By appearances, most new-restaurant openings in or near downtown Chicago in the past year have been quieter than usual, with the bulk of the newcomers aimed at satisfying local patrons who don’t care if the chef appears on television or graces the cover of Gourmet magazine.
However, Chicago’s highly publicized leaders in the worldwide molecular gastronomy movement, Alinea and Moto, continue to book seats months in advance, and more tried-and-true upscale steakhouses and other well-known city favorites still pack patrons in. But diners pining to discover interesting new spots aren’t being disappointed.
From authentic regional Mexican to twists on an Italian grandmother’s cooking to wine-and-cheese bars, the new crop of restaurants offers an eclectic mix of flavors, supporting Chicago’s growing reputation as one of the nation’s best and most varied restaurant cities.
“Most of the things that opened recently don’t have that many spotlights on them,” says David Lissner, host of WJYS-TV’s “Dining Chicago.” But, he adds, “there is just as much blood, sweat and tears that goes into neighborhood restaurants that are not geared for tourism or business travelers.”
Mexican and Latin cuisines have evolved to become mainstream in the city, as indicated by quite a few newcomers specializing in foods from those regions.
“It’s a really exciting time to eat Mexican food in Chicago,” says Steve Dolinsky, host of “The Hungry Hound” segment on WLS-TV, an ABC affiliate. “Chicago has always been known for authentic, regional Mexican food since Frontera Grill opened, and now it has just exploded.”
Two new regional Mexican spots that have opened near downtown are Xel-Ha and Zocalo, both in River North. Their owners and chefs have been in the industry for quite a while and know the Chicago market.
Marcos Castaneda and his cousin and partner, Edgar Castaneda, of Zocalo grew up in the business at family-owned Mexican chain Lalo’s Hospitality Group. Zocalo focuses on small plates and features authentic dishes from many regions of Mexico.
“People are realizing there is a lot more to Mexican food than enchiladas,” Castaneda says.
Examples from the current menu include smoked-salmon tacos with cilantro-cumin crème, grilled prawns in a fruity Oaxacan chile ancho mole and adobo-marinated pork tenderloin over creamy tomatillo sauce.
Foods of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula are highlighted at the upscale Xel-Ha, owned by Fermin Romero and Michael Pulido. Executive chef Dudley Nieto, who has acquainted Chicagoans with authentic Mexican food at several other restaurants, says he has always wanted to explore Yucatecan cuisine because it’s so different from food in the rest of Mexico.
Few of the city’s many Mexican restaurants have delved into this cuisine because most immigrants to Chicago hail from northern or central Mexico. Yucatecan food is less spicy and incorporates more influences from Spain, France and even Lebanon, Nieto says, including such ingredients as olives, saffron and raisins.
DeLaCosta moves beyond Mexican to Pan-Latin or Nuevo Latino influences from Spain, South America and the Caribbean. The restaurant and late-night lounge is the latest development from well-known chef Douglas Rodriguez, who also is a partner in Ola in Miami and Philadelphia and Alma de Cuba in Philadelphia.
A ceviche bar is a primary highlight of the whimsically decorated DeLaCosta, which has a variety of seating areas. Patrons seeking an exclusive touch can reserve a cabana that seats about a dozen people and comes with a private bar and bartender.
Another showy spot sure to attract the see-and-be-seen set as it becomes established is designer-restaurateur Jerry Kleiner’s latest creation, Room 21, in the South Loop. Kleiner is the creative force behind several other trend-setting restaurants, including Carnivale, Marche, Red Light, Gioco and Opera.
Located in a building that reputedly was one of Al Capone’s bootleg breweries during Prohibition, Room 21 recreates the aura of a speakeasy, with red, French patterned damask wallpaper, red leather booths and a zebra fabric framing an oversized mirror above the long back bar. Chef Aaron Whitcomb, formerly of Table 6 in Denver, has added contemporary twists to classic American dishes but retained a few favorite retro touches such as tableside service.
Alhambra Palace is a brand-new mega-nightspot, Moroccan restaurant and banquet hall on West Randolph Street that aims to acquaint Chicagoans with Moroccan food, music and culture. The huge 24,000-square-foot space with seven rooms and 1,000 seats, owned by Nassar Rustom, is modeled after the Moorish Alhambra Palace in Grenada, Spain, says general manager Fareed Nobahar.
The Middle Eastern menu with French touches includes a variety of kebabs, Moroccan-style braised lamb shank, tagine-roasted chicken, lobster ravioli and papillote of sea bass. Entrées are priced from $18 to $36.
Influences from many parts of the world can be found at the chef-owned Aigre Doux in River North. Chef Mohammad Islam, who has worked at New York’s Mercer Kitchen and Jean Georges, and his wife and pastry chef, Malika Ameen, whose résumé includes stints at Craft and Balthazar in New York, have brought their global style to their own 80-seat restaurant, which they co-own with general manager Zubair Giyas.
The menu includes maple-glazed duck breast with duck sausage, six-grain wild rice and spiced jus, and a signature dessert of sticky toffee pudding with braised kumquats, Devonshire cream sorbet and orange dust.
Longtime Chicago chef Kevin Shikami, along with his brother Alan, who operate Kevin in River North, is featuring Pan-Asian food at Shikago in the Loop financial district.
“It’s contemporary Asian—Japanese, Chinese and Southeast Asian—not fusion like Kevin,” Shikami said.
Shikago also will offer sandwiches and bento box lunches to go.
Mulan is a newcomer in the South Loop that has gone far beyond the dim sum and other familiar Cantonese fare served in nearby Chinatown. Describing the cuisine as Pan-Asian, Japanese and French fusion, general manager Kelly Caldwell says Mulan is far more upscale and unique than its neighbors.
