a nice sweet flavor that is a perfect contrast to the flavors and textures of the almonds and cheese they are served with. On another occasion we had the roasted beets which were served the same way and were also excellent. I find myself to favor vegetables at restaurants like Mado that use organic and local produce as they seem to be able to do wonderfully creative things with the freshest carrots, lettuces, brussel sprouts, beets, etc. It is nice to see restaurants treat vegetables as something special as opposed to something additional. We have also had the very good spicy green salad which is served with smoked trout, farm egg, sourdough croutons and mustard vinaigrette.

This is our second visit to Mado and the 2nd time we ordered the wood grilled hangar steak. Its grass fed beef and it is that good. The steak is served sliced surrounding a bed of polenta. The creamy gorgonzola polenta is gluttonously rich but almost a bit too much for me as I would prefer an accompaniment on the lighter side. On both of our visits to Mado, we were only able to finish half the portion of polenta. The steak was served medium rare and cooked perfectly with a tad bit of crispiness on the outside and was absolutely luscious within. We savored every bite. We also tried the ever changing pasta special on our last visit which is offered as either an appetizer or an entrée. The penne pasta wasn’t homemade but was cooked al dente and was served in a tasty pork bolognese that was solid and which we both enjoyed.

We were too full for dessert on this evening but on our last visit to Mado, we had a fabulous vanilla bean rice pudding with golden raisins and almonds that was rich, creamy and out of this world.

Mado’s prices are about what you would expect given the caliber of the food but if you are consuming alcohol, the BYOB policy turns it into a value for a gourmet meal. Our total bill came to $90 with tax and tip for 2 entrees and 2 appetizers. Mado prides itself on quality ingredients and succeeds on every level. They are also doing some cool and unique things such as hosting pig butchering demos where the Chef butchers a pig, explains how each part of the pig is used, and provides each attendee with a sampling of fresh pork to bring home.

Chicago (Turkish) - Café Orchid

Café Orchid
1746 W. Addison St, Chicago, IL; 773-327-3808
Date of Review: May, 2010
http://cafeorchid.com/

On the heels of a couple of wonderful dining experiences at one of Chicago’s Turkish dining options, Turquoise, and based on a recommendation from a friend, my wife and I decided to give Café Orchid a shot. We are awfully glad we did. On a beautiful Saturday in May after getting a jog in by the lake, we were famished and debating where to go for lunch. As my mind continued to mull over a few options while I drove up Clark street towards Irving Park, I made a turn onto Lincoln Avenue and remembered Café Orchid.

Café Orchid is a cute little restaurant in a small, somewhat dilapidated strip mall near the busy intersection of Lincoln, Addison and Ravenswood. The busy intersection makes it somewhat difficult to pull into the restaurant but there is plenty of street parking around. By the looks of the restaurant from the outside, you would not have any idea that this is any more than a quick carry out spot, but it is cute and romantic inside almost offering an oasis from the busy intersection just outside. The heated and attractively decorated patio doubles the size of the restaurant and is extremely pleasant with small vases containing orchids on each table.

Café Orchid is a BYOB mom and pop spot and you can tell right away that everything here is prepared freshly. As we sat outside waiting for our appetizers to arrive, I could hear the chef at work in the kitchen chopping away preparing made to order dishes. For me, that makes everything taste just a little bit better. For starters, we had hummus and ezme which were both served with Turkish bread. The hummus was ordinary but decent; however the ezme was out of this world. Ezme is chopped spicy roasted red bell peppers and green peppers with tomatoes, garlic walnuts and parsley. It was full of wonderful flavor and we couldn’t get enough of it as we wiped the plate clean. Truth be told, there were a number of tasty appetizers which made it very hard to choose two. I can’t wait to sample some of the others on my next visit, although the ezme will be tough to pass on.

For our lunch entrees, we both went for lamb. Ivy went for the lamb cubes marinated with vegetable oil, lemon juice, paprika, oregano, black pepper and onion. It was served with bulgur and was outstanding. We were both extremely satisfied with the flavor of not just the lamb but the bulgur. I went for the kofte sandwich which is served wrapped in thin Lebanese bread, or lavash, and served with fresh tomatoes and lettuce on top. Kofte is ground lamb and beef with spices. I guess you could say that it is the Turkish version of a meatball and it is very flavorful. Both entrees were served with a crisp salad, of crunchy green peppers, lettuce, tomato and onion dressed with olive oil and lemon.

Everything was high quality with excellent ingredients, tasty and very reasonable as our total bill was $35 with tax and tip. I cannot wait to go back for dinner as I have a hunch that Café Orchid will become a go to place for me and my wife.

Chicago (Turkish) - Turquoise Restaurant

Turquoise Restaurant
2147 W Roscoe St, Chicago, IL 60618; 773-549-3523
Date of Review: January, 2009; Updated April, 2010
http://www.turquoisedining.com/

Turquoise is a cute little Roscoe Village neighborhood restaurant that specializes in Turkish and Mediterranean cuisine. The atmosphere is warm and quaint with a small bar in the front, seating for 40-50 and dim lighting throughout that gives the restaurant a romantic feel. Turquoise may be a small restaurant, but it is a popular one as we saw many walk-ins as we waited for our guests to arrive. I suggest making a reservation on a Friday or Saturday.
The servers are friendly, efficient and thoughtful. On one visit when we were catching up with some friends that we hadn’t see in awhile, we weren’t pushed to order as the server read her guests and realized that we were catching up and just weren’t ready to get to the menu. The service was excellent and she did a good job of realizing (without even asking) that we wanted to space out our meal and order entrees when the appetizers arrived.
For appetizers, the Turkish spreads (mujver and sogurme) are excellent. The mujver features 3 zucchini pancakes with scallions, feta cheese, mint, fresh dill and a creamy yogurt garlic sauce. With all of these ingredients in one dish, we expected a tasty dish and got one. The sogurme featured smoked eggplant, creamy yogurt, garlic, brown butter, and walnuts toasted in crushed red pepper. The smokiness of the dish was notable and the dish was flavorful, although a bit heavy for my taste. I also highly recommend the diver sea scallops on the appetizer menu which include 3 gigantic scallops served on top of creamy guacamole with small scoops of tasty salsa. For $9.95, I challenge anyone to find better value for scallops of this quality in Chicago.

