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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. So today I’m going to take the lead and talk about Bucktown, which is where I live and has really been in the midst of a dining Renaissance. I think Bucktown is turning into one of the most interesting places for new restaurants to land. And then Amy and I, as usual, will talk about the best things we have eaten this week, which includes a killer dish of pasta.

Amy: And we’re hoping this is just the first of these sorts of neighborhood features that we’re going to do here on the podcast. So if you have any neighborhoods you’d like us to tackle, let us know.

John: So when I moved to Chicago with my family several years ago, we looked all over the city for a neighborhood that had some things we’re looking for. It had to be centrally located. It had to have easy access to the highway and bike trails for my wife’s commute, and we wanted something quiet and residential, but also a place with really good bars, restaurants, cafes, and things like that. The last part, not so much. I mean, we felt, you know, we immediately loved Le Bouchon. Loved it, started going there all the time. The Bristol was open when we first moved here, and the food there was always great, although it just was like so dark and noisy that it never really became a regular. And as for the rest of the restaurants in the northern part of Bucktown, we’re pretty much one and done with them. We try them out, and they’re fine and move on. But man, have things changed here. I’m just wondering, Amy, if you’ve noticed that as well.

Amy: You know, I feel like I can kind of track which neighborhoods really feel like they’re taking off, by like, how often I’m calling an Uber there, and I’m constantly heading to Bucktown, West Town, places like that. But the list of places that have opened in Bucktown in the past, even the past six months, or, you know, to two years, has just been really impressive.

John: Yeah, it really has been. And what’s been happening is that, you know, there are some nice restaurant spaces where ambitious restaurants had failed before, but then there are also just a lot of conversions of little neighborhood taverns and things like that that are suddenly become, you know, they have great bones. They have a nice vibe inside. They’ve always just been kind of these Old Style and Malört kinds of places, and then suddenly, now they’re really cool. So let’s go ahead and talk about some of them. The first thing I wanted to tell you about Amy is a brand new coffee bar that opened on Armitage called Tomokohi, from the Japanese word for friend and coffee. It’s a pretty minimalist coffee shop, as they all are, but they do an amazingly good pour over coffee, very Japanese-style pour over. You get a choice of three different coffees that they have every day, and it’ll take them a good 10 minutes to get that cup of coffee ready for you, but it is so good when it arrives, so definitely put that on your radar. What’s been striking your fancy in Bucktown? 

Amy: I feel like one of the places I go to the most is Truce, which I have been to during the day because they also have a nice coffee program, and I’ve been at night because it’s right within stone’s throw of a number of places that I have dinner. And so it’s been a good spot to swing by for like a freezer martini or, you know, a cup of coffee during the day. And the team there is really nice. David Mor heads up the beverage program, but it’s just like a really great bunch of people who run it.

John: They really are great people. David is very sweet. Just always nice to see him. And I love going there for their ice coffee with coffee ice cubes that, that mother does not dilute. It is so good. And then David actually also does the cocktails at their sister establishment, Mirra, just up the street. Honestly, I kind of like the cocktails at Mirra a little bit better.

Amy: The cocktail program at Mirra is really fun. Have you been in for brunch yet?

John: I haven’t done brunch. I’ve tried dinner a couple times, and it’s very interesting. The chef, Rishi Kumar, mixes Indian and Mexican flavors, which I feel work sometimes and don’t sometimes, but it’s always kind of like, how do you put it? I mean, your taste buds will be alive. There’s a lot happening in the food there. You’ll be thinking about it long after you eat it. But is brunch good?

Amy: Brunch is really good. And there’s also a very nice Bloody Mary for that as well. So I would recommend swinging by there some sunday.

John: Okay, I’ll definitely check it out. And I also need to try their biryani cooked under like a tortilla crust that I hear is great. I’ve still not tried that.

Amy: That dish is really tasty. 

