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Amy Cavanaugh: Welcome to Dish From Chicago Magazine. I’m Amy Cavanaugh, Chicago magazine’s dining editor.

John Kessler: And I’m John Kessler, Chicago magazine’s dining critic.

Amy: And today we’re talking about all the places we’ve been eating lately, from a new pizza joint to a new steakhouse, plus we’ll share the best dishes we’ve eaten lately, which includes a fancy take on lumpia. And John, before we get into this, I know that you’re just back from Tulum.

John: Yeah. So we found an amazing points ticket redemption, and just decided, you know, what the hey, let’s go to Tulum for a few days on it. And it was very fun. We ate well, we went to the beach when it wasn’t like storming torrentially. But one cool thing to report is we went to Wild Tulum. How do you know about that restaurant?

Amy: I’ve heard about it. Can you tell us about it?

John: So yeah, it is the restaurant where Norman Fenton of Cariño is the executive chef, and I believe he had been there before he even opened Cariño. Yeah. And it’s, if you’ve ever been to Tulum, there’s kind of a strip of resorts along the beach a little bit south of town, yep. And so it’s right in there. It’s where Hartwood and Arca and some other, you know, quite famous local restaurants are. And you know what’s the interesting thing to report is it was like, 98% the same menu as Cariño.

Amy: Oh, that’s interesting. 

John: Yeah, there were a couple dishes that I didn’t recognize. There’s delicious, incredible sikil pak, you know, the pumpkin seed spread with just a bountiful group of crudites and different kinds of raw vegetables to dip into it. And they did a beautiful local snapper that had been rolled in greens, really, really fresh, but everything else was the same. And I would say the ingredients seemed a little brighter. The cooking wasn’t quite as incredibly refined as it is, as Cariño. But you know what I loved about it? It wasn’t freaking a tasting menu. You could have

Amy: Oh, interesting.

John: Okay, yeah, you could have the tasting menu if you wanted, but you could just order everything a la carte. And, man, I wish I could eat Norman Fenton’s food a la carte once in a while, you know,

Amy: I know I’d go and get like, five plates of tacos.
John: Or just go and get that, you know, agua Chile, or just a couple dishes when you just don’t want to go in for the whole thing and the whole evening. So anyhow, Norman, if you’re listening to this, at least one customer would love some a la carte once in a while.

Amy: Well before I we get into it, I know that, you know, it is finally fall. It is maybe coming off being 85 degrees, and I’m, I have, like, a couple fall things that, like, I’m I’m really eager to eat and which I’m hoping to do in like, the next week. One of them is the pumpkin spice donut from Do-Rite. I think that Do-Rite has, like, really become my favorite local doughnut shop. Everything is just so, so good there. But I love, like, the buttermilk donuts, and in the fall, they do a pumpkin spice version, and it’s so good. It’s just like, it’s very restrained, but just like, really perfect and autumnal, and you kind of need it with, like, a hot coffee. So I haven’t gotten gone down to go have one, I live walking distance from a Do-Rite location, but that is on my list for the next week. And then the other thing is an Enzoni at Queen Mary, which is a really fantastic cocktail that’s made with grapes, gin, lemon juice. And it’s a classic, but Queen Mary’s take on it is using concord grapes, and so they only have it during concord grape season, which you know can be as short as a few weeks. And so that is a must. I go every single fall and have one. So I’m planning to head there soon.

John: I’ve been using pumpkin spice deodorant. No, I haven’t, but

Amy: I’m sure that exists.

John: I’m sure it does, yeah, but I would say the fall thing I’m most interested in right now are all the varieties of apples you can get from Nichols Farms at the various farmer market, farmers markets. I go to to Green City, but I’ve been like making apple pies out the wazoo and just trying so many of the different kind of baking apples. So that’s been really, it’s been really a treat doing that.

Amy: I know I was looking, I went to Green City on Saturday, and I was looking at all those apples, and it was just, I don’t know, two dozen, three dozen types. So cool, so many you know that I want to play around with.