The menu has a nice variety of dishes from home made pastas to meaty kebabs to a variety of interesting seafood and vegetarian dishes. Everything I have seen come out of the kitchen looks excellent and I am particularly interested in trying the lamb shank and short rib on top of a bed of polenta which looked fantastic. For the dishes I have tried, the imam bayildi is a filling and tasty vegetarian option that includes pan roasted baby eggplant stuffed with red pepper, onion, tomatoes, garlic, pine nuts and is served with rice pilaf. The pide is a thin flat bread with your choice of ground beef, diced lamb or cheese and eggs. I chose the lamb and found the dish to be a cross between a Turkish version of pizza and stuffed naan bread. It was a tasty, filling entrée that would probably also do well as an appetizer for the table. They have many different versions of kebabs including the beyti kebab which features hand chopped lamb, garlic, shallots, and parsley wrapped in home-made flat bread. The best one I’ve tried to date is the onion kebap which includes an innovative array of flavors including hand chopped lamb, caramelized shallot, garlic, rosemary, raisins, cherry tomatoes, and bok choy braised in a tasty pomegranate sauce. Every element of the dish was excellent and the sauce was bread sopping good. Speaking of bread, the complimentary Turkish bread offered is fantastic. On our last visit, we tried the pricey (at $31.95) but well worth it seafood stew which featured a generous portion of fresh shrimp, calamari, scallops, mussels, salmon, tuna and a small lobster tail with vegetables and garlic. The seafood was solid although the tomato based sauce wasn’t as exciting as I had hoped.
The kazandibi is a solid dessert which is a cross between crème brulee and flan. At first I found the taste to be average, but after the 3rd bite I really started to enjoy the caramelized butter and sugar flavor in the dish.

On one visit, our total bill came to $200 for 2 appetizers, 4 entrees, 2 bottle of wine and 1 dessert. This included tax and tip. Most entrees on the menu range from $12.95 to $20 and they have an extensive and reasonably priced wine list. With solid food, a nice atmosphere and great value for the quality and quantity offered, Turquoise is a winner worth many visits.

Chicago (Wine Bar and Cafe) - Rootstock

Rootstock
954 North California Avenue, Chicago, Illinois; Phone 773-292-1616
Date of Review: March, 2010
http://rootstockbar.com/

Rootstock is a wine bar and restaurant that opened in Humboldt Park a little over a year ago. It was opened by some friends who used to work together at Webster’s Wine Bar and a chef that used to work at Cafe Spiaggia. They wanted to create an environment that was casual, relaxing and focused on small producers of wine and beer and a food menu that puts emphasis on sustainable farming. The owners have succeeded in fulfilling their objectives and more importantly have created a relaxing environment that entices one to stick around for a bit while enjoying another drink or bite to eat.

Rootstock is located on a quiet stretch of California Avenue near the intersection of Augusta by the California Clipper. Street parking is easy to find in this area which has a mix of restaurants and shops and residential condo buildings. If you look for a door in the front like I did, look again. The restaurant/bar is accessed via an alley that leads into the restaurant through a side door. The interior has dim lighting and a mix and match of plates, chairs and tables that add to the aura, charm and laid back atmosphere of the place. There is seating for 50 or so at tables, the bar and a counter. They play jazz at just the perfect decibel level that allows you to appreciate the music while still allowing you to chat with your guests.

As for the wine and beer menu, they have an impressive selection of bottled beers with detailed descriptions, including the alcohol content. They focus on small producers so don’t expect much to look familiar although you should be impressed with whatever you choose. The wine menu is expansive and equally impressive. The food menu is a small, diverse offering of reasonably priced bar plates, salads, flatbreads (or crusts), larger plates and meat and cheese platters. To begin, the charcuterie and cheese board (3 meats and 3 cheeses) is the most impressive selection of this type I’ve had in Chicago. It is pricy at $21 but well worth it as the portions and quality of the meats, cheeses and condiments are all top notch. We also ordered the “crust” topped with bourbon glazed mushrooms, vivace cheese and herb salad. It was crispy and equally good as you can’t beat a flatbread that is finished with fresh herbs. We finished our meal with the burger and frites with house made ketchup. My only complaint about the solid (but not quite stellar) burger is the bacon-scallion aioli layered on the bun. While tasty, it was a bit too rich for my tastes and I think another flavor selection would go better with the high quality meat. The frites were very good.

My wife and I walked out of Rootstock with a hefty bill of $135 (that includes tax and tip). We each had 4 drinks and shared 4 separate dishes so our large bill was related to our consumption rather than the costs of our selections. We also walked out knowing we had discovered a new gem a mile from our house that we will visit often. Lastly, we left genuinely feeling like the owners we talked too cared about our experience at Rootstock and appreciated the time we spent at their establishment. Here’s a toast to them.

River Grove (Italian) - Da Luciano

Da Luciano
8343 W. Grand Avenue, River Grove, Illinois; Phone 708-453-1000
Date of Review: March, 2010
http://www.dalucianos.com/index.cfm

Da Luciano is a no frills Italian “joint” with good food that smells and feels old school from the minute you walk into the restaurant. It actually reminds me of the restaurant in the movie the Godfather, Part 1 where Michael Corleone executed the crooked cop McCluskey. If you don’t remember the exact verbiage, I’ll help you.

Michael Corleone wanted “a public place -- a bar, a restaurant -- some place where there's people so I feel safe.” The venue ended up being Louis' Restaurant in the Bronx. When asked if anybody knew the restaurant, Tessio said ‘Yeah, sure, I do. It's perfect for us. A small family place, good food. Everyone minds his business. It's perfect. Pete: they got an old-fashion' toilet -- you know, the box, and - and - and - ah the chain-thing. We might be able to tape the gun behind it.”

While there are no guns in the toilet (at least I didn’t notice any), Da Luciano is small street side restaurant that you would imagine local Italian families frequent regularly. Put another way, it is the type of place where people feel comfortable dining in shorts in the summer or in a jumpsuit for one particular patron on the evening of our visit. The restaurant is small and basic with nothing fancy about it. There is seating for less than 30 in the main room that also houses a small bar and the kitchen in the back. The adjoining room was either under construction or was being reorganized for a private event as there was seating for an additional 60-90 but it was completely empty during our visit.

I first heard about this restaurant when I saw it on Check Please about a year ago. It is known for its generous portions of home style cooking and is also known for its gluten free kitchen. People that have an allergy to gluten have pretty much eliminated pasta from their diet. Places like Da Luciano allow them to once again enjoy home cooked pasta.

My family celebrated a few birthdays here on a nice March evening. We started with an order of lightly breaded fried calamari ($7) that was served with cocktail sauce. The calamari was high quality and anything but rubbery. We also had asparagus parmigian ($7) which consisted of large spears of fresh asparagus with an olive oil and parmigian crust which was outstanding. We used the warm crusty bread to make sure none of the sauce from the asparagus dish went to waste.

