PST’s best dishes create harmonies not just between ingredients but — in true California tradition — between cultures. Prime example: A swipe of creamy hummus with hot-from-the-hearth pitas may place this dish in the Middle East, but then the kitchen adds crisp-tender nuggets of octopus, a paprika vinaigrette, and a flurry of basil, and suddenly … Read more
In their restaurant’s nascent days, co-owners Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark planned to make an array of Asian-inspired breads. Instead, they made just this one, and it’s never left the menu. The dense little pincushion of a loaf is an homage to a loaded baked potato: It’s made with bits of potato, flecked with bacon … Read more
Tteokbokki, a snack of chewy fried cylindrical rice cakes in spicy sauce, is the dish that moved chef-owner Jennifer Kim to explore the unlikely bridge between Korean and Italian cuisines. Instead of stir-frying hers, she sears the cakes in a cast-iron pan to give them more texture and replaces the typical gochujang-based sauce with a … Read more
Is it sacrilege to go to a pizzeria specifically for a salad? Perhaps, though it’s a sin easily forgiven at this diminutive joint. The key to the minor masterwork is the texture: a happy cacophony of crunch, from thin tendrils of Brussels sprouts to bits of breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese, the whole tossed in an … Read more
Leave it to the Publican to find a way to elevate carrots and ranch dressing, that most Midwestern of after-school snacks. The addition of a creamy, dill-flecked sauce atop these flame-charred root veggies creates a potent depth that Hidden Valley probably wishes would stay hidden forever.
This constantly thronged storefront, which started as a stall in a basement food court, has plans to open a sister Loop lunch counter by the end of 2019, expanding an empire built on diminutive dumplings. There’s no secret to these one-inch wonders beyond careful craftsmanship: fatty ground pork blended with cabbage to create a juicy … Read more
Arepas are at their best when they’re pried open like Pac-Man’s maw and unabashedly overstuffed with warm, juicy ingredients that naturally want to squish together. Consider the pabellón arepa served at this charmer. It’s a one-handed version of the Venezuelan meal called pabellón criollo: saucy shredded beef with black beans and ripe plantain. Topped with … Read more
It’s practically illegal to open a casual upscale restaurant in Chicago and not put a whole chicken on the menu, but this outpost of the Alinea Group finds appealing new directions for the played-out staple. After a daylong chamomile brine, the chicken gets worked in multiple ways: Its breasts are poached and seared to a … Read more
RPM knows what to do with a bone-in rib eye: dry-age it for 28 days, sear it until it develops a smoky char, then embellish it with nothing more than the granular crunch of gray sea salt. The waiter brings the meat with the bone intact like he’s working a dinner party for cavemen and … Read more
This dish has just about everything a bibimbap fan looks for: the superheated stone bowl with rice audibly sizzling inside, the plethora of vegetables, the sidecar of brick-red gochujang sauce. It also has a garnish no one would think to look for in this Korean one-bowl meal: a generous piece of seared foie gras. Resist … Read more
