Tarka in Chicago

[Lady T]

Since you're around and about Boul Mich (Michigan Avenue, that is), I'd recommend NoMI: Sandro Gamba does some of the best risotti in town and some of the tastiest presentations anywhere, with a mighty versatile wine list. If you grab a table by the big seventh-floor windows on a pretty day, you can't come away from that table in any mood but a good one.

I've never had an unhappy experience at Trotter's, but I've seen some of the bad press too. I understand why you'd want to check out the cutting-edge places ahead of (or instead of) the reigning-diva places.

(Edited to polish syntax)

Edited June 23, 2004 by Lady T (log)

[VeryApe77]

a revist to moto

tru

everest

green zebra

A-ha, I was about to suggest Green Zebra. I think it's great. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts. What did you think of Spring?

[Behemoth]

There are two things that I find I really can't get (done well) in Europe -- real BBQ ribs, and mexican food. I always crave these when I am abroad for a while. Maybe worth a try? I'm sure Chicago offers outstanding versions of both.

[ronnie_suburban]

I'd also be happy to accept suggestions for where I should eat...

Well...if you're really looking for assignments, I'd love to get your take on Taste of Chicago which is set to open tomorrow, although, don't say we didn't warn you

=R=

[Suzi Edwards]

well....i guess i'll have to accept that challenge. is the first night a good night to go? you realise i'm expecting something like spring break but with food, yeah?

am annoyed, was supposed to be going to nuevo leon tonight and am now going to greektown. i am starting to get protective of where I eat, not wanting to miss out on anything that I had planned to do.

hopefully i'll get back early and will be able to catch up with my sushi news from last night!!! (btw, if anyone can pm the address of a camera shop that sells accessories for digital cameras, i can share some photos with you all. as it's off topic, best keep it to pm though)

[Blondie]

I'm *loving* this blog, girl.

You Heartlanders should do yourselves a favor and meet up with Suzi - she's wonderful company.

[ronnie_suburban]

well....i guess i'll have to accept that challenge. is the first night a good night to go? you realise i'm expecting something like spring break but with food, yeah?

Yes, very spring break-like in many ways...

If you have the opportunity, I'd suggest hitting Taste during a weekday...either at lunch time or in the late afternoon. I'm honestly not sure about opening night, relative to other times.

...and please be sure to have a funnel cake for me

=R=

[Suzi Edwards]

You're the first person I know who has ever admitted to liking Barry Manilow. I won't hold it against you .

Interestingly my waiter at Spring (Jeff, a superstar of the waiting profession) although not a Barry Manilow fan, was able to share the news that it was his birthday the day I ate there. I was able to have a private toast to one of my favourite artists. And also to one of the best meals I've had in Chicago.

It was nice to get out of downtown (isn't Chicago big????) and to see that whatever the US equivalent of a town council is, also loves digging up miles and miles of roads, seemingly for no purpose. I was kind of surprised to get a table at Spring at such short notice, I was also surprised, once I'd eaten, that this place isn't packed every night of the week.

My amuse was a small wrap of spicy tuna. Simple and sweet it was a great preparation for what was to come. Having read the reports on here about the Heart of Palm slaw I had to have that, followed by the Copper River red salmon.

The appetiser was a textbook texture dish for me. Except I find people say something was a texture dish if it didn't taste of anything...and this did. The mandolined heart of palm slithering and crunching, backed up with a couple of sweet griddled prawns for more texture and flavour and some macadamia nuts adding more sweet crunchiness. Am expressing how sweet and crunchy this was? It was like the chef had created a culinary tone poem entitled "Sweet and Crunchy" It was one of the nicest appetisers I've had all year. I followed with the salmon as I'd missed out on it at Naha a couple of nights earlier and the waiter had done such a good job of describing the Copper River I wanted to taste the fish. Here a good sized piece was griddled and served with a teency Peeky Toe Crab (I *love* these) I'm not usually a huge salmon fan, finding it a bit flabby and fat textured for my liking, but this was a robust piece of fish with a really wild flavour.