All entrees are served with a salad or soup. A couple of us ordered the straciatella which I found to be a bit too salty for me. The salad was a standard house salad which was good with decent Italian dressing that was better with a bit of the creamy garlic dressing mixed in. My brother in law and I decided to split the 2 homemade pasta entrees. The homemade pastas were rotolo (a pasta roll stuffed with ricotta and spinach) and manicotti filled with ricotta. The pasta was soft and chewy and the sauces were excellent. The vodka sauce we chose on the rotolo, while a bit rich for me, was outstanding. We had spicy and fresh arrabiatta sauce on the manicotti that was more of spicy tomato mixture than a puree. Other entrees we had were the shrimp, broccoli and linguini in olive oil and garlic sauce, chicken cacciatore and zuppe di pesce. Of these dishes, the rich and flavorful marinara sauce on the chicken cacciatore stood out the most. While I wasn’t blown away by any particular dish, I enjoyed everything I ate and found the large portiodn and reasonable prices (10$- 12$) be an excellent value.

We were too full for dessert as we exited the restaurant with leftovers. Overall, Da Luciano is a go to Italian spot with generous a range of reasonably priced high and quality standard Italian dishes.

Chicago (American) - Revolution Brewing Company

Revolution Brewing Company
2323 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL; Phone (773) 227-BREW [2739]
Date of Review: February, 2010
http://revbrew.com/

Revolution Brewing Company is the latest new addition to Logan Square and it is a mighty impressive addition at first glance. I came on the first full day they opened and they did not fail to impress. They didn’t spare any expense on this long awaited brew pub. The décor with the wood walls, impressive and large circular bar, neatly designed iron fist beer pulls and open environment with a large seating area are all impressive. I was part of the eager crowd waiting their first Revolution Brewing Company experience. There was a significant wait for a table but I was able to snag a seat at the bar.

The beer menu includes 4 beers made in house with another 3 scheduled for release. I sampled all four and was impressed with each. I am more of a lager / pilsner / ale guy and particularly enjoyed the Cross of Gold ale which had a nice flavor with a perfect amount of hop finish. The Eugene porter was rich and robust and the Iron Fist pale ale was also impressive. They also feature 6-8 other brews trying to focus as much as possible on local Chicago breweries like Half Acre, Metropolitan Brewing Company and Goose Island.

The food appears to be every bit as good as the décor and the beer. The owners of another favorite of mine, Handlebar, are involved in this venture so I have been excited to sample the fare at Revolution Brewing Company. The menu is quite different from Handlebar, which is predominantly vegetarian, innovate and tasty. Nearly every item on the menu at Revolution is original in some way from the bacon fat popcorn, sweet potato cake and home-made sausage and ham appetizers to the ten different pizza varieties (including a duck confit option), excellent burgers and small list (5) of entrees. Based on my first experience, I expect Revolution Brewing Company to challenge Hopleaf for best food served in a bar like setting. On my first visit (and I cannot wait to come back), I only sampled 2 menu items and I was impressed by both. I did glance at many of the other patrons plates and everything I saw (including Fish and Chips and Smoked Pulled Pork) made me hungry. The Applewood Smoked Wings ($9) served with Blue cheese potato salad & dipping sauce are outstanding. They had a nice degree of spice and you could really taste the smoked flavor in the wings. For an entrée, I went for the burger as they have 4 different innovative versions featuring toppings like pulled pork, roasted beets, organic eggs and beer onions. I had the Farm Burger ($12) which featured baby spinach, roasted beet, horseradish cream and organic egg on a house made bun. This large burger was extremely tasty in every facet from the excellent taste of the meat to the sweet thick slices of beet and tasty bun. The only thing that it could have made it better would have been a bit more horseradish cream which I had trouble tasting given all the other flavors in each bite. This burger stacks up against Chicago’s best. The hand cut fries (you can also get garlic cream cheese mashed potato or blue cheese potato salad) were tasty and crispy. Regarding the kitchen, it has an eye catching pizza oven and is open air and viewable to the entire restaurant.

All of the burgers and sandwiches are between 10 and 13 dollars which is decent value given the size and quality while entrees run from $14 to $27 for the 16 ounce Angus Rib Eye Steak. Beers are in the 5$ to 6$ range. The prices are about what you would expect for a place of Revolution Brewing Company’s caliber.

Chicago (American) - Kuma's Corner

Kuma’s Corner
2900 W. Belmont, Chicago, IL; Phone 773-604-8769
Date of Review: November, 2009
http://www.kumascorner.com/

Come for the burger and stay for the attitude. Don’t forget the tattoos either. Kuma’s Corner has been around for many years and I actually knew of it before it ‘”blew up” and got famous after getting ranked as the best burger in Chicago by some publication. I had been here for a beer and a sandwich on a few occasions as it is one of the few bars on this stretch of Belmont Avenue in Avondale near my home in Logan Square. Ironically, it is less than a mile from Hot Doug’s which draws similar lines and I am guessing a similar crowd of Diners, Drive In’s and Dives viewers. This is a place not for the faint hearted. While I brought my parents here once, many would be turned off by the loud (but not obnoxiously blaring) heavy metal music that is always on and the attitude that emanates from this place. Personally, I like it. This place isn’t trying to be cute and they are happy being what they are which is a bar with outstanding hamburgers and a good beer selection. Another thing on the music – they aren’t changing it so don’t bother asking.

Kuma’s is really all attitude from the rules posted on the wall (e.g. We will not "put on the game, bro") to the dim lighting and the menu which is really trying to say ANGER in a not so subtle way. Despite that, the bartenders and servers are very nice and helpful and don’t really display any attitude. If you are interested in a position though, you better make sure you have some visible tattoos as I don’t remember seeing an employee without some visible ink during my visits. They are known for their burgers and have 20 different variations which you can get with a chicken breast or garden burger also. They put a lot of thought and creativity into the toppings and combinations so I would suggest not making special requests (that is actually one of their rules). When I say creativity, it comes from the name of the burger to the toppings. For example, the special burger on my last visit was the Sleep burger which is on for the Thanksgiving season. It is a turkey burger on top of cranberry jam (all burgers are served on a gigantic chewy pretzel roll) with a fried stuffing cake on top of the burger which is covered with gravy. It takes a lot of thought to put out something like that or the Judas Priest together which features bacon and bleu cheese dressing with apples, walnuts, and dried cranberries.