John: Yeah, incredible. All right, so this week, I guess we’re talking about just doing kind of a rapid fire, going back and forth and talking about the best things we ate, right? 

Amy: Yeah. So one spot that I really enjoyed recently was Noriko, the hand roll bar from the team behind Perilla. It is, I know you have been before. It took me a long time to finally get in, but I made it in by myself one night, and I really had a great time. It’s a really fun spot, if you’re a solo diner, because every single thing is just by the piece, so you’re not missing out on, you know — the experience you’re having, everyone’s having the same experience, and so as a solo diner, you don’t miss out. I got the signature hand roll set, and then I augmented that with a few others. I really liked the bluefin tuna akami hand roll with toro tatak on top. Really delicious. I also, like, really, I really enjoyed the California as kind of a sleeper hit that was really delicious, too. Just a fun spot. You’re in and you’re out and, you know, everyone around me was having such a really great time. It’s a place that, like, encourages, you know, looking over at what your neighbors are ordering and, you know, talking to the sushi chef. So very fun spot if you are dining out alone, but also fun if you can go as as a group, right?

John: You know, we were lucky when we went there at right at five, and they said, Yeah, you can sit down, but we need the spots back in an hour. But it can be so hard to go there as two people. I think as a solo diner, your chances are much better. So it’s definitely something to to remember for when, for when you’re flying solo. I went back for the first time in years to Frontera Grill, and I wanted to try some of the menu items that were prepared by Javauneeka Jacobs, who is there. I think she was just named their executive chef. That’s right, isn’t it?

Amy: I think so, yeah, yeah.

John: And so anyhow, she’s been making, you know, it’s Rick Bayless’s menu, but she’s really been putting her own stamp on it, and I had just incredibly delicious plate of vegetarian enchiladas. It was a couple months ago, so, you know, it was still, it was like, you know, zucchini and zucchini blossoms and things like that. But, man, it was so good. The flavors are so bright. So I’m excited to see what she’ll be doing.

Amy: I have also had that dish, and I also found it really memorable and just delicious. So yeah, I can’t wait to see what else she’s adding. I recently went back to Feld, which we both really enjoy, and it was my second visit, so it had been a year since I was last there, and I was really blown away. Like, you know, I absolutely enjoyed the first dinner there. I felt like, when I went back, everything was, you know, even more sophisticated, even more thoughtful, even more delicious. Like, it was really, really a fantastic menu. I was there during, you know, kind of the wind down on tomato season, although I did see Jake at the farmers market on Saturday, and he said that, you know, tomatoes are still here. So, you know, they’re not supposed to be still around by this time. But the tomatoes are fantastic. The peaches were fantastic. Just really, really an excellent restaurant. I think that this has really become my favorite tasting menu in town.

John: Yeah. And I think he makes a good case for the tasting menu, which is, if you’re being that hyper local and really, really looking at what’s in season. And just like understanding that, you know, the tomatoes may still be around, but they might have a slightly different flavor than they did, there might be other ingredients around to play off of them. I know he’s doing a tomato and peach dish now, and I had a late-season tomato and plum dish at Lula Cafe, which was just amazing. It was— this is such a good time of year to eat at Lulu Cafe. I know that I had mentioned this in my column, but anyhow, yes, really, really smart, delicious, not overwrought, seasonal food. So I’m always happy when I go back to Lula Cafe. It’s really one of my faves.

Amy: Yeah, it’s such a it’s such a classic. I recently went to Little Lark at Guild Row. Have you been there yet?

John: Not, no. So it is.

Amy: It’s so tiny. I mean, there’s more seats outside than there are inside. And it’s a very cute little pizza spot from the team behind Meadowlark and Lardon and Union in Logan. And they’re doing wood-fired pizzas and small plates and cocktails. And they also have like, beer and wine too. But a really cute spot. I very much enjoyed it. I really loved the and pizza because they use lardon nduja, which is, you know, great. And then it also has, like, had pickled cherry peppers, and it was, like, really spicy. And I love spice, so that was good. And some really nice small plates too, like a broccoli salad and, like, a radicchio, hazelnut and Brie salad. So really solid spot open all day, Friday to Sunday. So I could see it being like a nice, kind of Friday lunch option.