I was really enjoying myself, people watching, reading (96 pages!!!!! A record so far this vacation) so I decided to treat myself to desert. I asked for a half portion and as soon as I took my first bite I not only thanked God that I had ordered this dessert, but I started plotting an overthrow of the kitchen to get me some more. It was a yuzu custard beignet served with strawberry and basil icecream. Every single component of the desert was amazing. The beignet was so light and the oozing custard warm. It was slicked with a citrus flavoured syrup (was that the yuzu?) that zinged on the tongue and paired with a really beautifully strawberry flavoured, but gently herbal, ice cream. I left the restaurant happy that night....

[robyn]

Sounds delicious. There was an article in today's NYT discussing the relative merits of Copper River and Yukon salmon. You still might be able to catch it on line.

You can get a short way out of downtown Chicago and see a great collection or Frank Lloyd Wright houses - or a wonderful sculpture meadow (still trying to entice you with the art and architecture ).

By the way - as for shoes - I wish I could help you. I'm a shoe nut with an unfortunate problem. I wear size 5 US - 35 European shoes. It's hard to find them in the US these days. So I save my shoe frenzies for Nordstrom when I'm in a town which has one (Nordstrom makes a point of stocking lots of shoes in lots of sizes - it has a great website too). If you wear a reasonable size - and you ever get to Boca Raton Florida - there's a fabulous shoe store there called Dolly Duz. Robyn

[Suzi Edwards]

Sounds delicious. There was an article in today's NYT discussing the relative merits of Copper River and Yukon salmon. You still might be able to catch it on line.

here's the article, it's quite interesting and is free for the next seven days (today is thursday)

become a wild salmon expert

warning - you do have to register for the site.

thanks for the suggestion robyn and i promise i will see some architecture while i am here! (and buy some more shoes which is strickly off topic so we'll move on!!!!)

[MobyP]

Isn't Chicago a big meat town? Seen any good looking slabs of beef recently?

[EGQuan]

Tarka,

For tasty brunch, you might try The Bongo Room, on North Milwaukee. Also a visit to Chinatown is in order, I would think.

Elizabeth

[ronnie_suburban]

Damn! I wanna go to Spring too

=R=

[Suzi Edwards]

Isn't Chicago a big meat town? Seen any good looking slabs of beef recently?

Apart from my thighs? Not much.

I really haven't been eating any red meat at all while I've been here. In fact, my ribs at Uncle Julio's last night (a last minute change of plan from greektown (rah)) we're the first red meat I've had since I got here. And as you once said Moby " i find pork very open to suggestion..." when it comes to the red meat/white meat divide.

What I did have the other night (Tuesday) was some absolutly superb sushi at Mirai Sushi on West Division. I do have some nice photos to post, so I'll come back and edit this once I've purchased a lead...

I can now see why people who have lived in the US complain they can't find good sushi in London. I'm not a connesseur by any stretch (terrible admission coming up here, but I have been know to enjoy a spicy tuna roll from Yo! Sushi! and will probably be banished from this board for that) but this was amazing.

I ate a huge amount, but sushi is like, *totally* slimming and all the supermodels eat it so I refuse to feel guilty. We'll quickly gloss over the deep fried "softshell crab-tini and those fried oysters as they weren't highlights and I doubt that Kate Moss would eat a lot of these) Started with one of the Chef's special rolls, the "Spicy Mono" made with octopus and tuna and served with a ponzu dressing. Lorks. This was such a fantastic start, really sweet with a good spicy kick to it. It was so good I had it again to finish. I also tried two new fishes in sashimi form, top grade otoro and amber jack. I can't say they're really to my taste, I don't really like that big fat mouthfeel, and the otoro really reminded me of foie gras (which I can only eat in a parfait, never fried and sliced) Still, I was glad I'd tried these and the quality of the fish seemed really high, it just wasn't for me.