Caldwell and owner Lauren Sy chose an extensive wine list to complement such dishes as grilled New Zealand elk with panko-breaded scallops and lotus root in carrot-miso sauce, Berkshire pork strip loin with crab dumpling and spicy plum sauce, and wild striped bass poached in tomato basil soy broth.
Italian restaurants have been an integral part of Chicago’s dining scene for decades, particularly those featuring the foods of most of the city’s Italian immigrants from Southern Italy and Sicily. Café Bionda in the South Loop, which expects to soon open a sister restaurant of the same name in Wicker Park, is a newer restaurant that is carrying on this Old World tradition.
Chef and co-owner Joseph Farina, who previously was executive chef for the city’s Rosebud Restaurants, said his mother and his grandmother inspired many of his recipes and the large portion sizes of dishes, including Joe’s Mama Meatball Salad; Nana’s Gravy, slow-roasted pot roast with rigatoni and homemade tomato sauce; and the Sunday Platter, featuring meatballs, sausage and veal braciola simmered in marinara sauce.
Wine takes center stage at Eno, a new wine, cheese and chocolate bar, at the Hotel InterContinental on Michigan Avenue, which is owned by Strategic Hotels & Resorts. The restaurant replaces a former lounge on the street level of the hotel. Guests are welcome to tour the 500-bottle wine cellar.
“It has done exceedingly well so far,” says Scott Harney, wine director of the 42-seat venue. All employees have wine training, and typically some 50 bottles are open at once for by-the-glass pours.
International beers and whiskeys are the libations of choice for some at two pubs, BB’s and The Gage. Donnie Kruse and partner Jack Binyon of BB’s have elevated the pub experience with updated comfort food, much as they have done with their three other pubs of different names. BB’s has become a hangout for nearby residents and office workers, some of whom come especially for the blue-plate specials, Kruse says.
The Gage, owned by Billy Lawless and his father, is a tavern with rustic American food in a choice location across Michigan Avenue from Millennium Park. Expecting to attract tourists as well as locals, the Lawlesses paid homage to old Chicago with a design reminiscent of the 1930s in their landmark building, designed by Louis Sullivan.
Graze in River North is banking on the continued popularity of the small-plates format, which some critics say is waning. While owner Bill Bronner and a silent partner say they expect interest in this style of dining to remain in vogue, they have added some larger portions to their American menu, just in case, says Emlyn Thomas, general manager, who adds that some 50 percent of customers order desserts.
In the quick-service breakfast and lunch arena, Ponte Fresco in the Illinois Center office complex on Michigan Avenue specializes in made-to-order salads in a boldly contemporary setting, which is intended as a prototype for future expansion. TV monitors above the salad station list à la carte ingredients that customers can tell salad makers to mix into their salads.
Sue McCloskey, president of the company, which has two other locations in Puerto Rico, describes the concept as a “European spa kitchen.” The Chicago location has been serving 500 customers a day between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. and has just extended morning hours for breakfast, which is centered around a build-your-own yogurt bar.
Breakfast is the focus at Yolk in the South Loop and Meli Café & Juice Bar in Greektown, both of which close in mid-afternoon. Both feature egg-centric and other dishes that go beyond ordinary diner fare.
Yolk, owned by Taki Kastanis, has an extensive menu that includes a dozen omelettes, crêpes, signature oatmeals and a section called “not your ordinary French toast,” which includes an Elvis-style banana nut bread version topped with banana slices and served with peanut butter.
Meli Café, owned by Nikos Karabelas and Yianni Theoharis, has built a loyal following for its all-natural ingredients, including cage-free eggs. Signature touches include house-made seasonal marmalades and honey compound butter.
Restaurants in various stages of construction with planned spring openings include Tavern on the Park, across from Millennium Park, owned by the partners of Keefer’s; Table on the Gold Coast, from Art Smith, cookbook author and Oprah Winfrey’s personal chef; and Crust, a pizzeria in Wicker Park owned by Michael Altenberg of Bistro Campagne, who has run into delays in his attempt to open Chicago’s first certified organic restaurant.
Two unrelated blockbusters planning openings later this year are a gastropub in the Fulton Market district by Blackbird owners Paul Kahan, Donnie Madia and two partners, as well as Brasserie Ruhlmann, an outpost of its New York predecessor from Miae Lim, Rick Wahlstedt and partners at Japonais.
Meanwhile, rumors abound about famous French chefs scouting locations in town, and local celebrity Charlie Trotter has committed to an additional space slated to open in 2008.
New Chicago eateries Diners are advised to call first. A few restaurants listed were not yet open when this story went to press. Aigre Doux 230 W. Kinzie St. (312) 329-9400 Alhambra Palace 1240 W. Randolph St. (312) 666-9555 BB’s 22 E. Hubbard St. (312) 755-0007 Café Bionda 1924 S. State St. (312) 326-9800 De La Costa 465 E. Illinois St. (312) 464-1700 Eno InterContinental Hotel 525 N. Michigan Ave. (312) 321-8738 The Gage 24 S. Michigan Ave. (312) 372-4243 Graze 35 W. Ontario St. (312) 255-1234 Mulan 2017 S. Wells St., 2nd floor (312) 842-8282 Meli Café 301 S. Halsted St. (312) 454-0748 Ponte Fresco 225 N. Michigan Ave. (312) 861-0900 Room 21 2110 S. Wabash Ave. (312) 328-1198 Shikago 190 S. LaSalle St. (312) 781-7300 Xel-Ha 710 N. Wells St. (312) 274-9500 Yolk 1120 S. Michigan Ave. (312) 789-9655 Zocalo 358 W. Ontario St. (312) 302-9977 Celebrity guests and educational sessions to highlight conference Chicago chains set sights outside city in search of new customers