John: Nice. What is the pizza like?

Amy: It is wood-fired, so it’s got, like that, that nice, like blistered edge there. I, they’re kind of individual-sized. I mean, I, you know, maybe for other people, you could share one. But for me, that would be like an individual-size pizza. Really, really nicely done.

John: Nice. I can’t wait to try it. And I, you know, I love Guild Row. I used to be a member there, and I’ve worked there a lot, but I still love going back there for events and things. It’s a really, really great space in Avondale. So I went to Nadu, which is the third restaurant from Sujan Sarkar of Indienne. He also is an owner at Sifr. They’re both in River North. This one is in Lincoln Park, right on Lincoln, and it’s a little like it’s not quite as, you know, high-end tasting menu as Indienne. There is a tasting menu there, which is five courses and 60-something dollars, which is a nice deal, but it is mostly a la carte. I did go and I tried a few things off the tasting menu, and it feels like the place needs a little more time to figure itself out. It was, I liked some dishes better than others. It tries to give you a little bit of different dishes from all over India. So they might have, like, for instance, they have some pork ribs that are seasoned with inji puli, which is this tamarind ginger chutney that is from Kerala. And, you know, they’re kind of, you know, fun, stupid-fatty, sweet pork ribs. I enjoyed them. Some other things were nice. But, you know, I’m gonna wait a little bit and try and go back later.

Amy: Yeah, I have some friends who absolutely adore it. I went once, and I tried a couple dishes, and I don’t know if I just ordered, did a bad job ordering. Sometimes I feel like I do if I’m going in, you know, just sitting at the bar and trying it later too. But yeah, I agree. I would like to go back, maybe do that tasting and try and try more of the stuff. So also in Lincoln Park, I just went to the new version of S.K.Y. which I know you have been to as well, which is in the Belden Stratford. I’ve really enjoyed it. There are some of the old favorites, like the Maine lobster dumplings still on the menu, still fantastic. But then a lot of like, really good new stuff, the tuna tartare lumpia was delicious. I love the Sichuan ricotta with—

John: That was so good. I love that.

Amy: Yes, really, really good. I love the flat bread. It was also really spicy, really great. And then for desserts, we did the dark chocolate cruller, which had, like a honey gelato and truffle. So it was like, really had those, like earthy notes. But I mean, all of Tatum Sinclair‘s desserts are something special. And so this one was really great. So I love the new room. And then after dinner, I went to take a look at the new bar, Le Mistral, which, of course, I picked a day that the bar wasn’t open, so I ha e to go back and do that. But so that’s also in the same space.

John: And that’s Jelena Prodan’s place, right?

Amy: Yeah. So there’s wine, there’s cocktails, there’s plates, like fried chicken sandwich and some small plates like, definitely, you know, you can go for dinner, which I think I’m going to plan to do. And then they’re also opening Intro, which is going to be a tasting menu, and that’s slated to open next month. So eager to see what they do with with that space, and how they kind of reinterpret Intro as well. So yeah, that’s going to be three new spots in the Belden Stratford. So very cool.

John: I’m psyched for the new S.K.Y., because I do like Stephen Gillanders’s food, and I just feel like, you know, Valhalla is, again, it’s, it’s a tasting menu, so it’s kind of a bit of a, you know, a time and expense commitment. But I, you know, I love being able to order a la carte and just get those, you know, those lobster dumplings, and they’re so good. They’re so good. And sadly, when I went to S.K.Y., I went with people who were not dessert people. So I last week, we tried to get off the waiting list to get into Dimmi Dimmi, that new Italian restaurant on Armitage, and they gave my wife a three-to-five-hour wait time. 

Amy: Three to five?! Oh, my God.