On my most recent visit, we started with an appetizer of BBQ pork fries which feature waffle fries covered with jack cheese and BBQ pork (9$). Given the size of the burgers, this was not needed (and definitely not for 2 people) but it was pretty good. There was a ton of pork on top of a mountain of fries and they didn’t hold back on the cheese. It was topped with some chopped scallions which were a really nice compliment to the other flavors. The fries are not homemade (good luck with making waffle fries homemade) but they were decent. The only negative on the appetizer is that some of the fries on the very bottom were cold but by that point, you probably didn’t need those last few French fries anyway. They obviously don’t care much about offering good French fries if they are serving waffle fries (they do make homemade chips), but that is cool with me as this place lives and dies on burgers and they are not bashful about saying so. On that note, I went with the Iron Maiden which features avocado, cherry peppers, pepper jack cheese and chipotle mayo on a pretzel roll. The high quality meat is juicy and tasty and was served medium (leaning towards medium rare which was perfect). The burger is so big that it is nearly impossible to cut through and keep together. My burger kept falling apart on me and I had to put it back together numerous times. While kind of cool, it can get to be annoying. I purposely went for toppings that I didn’t think would overwhelm the meat and bun. I wanted to taste the burger instead of just the topping which can be a challenge if you order something like the Plague Bringer (Roasted Garlic Mayo, Tortilla Strips, Chicago CO-OP hot sauce, Fresh Garlic, Pepper Jack, Sliced Jalapenos). The chipotle mayo was decent but didn’t really add or detract from the burger. The cherry peppers, avocado and thick slice of cheese where nice compliments that allowed the taste of the meat to come through. Not wanting or being able to handle any more French fries, I went for the house made chips which were solid and once again there were a lot of them. They were served with a cup of chipotle ketchup which was tasty and had a nice chunky consistency. Kuma’s has a good U.S. microbrew heavy beer selection with 6-8 drafts and many variations of bottles.

All of the burgers are between 10 and 12 dollars which is a good value as most people end up taking half home or leaving it on the plate. For me, I ate the whole thing and felt like I wanted to throw up afterwards. Don’t try that! With the heavy metal music, tattoos and overall attitude of this place, it is kind of must at least once. This place has excellent hamburgers. While it isn’t gourmet, Kuma’s isn’t trying to be gourmet about anything. What they are trying to be is in your face with big obnoxious burgers and an endless variety of toppings.

Chicago (Tapas Style) - Avec

Avec
615 W. Randolph, Chicago, Illinois; Phone 312-377-2002
Date of Review: August, 2009

I really, really like Avec. There is a lot to like about it. In fact, there is so much to be fond of at this restaurant, I may as well just tell you what I like the most:

· It was recommended to me by Anthony Bourdain (via his book) whose life I
am very envious of
· Avec’s chef has been on the Food Network’s Iron Chef program
· The design of the restaurant (long and narrow) which has impressive wood
walls and strategically placed, high windows
· The barrels out front that you can stand around and enjoy a glass of wine at
while you wait for your table under some heating lamps if it is a bit chilly
· The reasonably priced menu, the bar which is made to dine at, the people and
most importantly the food and wine.

After eating at Avec, I am not sure I have much need or desire to frequent other tapas style restaurants. The food is just too good here. It is a foodies dream. All you have to do is take one look through the menu, close your eyes and pick and you can be pretty sure that you will be satisfied, if not blown away. During my 2 visits to Avec, I eagerly surveyed the menu and read the descriptions of the dishes and then told my guests to pick whatever they wanted as everything on this evolving menu sounds fantastic. They have an excellent wine list as this place is as much about wine as it is food. They even serve the wine in casual tumbler style wine glasses that suit the atmosphere at Avec. To me Avec is about innovation, fresh ingredients, reasonable prices and gourmet food in a popular, yet casual setting. While the owner may also own Blackbird and Publican, this restaurant has its own unique identity.

They have a great open kitchen with an oven that looks like a kiln with a huge torch blowing fire directly into it. This is where they roast and cook everything, including the excellent mini loaves of bread. You will get lots of those too as they are served with everything. Make sure to use them to soak up every bit of the wonderful sauces that are a part of every dish!

They have a small plate menu and a large plate menu but all plates are meant to share. The chorizo-stuffed medjool dates with smoked bacon in a pepper-tomato sauce is my favorite thing on the menu and one of the best dishes I have had in any restaurant in Chicago. The sauce is a slightly spicy pimiento based sauce and is perfect for dipping. The menu changes frequently with only a few items (including the dates and truffle filled focaccia bread) available all the time. The dishes I have had here range from coffee braised short ribs to pheasant to cheese, salami and olives to an outstanding pasta dish served with blood sausage, baby squid, bacon and grilled radicchio. Everything I have eaten here has been at least solid, if not outstanding.

The servers are cool and full of suggestions regarding every aspect of the menu. One of the great things about Avec is that you can blow a fortune at this place and order a 70-100$ bottle of wine or you can eat and drink economically by ordering a $30 bottle of wine and feasting on an assortment of dishes ranging from $5 to $20 that are meant to share. A few additional things worth noting are that Avec does not take reservations and seating is either at the bar or at large rectangular communal table where smaller parties sit next to other patrons. Avec is very popular and while the tables do turn rather quickly, you should expect a long wait if you arrive after 7 PM.

Chicago (Italian) - The Rosebud

The Rosebud
1500 W. Taylor Street, Chicago, Illinois; Phone 312-942-1117
Date of Review: September, 2009

This is the Grand Opus for Italian food in Chicago. It is the place they talk about with the old school décor and the pictures of famous people like Robert Deniro, Frank Sinatra and the numerous athletes who have dined at this establishment over the years. As they add more locations and restaurants, we sometimes have a tendency to forget about the original. However, Rosebud on Taylor opened in 1977 and they still have a fabulous business in a cut throat industry because they deliver night in and night out. Maybe I forgot this as I have a tendency to lose interest in an establishment as they open up more locations and I hadn’t visited The Rosebud in a few years. However, I have never forgotten my wonderful experiences at The Rosebud in the past and recently added a few more pages to my Rosebud notebook.

One of my recent visits came on the day of the Festa Italiana on Taylor Street. This made it easy to get in the mood for an Italian meal with sausages grilling, Italian cookies for sale and many olive skinned, dark haired people roaming the streets. In the spirit of the event, The Rosebud set up 20+ tables outside to accommodate the spillover of diners from the festival.

When you walk into the Rosebud and see the dim lights, wood walls and classic bar in the front, you can almost imagine Frank Sinatra, Robert Deniro or a real life Don Corleone sitting down to break bread at this place. There is nothing modern about Rosebud. This is old school Italian which includes the service. For us, that meant a waitress in her late 50’s with a charming, matter of fact attitude that was definitely no nonsense Italian.

