09/30/09

Coming Soon To Your Neighborhood?

The Fifth Element

The team behind Volo, Paramount Room and two Kitsch’ns plans to open a new concept in mid-October. “It’s our fifth spot, and we are calling it The Fifth,” says Jon Young of the 75-seat restaurant in an undisclosed location. (All Dish knows is...

Posted at 05:09 PM in Dish | Permalink | Comments (0)

09/23/09

The Sun Also Rises

Two Floors of Japan

After a year of business, Farmerie 58 (58 E. Ontario St.), a massive Gold Coast space with an identity crisis (farm-oriented bistro? Raw bar? Pub?), has closed. The current plan calls for the ground level to reopen later this fall as a sushi bar with Ming San (formerly of Rise) as the sushi chef. If all goes as expected, the upstairs will eventually unveil as a

Posted at 05:57 PM in Dish | Permalink | Comments (0)

09/16/09

Guac, Stock, and Barrel

Quick Hit
We’ve heard the buzz on Chilam Balam (3023 North Broadway; 773-296-6901), a new cash-only Mexican BYO run by Chuy Valencia, an alum of Frontera Grill, but Pollack was skeptical. Especially when the halibut seviche ($9.25) and guacamole and chips ($7.25)—both recommended by the gregarious waiter—arrived in a flash and looked small, especially the guac, even by small-plate standards. Pollack’s upsell alert bell went off, but both were...

Posted at 05:11 PM in Dish | Permalink | Comments (1)

09/02/09

This Old Pontiac Is No Clunker

Neapolitics in Downers Grove
Parkers’ Restaurant & Bar  (1000 31st St., Downers Grove; 630-960-5700), a new farm-friendly American revamp of Parkers’ Ocean Grill, also happens to serve Neapolitan pizza so serious that it received Naples’ treasured VPN (Vera Pizza Napoletana) certification. “We had a wood-burning oven since we opened as Parkers’, but we didn’t really utilize it...

Posted at 06:20 PM in Dish | Permalink | Comments (1)