John: Bucktown now has a brand new tasting menu restaurant, which is hilarious, because they don’t publish the address. It’s like, ooh, we’ll send you the address once you make your reservation. But it’s like, Duh, it’s right on Damon. I mean, you know, it’s that black box restaurant on Damon, next to Playa Bowls. It’s called Class Act. And the chef there is a young guy named Nicolai Mlodinow. And Nikolai, if you’re listening, and I butchered your name, please let me know. He is doing this interesting menu where it is all served around one table. So 12 guests come in, they mingle, have little bites, and then they all sit down around a communal table and get a tasting menu. I have not been yet. How about you?

Amy: I haven’t been yet. Either I have that on my fall to-do list.

John: Yeah, it sounds interesting. They also have a, like, a speakeasy bar in the back.

Amy: Yes, I have been hearing about that. Yeah, it really feels like they’re trying something different. And, you know, I have, I have had lasting friendships come out of some communal dinners. And so I think that, you know, I like that idea.

John: Well, that sounds cool. Maybe I’ll make friends too. I don’t have any, but I’ll try. One last thing about Class Act is they’ve got an awesome sommelier in Jonas Bittencourt, who was at John’s Food and Wine, and I love his taste in wine. All right. Have you been to Levitt Street Tavern for the smash burger that everyone in Chicago is talking about? 

Amy: Yes, I love it. 

John: Yeah, real crispy, lacy edges, huh?

Amy: It’s, it’s really, really excellent. When we had Nick Murway, who regularly shoots for us, he did a feature coming up on two years now, where he picked his top burgers in the city, and so No. 1 was Levitt Street. And I think that’s totally deserved. It’s a it’s a really special burger. It’s also just a good bar, and the ambiance is great. Really, the kind of place where, if it is in your neighborhood, you’re very lucky to have it. 

John: It is so fun. You know, it’s hard by the highway. There’s a great big tent outside, and if you can’t get under the tent, they’re just like a bunch of, you know, Home Depot Adirondack chairs scattered around, and they’re just, you know, there’s someplace you can always find to sit. And they’ll come and bring you beers and a burger. And it just is a great vibe. The only problem is getting there, like in time before it just gets insane.

Amy: You know what spot I really enjoyed that we went together? Eat Fine.

John: Yeah, that is such an interesting restaurant, isn’t it?

Amy: It is a fascinating restaurant. And I know when we went, we went with a group, and you kind of had to coordinate everything in advance, down to what we all wanted to order. Is that still the case? Do you know?

John: Yep. So it’s a Thai restaurant, and the chef is very like, skilled and knowledgeable about different styles of regional Thai food. And so when you look at the menu online, it will seem like absolutely endless. You know? It goes from Bangkok to Isan,Thai to Southern Thai, and you go around all these different regions, and it, you know, looks great. Now, the thing is, it’s that’s not already in the kitchen. You’ve got to text with her daughter ahead of time, you make the reservation, and then you just get into a text exchange, figure out what you want to eat, order everything ahead of time. And so because of all of this, it’s best to go with a large group, but it is super fun. And I think the food is great. Their fried chicken, hat yai, is just so good.

Amy: Yeah, that’s a really, really great meal.

John: Have you been to, to Tama. And what did you think of it? 

Amy: I went to Tama. I’ve only been one time, and I enjoyed it, but I know that the menu has really changed dramatically. So I probably went maybe, like, a year and a half ago, and it felt like, really, like, full on Greek. I love the spreads. I remember really having this, like, really beautiful crudo with tomato. I know that there are still some Greek elements to the menu, but it does seem like it has a bit of a more global feel right now. So I would be curious to go back. Have you been lately?

John: It’s been a little while. What’s really funny is, on nights that I go out and review restaurants with other people, my wife, a lot of times, will go to Tama and sit on the deck there and get mussels and a glass of wine. And she loves their mussels. It’s in that little A-frame house that’s been a really snake-bit space. It was so many restaurants. It originally was Steph Izard’s first restaurant in Chicago called Cilla when I moved here. It was Dixie, this very southern restaurant, this very kind of, I don’t know, ambitious southern restaurant. And then it went through several iterations, including Stone Flower from that chef, Jake Bickelhaupt, who had 42 Grams and has been in trouble with the law and has been accused of being a horrible person in several states. And so, you know, there’s some ghosts in that building, but I feel like the current chef Avgeria Stapaki has just blown all that out, like she’s changed it inside. It’s colorful. It’s always jammed. There’s just a lot of life in the building now.