Rosebud’s menu covers all the bases including pasta, seafood, veal, beef, chicken, pork and then some.

Along with the complementary warm and chewy bread which is served with olive oil and what looks like a sugar cube holder full of cheese, they have an assortment of excellent appetizers. The Melrose peppers (a regular special not on the menu) appetizer ($12) consists of long green peppers stuffed with an assortment of cheeses in one and sausage in the other. The sweet peppers are served in a tasty olive oil sauce with yummy fillings; a great way to start a meal. I also recommend the Rosebud Chopped Salad which includes a healthy portion of fresh vegetables, mixed greens and cheese in a red wine vinaigrette dressing. For entrees, the cavatelli arrabbiata ($16.50) which includes soft and chewy homemade 8-Finger" ricotta dumplings simmered in spicy marinara sauce (the way I like it) with fresh chilies, pancetta and white wine is fantastic. The pasta squares are a Rosebud original for a reason. These soft folds of homemade pasta melt in your mouth and their chewiness almost makes them heavenly. The sauce is a rich, tomato sauce that is the absolute perfect complement to the wonderful pasta. A side of Mama’s meatballs ($5.25) which consists of 2 oversized meatballs served in marinara sauce is a nice compliment to any pasta dish. The linguini with clams in a garlic white wine sauce ($19.50) is the best rendition of this dish I have ever had. While the linguine wasn’t homemade, it was cooked perfectly in a bread plate cleaning good white wine and garlic sauce with 8 large clams and a mountain of chopped clams piled high in the middle of the dish that ultimately made their way down to the bottom of the bowl.

For desert, the pistachio gelato is nutty and refreshing and is enough for at least 2 to share and the Italian cookies (warning, 1 order consists of about 8 cookies) offers a nice assortment of traditional Italian cookies. The coffee is rich and flavorful.

The Rosebud is relatively pricey but you certainly get what you pay for. On one recent visit, as a party of 4, our bill came to $270 with tax and tip included. We had 4 cocktails, 4 glasses of wine, 1 appetizer, 4 entrees, 1 side dish and 3 desserts. The Rosebud continues to be one of Chicago’s very best Italian restaurants.

Chicago (American) - Heartland Cafe

Heartland Cafe
7000 N Glenwood Ave, Chicago, IL; Phone 773 465-8005
Date of Review: July, 2009
http://www.heartlandcafe.com/hc_index.htm

Heartland Café is a Rogers Park institution with a great screened in patio, laid back atmosphere and a heavily organic and local menu. Heartland Café is a casual grab a menu and seat yourself place with a great outdoor seating area and a huge screened in patio reminiscent of something you might see on Venice Beach. They also have a large inside with a decent size bar and many beers on tap and even more bottles available.

It was a beautiful, sunny 70 degree day when I visited Heartland Café. We grabbed a seat outside situated on a quiet, residential street and glanced at the menu. Oddly enough, the ambience and environment almost made me feel like I was on vacation in Florida or California.

The menu is heavy on local and organic produce and surprisingly, buffalo. In fact, I think buffalo pretty much substitutes for beef throughout the entire menu. They have many breakfast, lunch and dinner options with quite a variety of dishes ranging from burritos to buffalo and veggie burgers to noodle dishes to a few different variations on chili.

We started with the free range chicken wings. They were refreshingly grilled instead of fried with a mild tomato based barbecue sauce that I believe was home made. An order of 6 is more like an order of 12 because they give you the whole chicken wing. These are some of the best chicken wings I’ve had due to their freshness and the grilled flavor.

For entrees, we had the Himalayan noodles and the buffalo chili. The Himalayan noodles arrived in a large bowl with a portion too large for one person to finish themselves unless they were very hungry. The flavor was a bit mild for my taste as I would have expected a bit more spiciness to the dish. That said, the vegetable were fresh and tender and the dish was served with a huge piece of very good homemade cornbread. Interestingly enough, the noodles in the dish were macaroni. I have no problem with macaroni but I would have expected ramen or soba or some other kind of noodle in a dish like this. The buffalo chili came in a large bowl that was loaded with chunks of tender buffalo meat, red and black beans and large slices of red pepper. The dish was on the mild side and very tasty. It was topped with Monterey jack cheese and avocado and brown rice (extras that I chose to add to the dish) and is served with cornbread or corn tortillas (my selection). The chili was healthy, filling and satisfying.

The prices at Heartland Café are about average with most dishes in the 8-12$ range. We had 2 cups of coffee, 1 appetizer and 2 entrees for a total price of $47 (that includes tax and tip). While the value isn’t outstanding, the prices are about what you would expect for a popular restaurant in a nice location with a largely local menu.

The Heartland Café considers themselves to be the Heart of Rogers Park and from the looks of it, I would agree with that statement. The Heartland Café is actually a conglomeration of multiple businesses that began with the Heartland Café in 1976 with a vision o serve good wholesome food for the mind and the body. Over the years the “café” has grown and become a community of sorts which hosts progressive (e.g. liberal) political events, a radio show, a theatre, journal, general store, athletic organization, beach stand and buffalo bar. They have also expanded their business base by keeping the No Exit café open and opening another bar nearby called the Red Line tap.

Chicago (European Cafe) - Julius Meinl

Julius Meinl
3601 N. Southport, Chicago, IL; Phone 773-868-1857
4363 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL; Phone 773-868-1876
Date of Review: May, 2009
http://www.meinl.com/northamerica/home.html

Julius Meinl is an Austrian coffee shop, café and restaurant with a U.S. presence. It has been one of my favorite Chicago cafes for sometime but I discovered its’ roots during a visit to Austria in 2006 when I saw what seemed to be the same café I knew from Southport Avenue in central Vienna. Boasting one of the best tea menus in Chicago, outstanding coffee and good food this is a great place to enjoy an alcohol free evening. They currently have locations on Southport Avenue and right off of Lincoln and Montrose in Lincoln Square.

Each location is full of style from the silver trays used to serve each coffee and tea beverage to the individual pots used to serve tea and the cookies offered with each drink. This is all very European. The front of each location has tables spaced out appropriately with a relaxed feel that make it perfect for a quiet dinner, an after dinner dessert (very popular) or some studying or reading. The back of each restaurant is a bit more private and quiet but is still open to the front. The symbol of Julius Meinl which you will see outside the Lincoln location is referred to as the coffee boy and is a 6-foot-2-inch bronze sculpture of a lad wearing a fez and looking into the bowl of coffee he's carrying. The symbol is meant to pay homage to the Turkish Ottoman Empire and its contributions to the coffee world.