My highlight was the wasabi tokibo (and the spicy tobiko to a lesser extent) The wasabi one had such a wasabi hit it really filled my nose and made me sit up straight. Coupled with the noise it makes when you crunch it - i thought it was like fireworks going off in your mouth, imagine really tiny caviar and the pop that makes- it was like the 4th of July in your mouth. The spicy was *slightly* less sucessful, but I think that was because the wasabi was so good. This dish made me realise that something like Feran Adria's apple caviar is kind of redundant if you can do this with the actual eggs.

I also had some monkfish foie wrapped with North Carolina fluke (Hirame Kimo) that came with a really spicy/sour dressing. This was a great dish for reminding yourself where you taste flavour as the dressing was all tingly top notes and the fish and foie came afterwards with a sweetness and richness. This was a great dish. I seem to have a photo of another dish, a maki roll with, I think, prawns which I remember being great but I was on my second cocktail by then so I am little hazy.

I sat at the bar upstairs and was served by Jennifer. Why are all Chicago waiting staff (apart from the ones at Ambria) so great????

I'd really, really, really recommend this place. It's quite noisy and probably quite hip, but the sushi is really something.

[Suzi Edwards]

And so on to Blackbird....

Which disappointed and thrilled in pretty much equal measures. It's round the corner from where I work and have loved my visits to Avec, so I was expecting to really enjoy it. Especially the signature sturgeon dish, a fish that I had never tried before because of some wacky royal laws

My amuse, pike with anchovy and some fava puree was great. The teeny amount of anchovy was just right to cut the barely cooked pike. A lovely amuse. And my appetizer just got better; a confit of pork with cherries. I loved the way the pork was the sweetest thing on the plate, the poached cherries and the cheery gastrique acting as a sweet sour counterpoint. And the cracking. It was almost good as the cracking from Varmint's pig pickin last year. But not quite :-) My appetizer was so good that halfway through I started wondering what my last bite was going to be and trying to work out what I wanted my last memory of the dish to be. Highly recommended.

But then the sturgeon came and ruined it all. It was served with tiny fried Yukon Gold potatoes and served with a slightly fatty oxtail jus. The sturgeon had been grilled over wood and just tasted burnt. They did offer to replace the dish, but I figured not eating most of a dish would probably do me some good....

I followed with a small piece of blue cheese and wished I'd ordered the epoisses instead.

All of the appetizers here looked great...maybe I just hit a bum dish, but I'll stick with the small plates in the future.

Am taking Lady T's advice tonight and am going to NoMi...

[ronnie_suburban]

That's too bad about Blackbird. But, based on everything I've heard and read, the dish which disappointed does sound like an aberration. Do you think you'll give it another try?

As for the sushi...just reading your notes put me in the mood for it. FWIW, I've heard that Heat is also a terrific place for sushi in Chicago. Have you been there?

=R=

[robyn]

I also tried two new fishes in sashimi form, top grade otoro and amber jack. I can't say they're really to my taste, I don't really like that big fat mouthfeel, and the otoro really reminded me of foie gras (which I can only eat in a parfait, never fried and sliced) Still, I was glad I'd tried these and the quality of the fish seemed really high, it just wasn't for me.

I'd stay away from amberjack and other large reef fish because of their propensity to carry ciguatera - a rather nasty disease of the neurological system. Perhaps amberjack is considered exotic in Chicago. In the Caribbean and south Florida - it's basically a trash fish. And anyway - you don't like it. Robyn

[Suzi Edwards]

That's too bad about Blackbird. But, based on everything I've heard and read, the dish which disappointed does sound like an aberration. Do you think you'll give it another try?

As for the sushi...just reading your notes put me in the mood for it. FWIW, I've heard that Heat is also a terrific place for sushi in Chicago. Have you been there?

=R=

no, not yet. but maybe i should.

btw, i'd love some really spicy indian food. any recommendation for home-style indian cooking?