John: I don’t even know what five hours means in that context. I mean, oh my god. So we thought maybe not. We were able to snag a nice little table at John’s Food and Wine, which I hadn’t been to in a hot minute. And it is still really, really good. They’ve got a delicious green bean dish on there now with kind of an eggplant miso puree at the bottom. It’s just their big veggie salad. Things are so good right now, they’re doing a caramelized sweet potato, like everyone is, but with this nice clothbound cheddar, so that you get this, these nice, kind of fudgy textures up against each other. Yum. Really, really good. So, delicious Chilean sea bass, which, you know, it’s been a while since I’ve eaten Chilean sea bass, but it was like this, you know, old friend. And it just came in a, in a, in a beautiful sauce with some like fish mouse quenelles. So you know, if you haven’t been in a minute, check it out.

Amy: Yeah, I’m overdue for a return visit.

Amy: Another new spot I went to recently was Matilda, which is in River North, not to be confused with the one that’s in Lake View. It is Mexican-Peruvian. It’s a group that’s out of New York, but they have come into Chicago in a big way, and have opened a handful of spots, including Kayao, which is in Old Town.

John: Old Town, right?

Amy: Yeah, yeah. And then Clandestino, which is a bar underneath. It’s very tasty. I really like the ceviche. They do a daily ceviche with like sweet potatoes and choclo, calamari chicharron on top. And then I enjoyed the paella. Although it is absolutely not a paella, it’s like a risotto, but like topped like you would expect a paella to be; really tasty. It was, you know, filled with seafood and salsas and Manchego. Very, very tasty. So it’s right next to Zarella. And, yeah, it’s like, I they had a nice bar area, so, like, I would definitely like pop in there sometime for, you know, an easy dinner.

John: Great, great. That’s good to know. Yeah, I It’s funny, we don’t have a lot of Peruvian restaurants here, and it just like, Yeah, you know, I’d love to see more maybe, you know, maybe eventually we’ll have a restaurant where we can eat cuy, those big roasted guinea pigs. 

Amy: No, thank you. 

John: Well, you know, you can get them like served really cutely with a little salt lick on the sides and—

Amy: Oh, God.

John: I’m sorry. Okay. Well, speaking of Latin America, but not delicious rodents, I chew Trino, which is that new steakhouse from Chef Stephen Sandoval, yes, and it was, you know, it’s still young. I’m going to reserve judgment on it. A couple things were really good. They do, one thing that’s interesting is that picanha cooked like prime rib, so you get that nice kind of it’s, you know, picanha is a very lean cut of meat. And, you know, prime rib is fatty, but it’s really cooked to a nice, you know, very soft rare with a nice cap of fat on top of it. And that was a, you know, fun dish with the choice of sauces and some good appetizers, one of which I will name in our best things we ate this week when we finish up the segment.

Amy: I also went to Void recently and had a really great meal. We sat at the bar. Had some good drinks. I just had non alcoholic cocktails that were really good, but I loved the eggplant parm. It was just so crispy and so delicious. Definitely feels like one I will go back for again on like a night I need a cozy dinner. I also enjoyed the fried chicken marsala, which comes, like in a paper bag with maitake mushrooms and, like a ranch dipping sauce. Really fun. I think that the food there is has such, like, a sense of fun and wit and everything’s really tasty. Yeah, I’m looking at the menu now I had this great broccoli salad that is not on the menu anymore, but loved it. Yeah, I think that, you know, I need to make this more part of my regular rotation.

John: Yeah, I feel like that’s a restaurant where the cooking is sneaky and surprising. At first, it seems like it’s, you know, like it’s in it for the joke of being, you know, kind of trashy-sounding Italian-American food. But the cooking is more subtle and interesting than that. And so it’s, I find it pretty delightful. And I like the way, too, it has such this huge bar, those big bars, you can always find a spot there. And it’s, you know, it’s just a really fun place. So I went to Lao Der, which is that new Lao restaurant that is up on Elston, and I liked it. I didn’t love it yet, but I do want to go back. But my top recommendations are definitely try the fermented pork sausage that is, they’re really, like, you know, plump and bursty and delicious, and they do a very cool version of green papaya salad. The papaya isn’t shredded so much as it’s cut into these like thick strips, almost like pappardelle noodles, and they’re left to soften a bit in the in the marinade. And it’s really fun.