Meinl is known for their desserts but don’t underestimate the rest of their menu. They have a nice brunch menu highlighted by pastries, a variety of crepes and 6 different variations of baked eggs served with items like smoked salmon, pancetta or spinach, mushroom and feta. For lunch and dinner, they have excellent freshly prepared salads and a variety of sandwiches on tasty rolls and breads (yummy brioche, pretzel rolls, raisin-sunflower, etc.). Each sandwich has a twist with a garlic mayo, tapenade or specialty mustard to zest things up and is served with and excellent side salad with a tasty, light dressing. They also feature many European specialties including Roasted Lamb & Spätzle, Austrian Goulash and a tasty, generous portion of Chicken and Fontina filled crepes.

Julius Meinl is a decent value with almost everything on the menu under $10. They also have free live music on Friday’s and Saturdays at both locations. I have seen Spanish Guitar and a Serbian Violinist and Cimbalom. Other types of music offered include Bossa Nova and Irish Harp music. There is music every Friday and Saturday from 8 PM to 11 PM.

Chicago (American) - Hot Doug's

Hot Doug’s
3324 N. California Ave., Chicago, Illinois; Phone 773-279-9550
Date of Review: May, 2009

Was waiting in line for 1 hour before I got to the counter to put in my order on a beautiful Spring Saturday worth it? That is an impossible question to answer as there are many variables. Had I dined at Hot Doug's before? Did I know what I was getting into? How hungry was I? What else did I have to do with my time?

The answer to the 1st question is yes but all I ordered were hot dogs and while Hot Doug’s has excellent hot dogs, people are not waiting in line for 1 hour for hot dogs. Sausage is king here. The answer to question 2 is definitely yes. I live in the area and have driven by enough times to see the long lines. The question to answer # 3 is pretty hungry, but a bit less than famished. By the time I took my 1st bite, it was noon and I hadn't eaten a thing. The answer to question # 4 is that I am 35, engaged to be married in a few weeks, have no children and my fiancé was at some work out seminar in Grant Park. This day was free as it gets at least for a few hours.

Despite arriving 10 minutes prior to opening time at 10:20 AM, I was still faced with 40+ people in front of me. I brought a newspaper to read and finished it while standing in line and didn't submit my order until approximately 11:15 AM. Hot Doug’s is not very big inside but I commend them on efficiently managing the flow of people into the restaurant as you would expect a mad house inside with a place this popular. However, once you arrive inside there are ample seats to sit and feast on a specialty sausage and some duck fat rendered french fries (only available on Friday and Saturdays).

My last visit was over 3 years ago and I had 2 hot dogs and duck fat fries the day before I ran the 2005 Chicago Marathon. The hot dogs were very good but not worth the wait. Years later, I can say that getting premium sausages is worth the wait. And the duck fat fries, well, will get to those.

I had the Salma Hayek which is a hot andouille sausage with everything which includes caramelized onions, pickle, celery salt, mustard, relish, tomatoes and celery salt. I got the sausage char grilled and it was moderately spicy with a nice grilled flavor. It was good size and the condiments (especially the caramelized onions) were perfect on top of a nice soft bun. As good as this was, the real winner was the celebrity sausage of the day which was a Ribeye Steak Sausage with Chimichurri and Formaggi Podda. This was outstanding with steak stuffed in a casing topped with garlicky chimichurri sauce (olive oil, garlic and parsley sauce typically served in Argentine steak houses) and slices of parmesan like cheese. The duck fat fries (a huge portion enough for 3-4 for 3.50) are as good (actually much better) than I remember. They are outstanding, right there with Smoque for best fries in Chicago. Hot Doug’s actually has many specialty sausages like the Ribeye steak sausage making it very hard to pick 1 or 2 to feast on.

It is almost hard to admit it but Hot Doug's is a destination restaurant but it definitely is and the proprietor is making a fortune off of this place. This is a place that you will see on the news (if you haven't already) or on a food network special. Dining here is an event and is something worth putting in the effort to do at least once if you don't live in Chicago and at least once a year if you do. It isn't cheap (my tab was $16.50 for 2 sausages, ducks fat fries and a small fountain soda) but it is good. If you are going to go through all the effort to dine here though, don't waste your time with a hot dog. Focus on the sausage as this is what makes Hot Doug’s worth the wait.

Chicago (Japanese) - Tampopo

Tampopo
5665 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, Illinois; Phone 773-561-2277
Date of Review: May, 2009

Tampopo is an authentic sushi spot far up Lincoln Avenue past Bryn Mawr. It is worth the drive as the fish here is fresh, tasty and served in generous portions. The atmosphere is pleasant and very typical of a Japanese restaurant with a small sushi bar, tables in the middle and booths on the perimeter of the restaurant. They do offer beer, wine, sake and soju but are BYOB on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

The complimentary miso soup was solid and they offered 3 side dishes much like they do at a Korean restaurant (I think Tampopo is run by Koreans). The dishes (bean sprouts, pickled vegetables and strangely, macaroni salad) were nothing noteworthy but a nice touch. We ordered one excellent appetizer which consisted of 2 broiled mussels with crab meat and masago. Additionally, we ordered 2 sashimi appetizers which consisted of 10 half size pieces of salmon and tuna for $12.50 each. The healthy size slices of tuna and salmon were tasty and fresh. With our bellies filling up quickly, we decided to only go for 3 maki rolls. A word of warning: be careful when ordering maki rolls here as the portions are large (2 bite large). We ordered the spicy tuna, Amazon maki and the fire dragon. The Amazon has real crab, jalapeno, spicy mayo and cucumber stuffed inside with thick slices of tuna, salmon and avocado on the outside and is topped with cilantro and masago. This was outstanding as was the fire dragon which features unagi and avocado wrapped around spicy tuna, cucumber and green onion. These are some of the best rolls I have had in Chicago. The specialty rolls are pricy ($13.95) but they are worth it.

Our food bill and one beer came to a total of $62.50 and that included tax and tip.

I highly recommend purchasing a $25 gift certificate for $10 from the restaurant.com website ahead of time. It will reduce a bill by $25. Our waitress gladly accepted the certficate by saying "Of Course!" with a plesant smile.

