CHICAGO EATING
Barbara Kafka
Chicago has become a hot restaurant city. Anyone going there and planning to eat well and/or lavishly will need to reserve long in advance. In addition to the French and Italian derived styles of cooking, there are adventurous—if sometimes far-out—chefs, the leader of whom is Charlie Trotter. There are Mexican restaurants in this the second largest Mexican populated city in North America. There are well-known steak houses and even, if far from salty shores, good seafood restaurants. There are also the Chicago classics. The Pump Room is probably the most famous of these and was known in ages past for its flamboyant service with many foods brought in on flaming swords.
I will note a few of my favorites; but good guide books including Zagat, Fodor’s and Time Out have larger listings with quite good notes.
Charlie Trotter’s, named for the chef-owner himself, is one of the most famous restaurants in the country. My only reservation about it is that instead of having a menu to choose from, he has a good number of lengthy set menus. You don’t over eat because the portions are well-calculated. This format has influenced the avant-garde chefs who have worked for him. It is a terrific place to take vegetarians or vegetable lovers as he almost always has an entirely vegetable menu. To get some idea of its variety and its beauty, look at his glamorous book on vegetables. Tel. 773 248 6228. 816 W. Armitage Ave….Good luck getting a reservation. Recession? What recession?
I am particularly fond of Les Nomades which was started as a sort of private club for the patrons of Le Perroquet that was in its day the fanciest French restaurant in Chicago, by a man who had trained under the brilliant Joe Baum at Restaurant Associates. It is no longer a club nor very much of a French bistro; It also has a tasting menu. Some of the food is of the adventurous kind; but there tends to be a recognizable French component in the cooking. It has welcoming charm along with elegance. Tel. 312 640 9010. 222 E. Ontario St.
Rick Bayless and his wife were the first in the country with upscale and authentic regional Mexican food. They started their research as academics and went on to write excellent cookbooks—worth owning—and went on to create two Mexican restaurants often with dishes that are far beyond the norte Americanos idea of Mexican food—better too. The first, Frontera Grill, is less formal, less expensive and doesn’t take reservations. Topolobampo, next door, takes reservations, is upscale in food, price and changing menu offerings a la carte. Either one is a delight. Tel. 312 661 1434. 445 N. Clark St.
Set sleekly on top of the Chicago Stock Exchange with full city views, is Jean Joho’s restaurant. Like those noted so far, this French-Alsatian has been around for a long time offering a luxurious experience with good food for those who celebrate. Tel: 312 663 8920. 440 Lasalle St.
Spiaggia, the enduring flagship restaurant of the massive, Chicago based restaurant group, Let Us Entertain You, cute pun, no? Is another fancy restaurant with a terrific view. However, the classic, Italian food is very good.
Chicago was a cattlemen’s town. In the past, their private Stockyard Club was the name of the massive steak game. No more club; but there are still redoubtable steaks being served.
I cannot resist a small, scurrilous aside. Very long ago, Bea Lillie was appearing in a play in Chicago and went to the hairdresser. Mrs. Armour, an important client of the place, arrived for her appointment and was furious and made scene when she found that her regular seat was filled by Bea. Ms. Lillie said in an emphatic voice: “You may tell the hg butcher’s wife that you will be with her when you have finished with Lady Peel.” She was indeed that peeress married to a relative of the man for whom the British police are named. For give me or the digression.
Perhaps the best known is Morton’s with two locations and a West Coast off shoot. Leave your diet at home and indulge. The newer of them is at 65 E. Wacker Pl.. Tel: 312 201 0410. In addition to the odd Chicago custom of presenting the food to be cooked—less ghastly than the embalmed prepared dishes at the gone but not forgotten, Le Francais, on the outskirts of town, that had really superb food. Don’t miss Morton’s wine list.
And Now, the three, hot new boys in town. They are all off springs of Charlie Trotter for whom they worked. I am somewhat ambivalent about their addiction to the very trendy “molecular cooking,” much of which can be artificial and campy as well as innovative and artistic. At least one of them should be given a try. By the way, don’t blame the far out stuff on Charlie who is innovative without being outré. However, yu can blame him for the mini plague of prix fixe menus. I think that these chefs are equally influenced by the European work of Fernan Adria at his El Bulli. I dislike it; but better by far by Pierre Gagniare of Paris who I think is a genius.
My best bet would be Alinea with chef-owner Grant Achatz. Plan on a long evening. While the tasting menu has gone down from twenty-eight courses to a somewhat more manageable meal that doesn’t take more than four hours, it requires serious attention. The mix is of small tastes of savory and sweet courses in well calibrated quantities and truly extraordinary quality. Please ask about the techniques. They are mind-boggling. It is worth over coming doubt and digging in. Tel:312 867 0110. 1723 N. Halstead.
I am less comfortable with the work of Homaru Cantu at Moto. He holds a vast number of food patents and has worked with NASA and large corporations. An example of his patented innovation is that the menu is printed in edible ink on soy-base paper. While extraordinary in presentation, technically astonishing and often very good, it often makes me feel like a guinea pig in a scientific experiment. However, if you want to know where the cutting edge is, it is here. Tel. 312 491 0058. 945 W. Fulton Market. It is in the meat-packing district; but there is valet parking.
The newest of the restaurants and probably with the most accessible menu of the wunderkinds is the eponymous restaurant of Graham Eliot Bowles. He is not an arriviste chef; but has worked at many famous places where he has received many plaudits from the press. I have a soft spot for him as he started out in Vermont where I spend much of my time. His work is an interesting combination of haute cuisine with a chef’s fillip on bar or bistro food such as Buffalo chicken wings. The music—pop—extends the range. Enjoy. Tel. 312 624 9975. 217 W. Huron St.
If all of this has been too fancy, remember that Chicago is also the home of the original, deep dish pizza at Pizzeria Uno at 29 E. Ohio…Wait—no reservations.