Amy: Yeah, I first went when it was Takashi. That was many moons ago and so that was, that was what it was when I moved here. But, yeah, I feel like, you know, that’s a really nice endorsement from Arlene to just, you know, want to go have a dish, have a glass of wine and relax. So I feel like this is, you know, inspiring me to get back there and try some new things

John: You should and it’s kind of noisy inside, but that patio is kind of magic. So go before it gets too cold. I know that a lot of my neighbors really, really love Manchamanteles, which is the huge restaurant on Western and Armitage that was taken over by the chef Geno Bahena, very known for his moles, and I hear that the duck with mole is really great. My next door neighbors are always telling me to try it. I did go and try a different mole, a dark one with chicken. It was quite good, but it’s a big restaurant. Have you been?

Amy: I have not been, no, and I really love mole, so I should go check that one out. And a duck mole always sounds delicious. 

John: Yeah, I, my neighbors who are like, super foodies, Beth and Lawrence, they say that the, you know, the duck there is as good as any duck in the city. So I kind of trust them. I think I need to check it out. So, so send over budget, please.

Amy: And then Pompette was one that was on your Best New Restaurants list a couple years ago.

John: Yeah, it’s always so good. I mean, I sometimes I forget about Pompette because it’s always there. I mean, it really is a great all-day cafe. I was there, I don’t know, maybe a month ago and just had the world’s best BLT, so good with a bit of a pesto mayonnaise, and it was just, you know, the first great tomato of the season. Really fresh, crispy bacon, but it’s quite simple, nice wine, nice cocktails, a small menu that changes here and there. But really, the food is always cooked with so much care and kind of intentionality you just get you really realize that someone in the kitchen really put some effort in making sure each dish comes out right. So yay.

Amy: I really enjoyed my meal there, and looking forward to going back. I’ve heard their burger is excellent, too. 

John: Can we start like talking about some things that you may not know about in Bucktown? 

Amy: Yes, please. 

John: Okay, Stop Along is a restaurant on Milwaukee that serves pizza and hamburgers, and it’s got kind of a very forgettable name, and it has a very forgettable look to it. They serve a great burger, and they are three doors up from Small Cheval. And any single resident of Bucktown will tell you their burger is far superior.

Amy: Yes, I will also concur with that. 

John: You know, here’s my best Bucktown hack is this, go to Red and White, which is the natural wine store, and they’ve got a little wine bar next to called Buvette, where you can, you know, have a very nice $14 glass of natural wine and a $17 tin of, of, you know, smoked fish from some fancy little corner of Spain. Or you can do this: You can buy an entire bottle of wine and just go across the street to the BYO Irazu and eat their ceviche. And I have spent so many Fridays getting, you know, enjoying a bottle of chilled white wine or rose or sparkling wine from Red and White, and just a big old bowl of ceviche from Irazu. Awesome. 

Amy: Sounds great. 

John: You know the Charleston? I’m sure you do. It’s like the classic Chicago bar.

Amy: The Charleston is always good. It is just always consistent. I like their house old fashioned. It’s just perfectly done.

John: Perfectly done. I love the early bartender they have there a lot of nights, Josh. He, you know, he’s just somebody who, like, I’ve been there enough that he’ll say, “You order a boulevardier a lot. I kind of think you want to try a black Manhattan. I make a good one.” And boy, does he make a good black Manhattan. The trick, I will tell you, is go early if you don’t like noise. I mean, I love noise, but I also like talking. And I can’t, you know, have my ears filled with noise and talk, and that place gets really noisy later. But you know the violet hour? You know sad, the actual Violet Hour is gone now. But you know the violet hour, i.e., the time to have your first cocktail in the evening, is a beautiful thing at the Charleston.

