King-Size Tour Guide

Gapers Block : Drive-Thru : Chicago Food – Review Feature Fri Mar 12 2010 A Quick Bite in the Quad Cities I’ve been a bad writer recently. Which, in my particular case, means mostly that I’ve been a bad eater recently. With long hours at my office, little energy in the kitchen and, after finishing my taxes this past week, less cash on hand, eating out has become a recent luxury.
Ham sandwiches, yogurts and granola bars have been more of the recent norm than a new dish on Lula’s menu or special charcuterie option at Old Town Social (or getting a table after a reasonable wait at Revolution Brewing — still unsuccessful!) However, a recent business trip has taken me to the westernmost reaches of our fine state, and while there has been little time for much more than work there has, blessedly, been eating out! Should you find yourself across the river from Iowa and looking for a bite, I feel I can now advise your gustatory tour of at least one of the four Quad Cities with a smidgen of authority and the warm glow of an impending food coma. Continue reading this entry » — Andie Thomalla / Comments (1) Review Tue Mar 09 2010 Thank you, Bagels on Damen. Thank you, Bagels on Damen, for so many things. You made a sunny Sunday morning all the more awesome. Thank you for having cucumber water out on the counter. So refreshing!

For fighting tooth and nail to get Stumptown coffee. Which is even better than I remember when in Portland.
For also having soy milk out to mix with that delicious Stumptown coffee.
For putting juuuust the right amount of honey walnut cream cheese on my bagel.
And for your coffee that only comes in one size – big – but is still pretty cheap.

Thank you for having reading materials for all to enjoy.
Thank you, from my NOLA-loving friends, for selling Zapp’s potato chips in Cajun Crawtator and Gator Tators. I know they’re more or less just a pickle-flavored, but man are they good.
Thanks to the cashier who was very friendly. That’s always nice on a Sunday morning.