Chicago (Lunch) - First Slice Pie Cafe

First Slice Pie Café
4401 N. Ravenswood Avenue, Chicago, Illinois; Phone 773-769-4226
Date of Review: April, 2009

This is one of my favorite Chicago hidden gems and also one of my favorite lunch spots. This cozy 20 seat café is located in Ravenswood between Montrose and Irving Park within the Lillstreet Art Center. The Lillstreet Art Center supports the arts through an artist residency program, gallery, studio space, education and outreach program. The art center has a jewelry shop inside that sells pottery and jewelry and offers art classes for both children and adults. I have spent many afternoons reading the Economist or the newspaper, enjoying a gourmet sandwich and a large unique coffee mug (made in the art center) full of wonderful coffee. It is nice to know that the wonderful food all contributes to a great cause also. First Slice Pie Café has a subscriber program where an individual or family picks up a week’s worth of convenient, home-cooked, restaurant-quality meals each weekend and part of the subscription cost directly contributes to funding the same high-quality meals for people in need. They also have a community-supported kitchen (in another location) where volunteers and staff serve hot, high-quality three-course meals to approximately 100 men, women, and children. There are many kitchens that serve food to the needy but what sets First Slice Pie Café apart is the quality of the food. They use local organic ingredients and they serve the same high quality food to the needy that the subscribers and the people who dine in the café enjoy.

They have excellent soups, sandwiches and baked goods (cookies, pies, etc.). They also have quiches, tamales and fantastic assorted salads. I have never had anything I haven’t liked here and everything is freshly prepared. I usually opt for the sandwiches. There are a few seasonal sandwiches that rotate on and off the menu like the excellent lamb burger but some of the staples include the Duck and Mozzarella, Pear and Cheese, and Ham and Cheddar with Grilled Onions. The food is gourmet so all of the sandwiches have a twist with some kind of red pepper or garlic aioli or fruit chutney with some caramelized or grilled onions or sautéed spinach. This is far from a deli. They also have excellent desserts (hence the name) including Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie, Michigan Sour Cherry Pie, Blueberry and Apple Pies to name a few along with cookies and lemon squares among their sweet selections.

Prices range from $5-10 for almost everything on the menu.

Venice, California (Eclectic) - Gjelina

Gjelina
1429 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, CA; Phone 310-450-1429
Date of Review: April, 2009

Rarely do I write reviews of restaurants outside of Chicago. However, sometimes a restaurant location or the way a particular meal touches me in just the right places inspires me to break my pattern and venture outside of Chicago in one of my reviews. A lunch date on Good Friday in April, 2009 is one of those times and Venice Beach and Gjelina are my inspiration.

As I walked around Abbot Kinney road in breathtaking Venice Beach, California on a sunny 70 degree day and tried to think how I could somehow increase my earning capacity to allow me to live in this setting year round, I was in a splendid mood. I walked into one gallery, furniture or clothing shop after another realizing quickly that I couldn’t afford anything. What I could afford though was food and drink. We walked by the Library Ale House in addition to other restaurants that caught our eye buy my fiancé Ivy mentioned a place called Gjelina and we decided to give it a try. Although there were many other wonderful options around us and our mind was still fresh with the memory of the excellent Happy Hour sushi dinner we had last night at Chaya, going to Gjelina proved to be the right decision.

The restaurant is unmarked with dark wood paneling on the outside and many windows allowing much light inside. We actually walked around the side and entered the restaurant through the patio entrance. The patio is outstanding and this is where we dined. It is situated in the back of the restaurant, seats 20-25 and gives one the feeling that they are sitting in someone’s very cool backyard. Casual but chic, there are fire pits that can be turned on to keep you warm and a view through a window into the kitchen. The inside of the restaurant is just as impressive with the same stone floor inside that is on the patio, a bar interestingly set behind glass, tables and lots of light. Gjelina looks cool, feels cool and is cool. However, the food is what sets apart this hip restaurant from many others that try to be the same thing.

The menu has starters, pizza, sandwiches and a variety of plates with fantastic vegetable side dishes that should not be underestimated. We decided to try a variety of dishes to get the full effect as plate sharing seems to be the norm based on the others enjoying lunch on this afternoon. We started with some refreshing drinks including the ginger Italian soda and a fresh lemonade / ice tea hybrid (better known as the Arnold Palmer – by the way, did he really invent this drink?) Our first dish was the PEI mussels steamed with ale, tomato and chorizo sausage in a savory broth with 2 slices of grilled bread for dipping. The mussels were tender and had excellent flavor. The sausage was a nice twist and we ended up using our spoons to eat the large bowl of broth as if it was a soup. Our next dish was the pizza and it was tough to select one based on the interesting variety of options available. Our selection featured thin slices of spicy sausage, a bit of mozzarella and shishito (a mini, sweet-hot, thin green pepper that is popular in Japan). This was a nice combination of flavors and the paper thin crust and fresh toppings made for a solid pizza. While I was satisfied, this was my least favorite dish and that says more about the rest of the menu than of my disappointment with the pizza. Maybe I was just jealous watching the guy across from me bite into his lamb burger. The chickpea stew with greens, Israeli couscous, spiced yogurt and Harissa (spicy red sauce) was outstanding. This dish would be great on a fall or winter day in Chicago. It was colorful and had just the right combination of colors (swirls of red and white) and flavors. Our last dish was the brussel sprouts with bacon and dates. This side dish was quite a combination of flavors that I saved for my last few bites despite a very full stomach. Sweet gooey dates, the roasted bitter flavor of the brussel sprouts and smoky bacon are a blend I will not soon forget and plan to try and replicate in my own kitchen. All of the vegetable side dishes I saw come out of the kitchen looked splendid including the French fries.

We had 4 dishes, 2 drinks and a ginger beer (which I wouldn’t order again) for a total of $92 and that included tax and tip. Gjelina isn’t cheap but we ordered 4 dishes and were on vacation justifying a more expensive lunch. What we got in return was one of the best and most innovative meals I remember having in some time. I plan on definitely visiting Gjelina again the next time I am in Los Angeles.

Chicago (Japanese) - Wakamono

Wakamono
3317 N. Broadway, Chicago, Illinois; Phone 773-296-6800
Date of Review: February, 2009

Wakamono is a chic little sushi spot on a busy stretch of Broadway (tough to find parking) that has good sushi at average prices in a fantastic environment. On top of that, it is BYOB.

I don’t usually get too enamored with atmosphere but it is hard not to be impressed by Wakamono. From the cute stools for people to wait for their seats near the entrance to the neat sake jars, and the colorful art work, this is a restaurant whose environment one can indulge in. This is a very cozy restaurant with small tables near each other. It is a great place to cork a bottle of wine, munch on some sushi and look into each other’s eyes. The adjoining bar next door (Wang’s) is in one word, awesome. It is a small place that feels like a lounge with accents of China crossed with a fantasy world. It is too neat to pass up for a drink after dinner, especially when it’s right next door.