[ronnie_suburban]

btw, i'd love some really spicy indian food. any recommendation for home-style indian cooking?

Many Heartlanders speak very highly of Hema's Kitchen, in the Devon Avenue neighborhood. I love Tiffin (same neighborhood), but I'm not sure how spicy their 'spicy' is.

Hema's Kitchen

6406 N. Oakley Avenue

Chicago, IL 60645

(773) 338-1627

Tiffin

2536 W. Devon Avenue

Chicago, IL

(773) 338-2143

=R=

[NeroW]

He-maaaas! He-maaaaas!

Go, you won't regret it.

Now I am even more depressed to be leaving Chicago Monday. No Hema's

[yellow truffle]

Since you are going ethnic in Chicago, how about traveling around the city for some tasty flavors. We have a very strong Polish and Mexican Community in the south side as well as Korean and Vietnamese in the North Side. Following are some of my humble suggestions...

low end / best bang for your buck / prepared by grandmothers ...

Mexican - Nuevo Leon in the heart of Pilsen.

Polish - Tatra Inn in for some of the best fruit, meat, potato, or cheese perogis.

Korean - Jangmo Nim is my vote for Korean.

Japanese - Katsu for Chicago best Japanese cuisine on a menu that you can read.

Puerto Rican - For a treat, try a jibarito sandwich at Borinquen Restaurant in Humboldt Park.

Vietnamese - Hai Yen, always good.

Dim Sum - would be the default Phoenix in chinatown.

and for high end / sold my soul for foie gras ...

Thai - Arun's for great food and service, family owned and operated.

Vietnamese - Le Colonial right next to the high end shopping area of Chicago.

Mexican - Topolobampo / Frontera Grill for Mexican ala Rick Bayless, Mr. Burger King (lol, had to do it).

[Lady T]

Everything on yellow truffle's list is golden, Tarka. I'd like to add Pasteur, on Broadway on the North Side, to the list: another place for impeccable Vietnamese.

How'd you like NoMI?

*Edited to correct hasty misspelling.*

Edited June 29, 2004 by Lady T (log)

[Suzi Edwards]

I feel like I have been neglecting you all...as you probably realised from my non attendance at the gathering, work has rather got on top of me....

But thank you for the new recommendations, I have a lot of places to get round. I'm back in the UK this weekend but then I am coming back. Until the end of July...

I have lots and lots to tell you about. I've been gtting round some markets and stores so hopefully will be able to write about some non-restaurant related stuff later this week.

But before I do anything I have to say a HUGE thank you for the Hema's suggestion. I was totally miserable to miss Sunday, so I took myself off there late on Sunday night (isn't it a long way from downtown???) and had such a fantastic meal all my miserableness disappeared. In terms of homestyle cooking it's the nicest I've had outside of India. Maybe it was the warmth of the welcome or the spiciness of the food, but it was just what I needed. That said, I think the American palate might be less tolerant to spicy food than the English one...the very spicy prawn vindaloo was, to me, more fragrant and hot, than really, really spicy. Which is possibly a good thing. And isn't their bread great? I left with my tummy sizzling.

*sighs* I can't wait to go back there....I thought I might try Monsoon and then maybe we can chat about high end Indian fusion vs homestyle cooking...

[Suzi Edwards]

Vietnamese - Le Colonial right next to the high end shopping area of Chicago.

Mexican - Topolobampo / Frontera Grill for Mexican ala Rick Bayless, Mr. Burger King (lol, had to do it).

I've been here, went on Friday night...I want to try some more Vietnamese before I comment though.

Thanks for the ethnic selections. I'm getting a bit tired of fancy high end food...some diversity will be great.

[Alex]

I sat at the bar upstairs and was served by Jennifer. Why are all Chicago waiting staff (apart from the ones at Ambria) so great????

I think it's that relentless Midwestern niceness. When I moved to Michigan from New York City it took me years to get used to it.