So thanks again, Bagels on Damen! See you real soon, Caroline — Caroline Kraft / Comments (3) Review Tue Feb 16 2010 Course Review: Roasted Marrow Bones @ Longman & Eagle To be accurate, I had one roasted marrow bone: a vaguely volcanic-looking 7″ bone standing upright, red onion jam heaped on on top (with more jam on the side, next to a small pile of sea salt). Ask for extra napkins–it’s a messy, greasy trial scraping the golden-yellow fatty marrow out of the bone with an extra-long spoon, and when the dish first comes out, the bone is almost too hot to touch. Much like foie gras, marrow tastes like the delicious, delicious fat that it is, though with an extra metallic ping due to the high iron content; the tangy onion jam mellows this and adds a juicy, savory element. You get a few pieces of crisp sourdough that hold up to the marrow fairly well, but unless you load those pieces down, you’ll be eating marrow from the spoon and possibly trying to suck it from the bone. And there’s nothing wrong with that. At $9, it’s a well-priced choice if you manage to get a seat at the still-hopping Longman & Eagle (my advice: show up before 6 and be willing to sit at the bar). A fair warning: if you order this while sitting at the bar, prepare for a charmingly bawdy torrent of bone-related banter with your server.
Ordering one of their delicious Yuzu toddies will facilitate the process. — Leah Williams / Comments (0) Review Sat Feb 13 2010 Revolution Runner-Up The longstanding hype over Revolution Brewing, Chicago’s newest locally-centered brewpub from the folks behind Handlebar, may have you, like me, clamoring to experience their selection of hand-crafted, clenched-fisted beers and upscale eats. In fact, this effect seems to be widespread enough among Logan Squarians, foodies and beeries that the place has been jam-packed since they opened a week or so ago, and February is no month for waiting 90-plus minutes outside until a table opens. So after shuffling around on the sidewalk with your shoulders drawn up to your ears for warmth and your stomach making unconscionable threats for everyone around you to hear, perhaps an alternative is in order. Continue reading this entry » — Andie Thomalla / Comments (3) Review Fri Feb 05 2010 Taking the Green Line This summer Uncommon Ground (1401 W. Devon) officially cut the ribbon on its rooftop farm.
The first certified organic urban rooftop farm in the nation, it hosted a kick-off party for one of the nation’s newest sustainable beers: Goose Island’s Green Line Pale Ale Several regional breweries across the United States have taken steps to reduce the environmental impact (I’m looking at New Belgium Brewing and Sierra Nevada among others), and here in Chicago, Goose Island looks to be leading the way. Taking time to study the environmental footprint of their brewing, Goose Island commissioned a study from the Chicago Manufacturing Center on the production impact of a keg of 312 Urban Wheat Ale. The results of that study can be found here. What this study provides is a target against which more sustainable ales (like the Green Line) can be measured. So what makes the Green Line Pale Ale some much more “green”? Glad you asked! Continue reading this entry » — Cliff Etters / Comments (0) Review Wed Feb 03 2010 Dressed-up Snacks at Balsan February is National Snack Food Month. While the occasion may inspire cravings of crunchy, salty, chewy or sweet noshes available in 100-calorie denominations, I am exploiting this month to explore slightly more substantive fare–what I refer to as refined small plates or dressed-up bar snacks. Last week for snack time, I ventured to Balsan, the more casual of the new Elysian Hotel’s two restaurants.
The menu consists of a small but seemingly thoughtful selection of charcuterie and cheese, seafood from the raw bar, small and large plates, items from their wood-fired oven and sides. Seated at the long, gleaming white bar, we ordered the foie gras torchon and duck rillettes to start. What we were served was one of the most handsome charcuterie arrangements I have seen–deconstructed and minimalistic, the serving at Balsan reminded me that there can be more to charcuterie than neatly ordering preserved meats on a wood board. Continue reading this entry » — Sharon Bautista / Comments (0) Review Wed Jan 27 2010 African Cuisine Made Modern in Lakeview The stretch of Clark Street just north of Belmont Avenue might be called International Restaurant Row. Over two blocks, one can peruse the menus of establishments serving French-Italian, Indian, Japanese, Moroccan and Thai food. I traveled to this sliver of Lakeview recently to eat from the continent of Africa. To describe the cuisine served at Bolat as “pan-African” seems unfair; there is nothing cursory about the cooking here. We started with fried yam accompanied by three dipping sauces.
Served hot and crispy, the yam was the perfect vehicle for the creamy and piquant peanut sauce, zippy yet nuanced fried pepper dip and black sauce punctuated by some serious smoke. Jerk chicken drumsticks were tangy and verdant over mounds of soothing coconut rice. Ayamshe, a stew made of fish stock, tender, roasted goat with charred bits, hunks of tripe and melon seeds, sung mildly sour notes with an impressive crescendo of heat. Continue reading this entry » — Sharon Bautista / Comments (0) Review Sat Jan 16 2010 Mezé opens in the West Loop Mezé is a new small-plate restaurant serving up an eclectic group of dishes inspired by cuisines from the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Asia, and the Americas. At first glance, I was worried that the menu was too eclectic, too many different styles – but it’s the eclectic nature of Mezé that gives it it’s charm. The global sampling of flavors is what sets it a part from other small-plate restaurants. And, the menu isn’t as opposing as I initially thought – it has several repeating ingredients – red pepper, chipotle, and goat cheese to name a few – that help tie all the various styles together.
Prior to joining Mezé, the executive chef spent twenty-five years at the Ritz Carlton and his expertise shows in the dishes – they are flavorful and mostly unique. I say mostly because there are a couple items that felt too familiar, specifically the potato dishes. The Greek pommes frites and Papas Bravas didn’t have that take-it-up-a-notch taste. I’ve had fries with feta before and while the signature chipotle alioli made the beef sliders, well more than a mini burger, the alioli couldn’t help the uninspired roasted potatoes. But those dishes are the exception to the overall fantastic selection I sampled. A few personal favorites – the peppercorn beef with gorgonzola, the pepper-crusted tuna, and the goat cheese and tomato tart. The beef was tender and served with plenty of sauce and crostinis – this dish felt like home, it was comforting without feeling familiar. The gorganzola cheese gave the dish just the right amount of salt. The pepper-crusted tuna is served on a crispy wonton with a wasbai cream. This tuna plate is well balanced and light and would have paired nicely with a crisp white wine.
Without a doubt, my favorite dish overall was the goat cheese and tomato tart. Wow-zah! This creamy cheese tart is served over a tomato and basil sauce with crusty bread. I could probably live off this tart forever. Continue reading this entry » — Shanna Quinn / Comments (0) Restaurant Fri Jan 15 2010 Eat at Edzo’s There’s a newish burger joint in Evanston called, Edzo’s (1571 Sherman Ave.). It actually opened a few months ago, but I decided to give it some time to get the kinks worked out before writing a review. It’s gotten a lot of glowing and informative articles extolling the virtues of a regular burger joint where the owner cared enough to grind the meat daily and cut french fries daily. Continue reading this entry » — Cinnamon Cooper / Comments (4) Review Wed Jan 06 2010 Tapas in Old Town Retooled Old Town tapas restaurant Eivissa unveiled last month a new menu with the arrival of Chef Jorge Miranda. Updated offerings reflect a more straightforward approach to classic and new tapas.
Largely gone are the modern flourishes employed Eivissa’s original chef and Miranda’s former mentor at Las Palmas, Dudley Nieto. Named after the lively Spanish island, Eivissa still boasts extensive menus of cold and hot tapas, pintxos (think rustic hors d’oeuvres), cazuelas (slow-cooked casseroles), cured meats, paellas, flatbreads, Spanish wine and sangria. The restaurant recently invited Gapers Block for a visit. Continue reading this entry » — Sharon Bautista / Comments (2) Review Mon Jan 04 2010 Macaroni and Cheese Heaven at the Wit Hotel I love gruyère cheese so much that if I was told I couldn’t have it again, I don’t think I could go on living. So when I discovered that the Wit Hotel restaurant State & Lake was serving macaroni and cheese with gruyère, I had to taste it. Made with cavatelli pasta, gruyère and cheddar cheeses, and topped with seasoned bread crumbs, this mac ‘n cheese is second to none. Listed on the menu as a side (I am not sure why because it could be a main course) this creamy, scoop of heaven is served up in a cast iron ramekin and priced at only $6.
This macaroni is worth a special trip to the Loop and a total lunch-time deal. — Shanna Quinn / Comments (0) Review Sun Jan 03 2010 In Love with Banana Cheesecake