We sampled a variety of sashimi and sushi rolls. We started with the seaweed salad. They gave us a large portion for $6 and it was decent although the dressing was a bit too sweet for my taste. We ordered 10 pieces of sashimi ($18). This was a chef’s assortment and it was high quality. We had a few rolls including a spicy white tuna, rainbow, sweet potato roll and the yellowtail jalapeno roll. All of the rolls were solid although the rainbow didn’t do much for me. I was particularly impressed with the sweet potato roll which had tempura yam, cream cheese and green onion and the yellowtail jalapeno roll which had just the perfect amount of kick to it.

Our food bill and 1 $5 corkage fee came to $85 and that included tax and tip. I will visit Wakamono again for good quality sushi in a neat, romantic environment.

Chicago (Chinese) - Spring World

Spring World
2109 S. China Place, Chicago, Illinois; Phone 312-326-9966
Date of Review: February, 2009

Specializing in Yunnan cuisine, Spring World is one of the few restaurants anywhere that focuses on cuisine from this region of China. Located in the middle of S China Place (in Chinatown), Spring World is an interesting place to locate. First of all, it was 1 degree Celsius with snow covering the ground so we were trying to locate a warm inside as quickly as possible. Secondly, I have never been to the interior of China Place which is a cross between New Orleans style building with stores and restaurants on the 2nd floor and an outdoor mall. Come to think of it, it reminds me a bit of some open air “places” I encountered in Singapore
The atmosphere in Spring World is pretty basic. It is about a 40 seat restaurant with mostly basic surroundings and 4 seat tables. It is clean, well lit and features prominently a TV that has the news being blurted out in Chinese.

We were having dinner and I already had an idea for some of the dishes I wanted to try based on my research of the restaurant and Yunnan cuisine. A nice start to the meal is a complimentary dish of 2 different types of cabbage and some peanuts. The cabbages were kimchi like with a different, but nice combination of spices. We started with the hot and sour soup. They give you a pretty large bowl for $1.95 and the flavor was quite good. It had a nice spice mix and the scallions gave it a nice flavor. This is a solid rendition of this dish. We decided to order 3 different dishes and sample them all. The best of the dishes we sampled was the stir fried chicken with rice cake. This dish featured small rice cake chunks that were the size of miniature tater tots. They were soft like a pillow and melted in your mouth like gnocchi. The spice mixture of red and green chiles, chicken, chunks of fresh ginger and garlic and lots of black pepper was a beautiful explosion of flavors in my mouth. It was bit greasy and that is the only thing that stopped me from eating everything on the plate. The colorful (lots of green scallions) spicy baby chicken was a little tame compared to the chicken with rice cake dish but it was still solid. There was loads of ginger, chicken, garlic and chili and I could pick up a slight taste off some rice wine vinegar which could have been a bit less prominent. The last dish we tried was the spicy shrimp. This dish featured a mountain of lightly fried shrimp speckled with red pepper. It was cooked with scallions and red pepper. It was decent, but just OK compared to the other 2 dishes. On another, visit I came for lunch and had the kung pao chicken. Interestingly, the complimentary cabbages weren’t offered with lunch. This dish had chunks of fresh ginger in the dish, but it lacked the spiciness that I had hoped it would offer. There were plenty of red chilis but I needed to actually bite into them to get to something spicy. The portions are large and my favorite thing about Spring World is the fact that all dishes are made to order so the food comes out fresh, hot and quickly. The bad thing is that the food is pretty greasy. It is not all that healthy as everything that I have tried is stir fried in a fair bit of oil. There are many other healthier options on the menu that we didn’t opt for including many Yunnan mushroom dishes and the hot pot which features meat and vegetables that you cook in huge pot of broth on your table.

On one visit, our total bill came to $39 for 1 bowl of soup and 3 entrees. We had water and tea is included. This is a good value for the quantity and quality of the food which is solid and probably one of the better options for a meal in Chinatown. This restaurant is also BYOB.

Chicago (American) - Handlebar

Handlebar
2311 W. North Avenue, Chicago, Illinois; Phone 773-384-9546
Date of Review: February, 2009

Handlebar is one of those places that tries to be cool and actually is. What they are doing with their beers and innovative (predominantly vegetarian) dishes makes it more than worth taking a look at. Located on a slightly less busy section of North Avenue, Handlebar is perfectly placed an earshot away from the hustle and bustle of Wicker Park and just close enough to feel the edginess of Logan Square and Humboldt Park. Based on the cool, slightly alterative layout of the interior of the restaurant (they also have an outdoor dining area in the back), I would say it is located right where it belongs. They have a small bar with counter space for about 10 with many different stickers and other paraphernalia affixed to the cabinets behind the bar.

They have an impressive beer menu with many micro brew beers and Belgian ales that would raise the eyebrows of those who frequent the Map Room or Quenchers nearby. They also have excellent fresh squeezed lemonade with free refills. For appetizers, the chips and salsa are solid and come with 2 homemade salsas (a green tomatillo and a wonderful pico de gallo). A much better option though is the Chili Quesadillas. This large quesadilla is filled with veggie chili, cheese and avocado and is served with pico de gallo and tortilla chips. The chili is the key to the dish as it has a nice flavor with just the right amount of spice. The portion is large enough to have as an entrée (which I did once).

For entrees, I enjoyed the Black Beans Maduro which features sweet plantains layered with brown rice, jack cheese and beans with a spicy chipotle tomato sauce. The combination of flavors with the sauce and sweet plantains really works and I found myself enjoying the dish even more as I got deeper into it. The fish tacos include 3 large tacos, some veggie chili and a nice size scoop of brown rice. Filled with grilled catfish, jack cheese, red cabbage, avocado and served with tomatillo salsa and sour cream, this dish is unexceptional, yet a solid bet for a filling dinner. All of their side dishes sound very appetizing but the only ones I have tried are the collard greens and the French fries. The collard greens were only ok but the fresh cut fries are fantastic, some of the best I have had in Chicago. I am much more cognizant of the quality of fries these days as I try and avoid this unhealthy indulgence and it is kind of a downer when you splurge to have them and they are just average. You won’t have that problem at Handlebar.

The prices are pretty reasonable with most sandwiches (served with 1 side) priced between 8 and 9 dollars. The entrees are reasonable too as there is nothing on the menu over $15 and most are priced around $10. On one visit, I had lemonade, chips and salsa and the Black Beans Maduro and my total bill was $17 with tax, not including tip. On another visit, we had the quesadillas, fish tacos, veggie burger special (very good), side of fries and 2 beers for $44 with tax, but no tip. All of the portions are large, ensuring that you get a lot of food for the buck.

They also have an impressive brunch menu.