Amy: And then my last one here is I went to Boonie’s for lunch the other day, I had heard that there was a new breakfast sandwich. I saw that Infatuation put it on their list of the best breakfast sandwiches. And I don’t like when there are breakfast sandwiches that I haven’t had yet. So it’s called the BBL, a monster of a sandwich. Like, you could totally go and, like, split this with someone. So it’s served on this bread is, like, it’s a coconut bread, yeah, like it’s a coconut rice cake, like coconut milk, and so it’s sweet. And then there’s two versions. There’s one with spam, and there’s one with Vigan longanisa, V-I-G-A-N, not V-E-G-A-N. Vigan is a city in the Philippines, so this is their style of it. And it’s got like a, like a kind of, like an egg patty, smoked Gouda, a hash brown. It’s a monster of a sandwich. Really delicious. It’s like a Filipino McGriddle. Go share one. I also had the mac salad, which I’m always going to get, like a pasta salad that was really tasty too. But, oh yeah, I had not been for lunch before and really good, easy lunchtime spot.

John: Oh, good. I should remember that, because I remember I had a really fun lunch there a couple years ago with food writer Maggie Hennessey, and really enjoyed it. Well for my last “where I’ve been recently,” I went back to one of my faves, Maxwell’s Trading. I had a bunch of college classmates were in town. They, we decided to have a weekend: They came over to our house for dinner. You know, I made them big apple pie, but the night before we went to Maxwell’s. We got that big table with the lazy Susan in the center of it there. It’s a great table there for a big group. And it’s really good. It’s still great, you know, just a wonderful, like, a really, really perfect endive salad that they’re doing this, you know, season. And I realized one thing I like about Maxwell’s is, you know, they come out and they tell you all our food’s meant for sharing, but it really is. It’s not like meant for sharing, and that means that everybody gets one tiny, little, you know, piece of, a piece of a piece of broccoli or something. I mean, it’s, you know, the food, the salads are generous. The portions are there. They really, they are portioned for sharing. So, you know, we ordered way too much food and managed to eat almost all of it. So yay Maxwell’s.

Amy: Yeah, I love Maxwell’s. I need to, I need to get back there soon.

John: Yeah, and great wine too. I’m trying to, I can’t, you know, I have a picture of it somewhere, but just a wonderful Portuguese white wine that I’m still thinking about. So good. 

Amy: Nice.

Amy: John, what’s the best thing you ate lately?

John: So as promised, at Trino, there is just an insane, bonkers-delicious appetizer called cangrejo tostada, crab tostada. And it’s just, you know, basically crab salad and a tostada. But it’s really good crab salad, and it’s, I split one with somebody, and next time I want to go and order my own. So go eat crab tostada. How about you?

Amy: I’m going to talk about the tuna lumpia at S.K.Y., which I teased earlier. So it’s like a lumpia shell. It’s not closed off at the end, but inside is tuna tartare with Fresno chili. So it’s like a spicy tuna lumpia. So you have the, you know, the soft tuna, you have the crispy shell. I, we, the order came with two. My friend and I were just like, Oh my god. Why, should we get like, five more orders? Because it was just, like, a couple little bites. Just really, really, really delicious. So next time I would go and probably, probably get like an order for myself, yeah, yeah.

John: I love that too. I kind of, to me, it made me think it was like a, it was like a tuna cannoli, sort of, you know?

Amy: Yeah, yeah. Real, really good dish.

Amy: Thanks for joining us for this episode of Dish From Chicago Magazine. Your hosts are dining editor Amy Cavanaugh and critic John Kessler, editing by Sarah Steimer and music by Bill Harris. You can find us online at chicagomag.com. Please be sure to follow, rate, and review us wherever you get your podcasts. We’ll see you next time.