Spicy octopus salad, whole-wheat noodles It didn’t take much to get us excited about Slurping Turtle. Basically, just a few choice words: “Takashi,” “noodles,” “dumplings,” “sake,” and “patio.” When Takashi Yagihashi, he of the marvelous three-star Takashi in Bucktown, decides to downshift into what he calls “my soul food,” we’re there. The 80-seat space will … Read more
Ginger, blueberry, chocolate-toffee, and cinnamon scones; passion-fruit tart; lemon kiss cookie We found the best ginger scone ever, and we weren’t even looking—just out for a quiet breakfast in some innocuous corner of the world, and 22-seat Fraîche seemed a likely spot. It’s an order-at-the-counter, pick-up-your-silverware storefront with a chalkboard menu, where cheerful young servers … Read more
There are only two barstools in the upstairs lounge at the two-week-old Lincoln Park restaurant Morso, where the mixologist Matthew Lipsky—known to all as Choo—holds court nightly in a bow tie, rolled-up shirtsleeves, a dapper vest, and quarter-size gauge earrings…
The stretch of Taylor Street in Little Italy continues to add new restaurants at a pace as blisteringly hot as a Neapolitan crust. The chef Michael Shrader has given notice at Epic and is teaming up with Jason Chan (Butter) to open Urban Union (1421 W. Taylor St.; no phone yet) this fall, if all goes well…
Mike Green, owner of Roscoe Village’s venerable Village Tap, staged a Chicago beer coup on Thursday night, turning all 26 of the tavern’s drafts over to local brews, including such rarities as Half Acre’s Galactic Double Daisy Cutter and Three Floyds’ Thick White Freeks…
THE BUZZ: Gaztro-Wagon’s Matt Maroni opens Mörso; 2 Sparrows offers tony brunch; SmallBar’s sandwiches dazzle
Chicago’s most-buzzed-about restaurants this month
Hi, Honey
Christine Cikowski and Josh Kulp, who run the underground dining club Sunday Dinner, discovered how glorious fried chicken tastes with honey butter when their staff tried it while eating their meals in the kitchen at a dinner a couple of years ago…
All right, readers. Take a deep breath. There’s a lot to talk about this week. First up, heaven for the beer geeks: Mike Green, owner of the Village Tap in Roscoe Village, recently found himself marveling that there are now enough locally brewed beers from Chicago and the burbs to fill all of the bar’s 26 taps…
Deuce’s and The Diamond Club, a twin-concept bar and lounge built from the ground up on the site of a former parking lot in Wrigleyville, may have opened quietly on August 1, but in a neighborhood with constant foot traffic and an insatiable taste for beer, word gets out…
