Parachute

Scallops Photos: Jeff Marini   Parachute 3500 North Elston Avenue Avondale Korean contemporary $$$ Fusion is no longer a dirty word in the able hands of husband-wife chefs Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark, who marry unlikely ingredients to create a one-of-a-kind Korean-American culinary hybrid. Think plates of bing bread (a riff on a potato loaf, … Read more

Boeufhaus

From left: ham salad; roasted summer squash; 35-day dry-aged ribeye; mustard spaetzle Photo: Nick Murway Let Boeufhaus parade itself as a refined French brasserie with a German accent all it wants. This unassuming Humboldt Park spot is, at heart, a straight-up classic steakhouse. Opening their restaurant far from the downtown big-spender shrines, Brian Ahern and Jamie Finnegan … Read more

The Purple Pig

Salt-roasted beets Photos: Jeff Marini   The Purple Pig 500 North Michigan Avenue River North Mediterranean $$$ Spend enough time on Michigan Avenue and you realize just how special the Purple Pig actually is. Here, tucked between a Corner Bakery and a Bank of America in the center of the city’s tourist vortex, is a … Read more

Rainbow Thai

Drunken noodles with chicken Photos: Jeff Marini   Rainbow Thai 4825 North Western Avenue Lincoln Square Thai $$ In a city with a Thai joint seemingly on every corner, true gems can be hard to find. Rainbow, a perky BYO on an unremarkable commercial strip of Western Avenue, is decidedly one of them. Go beyond … Read more