Chicago offers a multitude of excellent ethnic food. Among the litany, a storied variety includes Ethiopian. There are three big players in this arena: Demera, Ras Dashen and Ethiopian Diamond. As with all purveyors of the food of proud and ancient cultures, their menus tend to be thick and impenetrable to the casual diner. Luckily,…
Tag: restaurant review
Gather, Chicago – Autumn 2013 Update
The following is a shortened update to my prior full review of Gather, from Summer 2013. I’m certain everyone will be happy to know that the group at Gather is still doing a fantastic job. My most recent meal from Chef Ken Carter gave a hint at what is coming for the fall. From what I gleaned from…
Earth + Ocean – Brunch Only, Mount Prospect
View my full, one-star review of E+O from autumn 2013. The suburbs of Chicago have historically been a food circus, an unfortunate joke that suburban residents reliably attempt to convince themselves and city-dwellers is at least vaguely comparable to Chicago-proper. The best of one’s hopes for good food in the suburbs are the same hopes…
Hopleaf, Chicago
Chicago has historically had two beer poles: Bucktown’s storied The Map Room and my neighborhood’s own Hopleaf. Although I’ve always loved both bars, my favorite of the two was Hopleaf. After all, Hopleaf has always served excellent Belgian bistro fare, accepts credit cards and has all the beer a brewhead could ask for. The Map…
Fat Rice, Chicago
There are few places that are the epicenter of such a dramatic global diversity of culinary influences as the island of Macau. As flavors meld in the pot over time, so too did influences meld in Macau over the 1,500 years the island was governed as an annex of the Chinese Panyu county and the…
Opart Thai Restaurant, Chicago
Opart Thai offers some of the best traditional Isan-style Thai food in Chicago and to top it off, it’s BYOB. The Western Avenue location is the better of their two locations (the other near Chinatown). Although their menu is extensive and can be overwhelming, I’ve tried most items and I’ll limit this review to some…
Gather, Chicago
Excellent “neighborhood restaurants” can often be difficult to first find and then to evaluate. Often the best way to learn of such places is through regular patrons who reside not far away. However, such folks can often see the establishment through a filter of feelings of kinship and solidarity with the staff and owners. Once…
Mott Street, Chicago
Our meal at Mott Street might be best characterized as a bit of a Pan-Asian street food feast from the folks that brought you Ruxbin. Our meal included nine courses, some of which were absolutely flawless from a technical perspective. Among the highlights were the pork jowl, marinated in garlic and chili oil, grilled and…
Found Kitchen – Quick Take, Evanston
Found, the new Evanston word-of-mouth darling, serves often delicious and well executed farm-to-table pub fare, elevated to the level of a fine cocktail menu. That said, cocktail execution was often mixed (no pun intended). Stick to the batched cocktails if you wish to avoid watery ice and glass-constructed high balls. Overall, there are better versions…
Sanjay Keswani 