Amy: And then I know you like Royal Grocer as well.

John: So I love their patio, and I love their patio, and they have food and they have food and drink, and you can go and get food and drink out on the patio, and it’s a really great patio. So if you like patios, I love the Royal Grocer.

Amy: That’s a good hidden patio tip. I have never been.

John: Yeah. And then you know who else has a great patio is Antico, which is this little Italian restaurant that is at the corner of Levitt and Armitage, and it always looks super empty out front. But in the summer, there’s a great hidden patio there, and they make some pretty nice, you know, homemade pasta. And it’s definitely like a once-a-summer thing for us.

Amy: I know that there are some new things kind of coming down the pipeline that you have some intel on. What are you looking forward to?

John: So the folks who own Door 24, which is the other really good wine store in Bucktown, and it is not exclusively natural wine. They’re great people, Kevin and Michelle, and they are planning to open up a little wine bar, kind of snack counter sandwich place in the little coach house behind the store, and it’s gonna be so exciting. And their whole idea is just go there, have a nice glass of wine or bottle of wine, and have a good little sandwich or something, little something, something that’s all they’re going for, and I am there for that. Doesn’t that sound great? 

Amy: Yes, just a perfect little neighborhood spot. 

John: Absolutely. And then you know, the whole neighborhood is waiting with bated breath for when Sarah Grueneberg and her husband, Jamie, are going to open up an Italian restaurant. I mean, the rumor is it’s going to open at and Jack & Ginger’s or Bristol. I’ve asked Sarah many times, and she refuses to answer. There’s been no 

Amy: She’s been tight-lipped on this. 

John: Yeah. She really is, yeah. So we’ll see. Have you heard anything?

Amy: Only what you have, I’ve had some folks in the neighborhood tell me that that is the location, but with nothing confirmed. Anyway, whenever Sarah Grueneberg opens a new restaurant, that will be an event for us, so very excited about the prospect of that. 

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

John: So I’m not going to signal out a dish. I’m going to talk about a stupid-expensive meal. I went back to Smyth for the first time in a couple years, and the first time since they earned their third Michelin star, and I kind of got the restaurant for the first time. I mean, this is maybe my fourth meal there, and it’s always been, this dish was amazing, that dish was super weird. The service didn’t ever seemed quite up to the prices they were asking. Now, the prices they are asking are so high and the service is so good. And I thought about half the dishes I tried at my recent dinner, they were just absolute bangers, just among some of the most delicious things I had eaten this year. They had this quail that was served like three different ways. But I’m never gonna forget this quail leg with the most incredible spice, tingly, crispy skin, and its gnarled little foot just sticking it out the end. So 

Amy: Bird feet, trend of 2025. 

John: Bird feet are in man, I don’t know. I mean, I want to see the first person who actually tries to eat one of them. But if you have like, $700 burning a hole in your pocket, go to Smyth. How about you? What’s the best thing you ate?

Amy: If you don’t want to spend $700 but still have a really good meal. I just had lunch at Tortello, and it was the most beautiful day. We sat out on the patio. Everything was excellent, but I had a couple standouts, just a perfect cavatelli with pesto and burrata. Like, just simple, but like, just summer on a plate. Like, excellent. I know that’s a seasonal option, so the window is limited on that. And I got to try the new pizza fritta, which is brand new to the menu. It’s like a savory fried dough topped with burrata, heirloom tomatoes, and like a drizzle of olive oil. And I know that that was a dish that you know, the chef there grew up eating when he was a kid in Italy, and he decided to put it on the menu now. And it sounds like they’re going to be offering some, a variety of toppings, whether it’s, you know, seasonally, or collaborating with other chefs. But the very simple version right now is, is really spot on. 

John: Yum. So that sounds amazing. I really like everything we’ve talked about today but this the one thing I just want to eat right now. 
Amy: Yeah, it was really good.