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
If ever there were a reason to do a tasting menu just for a dessert, this is it. Karen Urie Shields has found a way to transform a simple egg yolk into something mythical: curing it in salted licorice for 24 hours, then resting the unctuous orb on a cloud of frozen yogurt meringue, which … Read more
You needn’t look far in this town to find an overpriced poultry liver mousse packed into a Mason jar and gilded with some sort of fruit gelée. This eight-buck wonder trumps them all. It will arrive abstractly outfitted with cleverly chosen garnishes such as a rhubarb coulis and toasted pecans. Spread some on a hunk … Read more
Because fried chicken and boozy slushies are a combo that never gets old.
Try it at LH Rooftop (85 E. Wacker Dr.) on weekends through July.
The sophisticated brewing outfit is incorporating a sit-down concept into its new base at the old Baderbräu taproom.
Au revoir, Restaurant Michael.
