Time Tables
The West Loop's gorgeous Sepia is a good restaurant that could someday be a great one; Café 103's tiny BYO charms the taste buds off its Beverly neighbors
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Let's hear it for Beverly. Time was, this South Side neighborhood was in restaurant Siberia. Now it's on a roll. Last spring came the lovable bistro Koda, and this summer a few blocks away appears CAFÉ 103, a charming white-tableclothed reason to aim your appetite southward.
Owners Shirley and Blair Makinney, also proprietors of Beverly's Pantry, the gourmet food store next door, put a lot of attention into Café 103's 30-seat dining room. I especially love the big squares of mixed colors on the walls and the subdued noise level. The Dudson English white china pieces are different for every course, each showing an earth, wind, fire, or water theme. It's BYO ($3 corkage), and probably going to stay that way, since the east side of Western Avenue around these parts is dry.
Chef Thomas Eckert, the former sous-chef at Vermilion and Monsoon, tosses in all kinds of Indian spicing on his small, globally influenced menu. So far, the bread service is weak, but it's hard to beat appetizers such as the elegant house-smoked trout with trout caviar and a horseradish yogurt purée, multiple roasted beets with red orick (related to spinach), a crisp chive potato chip, and walnut oil. Eckert merges India and Italy in the juicy sous vide–cooked pheasant breast with a risotto sporting hen-of-the-woods mushrooms, masala sauce, pear marmellata (Italian marmalade), methi (fenugreek greens), and smoky tandoori fleur de sel. Sounds complex, but it works. So does a terrific heirloom tomato salad with celery microgreens, saffron threads, and Hawaiian red sea salt cleverly paired with a hollowed-out cucumber holding an oyster on the half shell.
Maybe it was the accompaniments, but my favorite entrée was the crispy-skinned guinea hen roulade with lardons, chante-relles, kohlrabi purée, and honey-enriched watercress sauce. I also adored the New Zealand lamb loin, served with good sweetbreads and a "cassoulet" of fava bean, garlic sausage, baby carrots, and red pearl onions. The grilled sturgeon also came dressed in impressive trappings: the now-popular oxtail ragoût pairing along with buttery purple Okinawa sweet potato, sea beans in crisp breading, and lemon balm. The only drawback was a slight muddy flavor in the fish.
Three delicious desserts change often. Two should be regulars: a banana split of brûléed baby bananas with miniature plums, Cognac sauce, garam masala whipped cream, and strawberry gelato, and a strawberry amaretto torte with peach gela-to, strawberry sauce, and cinnamon basil.
Either will convince you that Café 103 does Beverly, and the rest of Chicago, proud.
The Skinny
CAFÉ 103 1909 W. 103rd St.; 773-238-5115 A Model meal Smoked trout and trout caviar, guinea hen roulade, banana split Tip This part of Beverly is dry, so plan to take a bottle from home. Hours Lunch Wednesday-Saturday; dinner Tuesday-Saturday. Tab (Dinner per person without wine, tax, or tip) $45 to $55.
SEPIA 123 N. Jefferson St.; 312-441-1920 A Model meal Pork rillettes, striped sea bass, lemon-sage bread pudding Tip Optional sides, such as onion rings and potatoes fried in duck fat, don't measure up to entrées. Hours Brunch Sunday; lunch Monday-Friday; dinner nightly. Tab (Dinner per person without wine, tax, or tip) $45 to $55.
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