Amy Cavanaugh: Welcome to Dish From Chicago Magazine. I’m Amy Cavanaugh, Chicago magazine’s dining editor.

John Kessler: I’m John Kessler, Chicago magazine’s dining critic.

Amy: And today we’re talking about John’s picks for the best french fries in town. We’re also talking about our guide for where to dine at the airports. Finally, we’ll share the best things we’ve eaten lately, which includes a fun twist on Italian beef.

Amy: John, I know you’re a huge fan of french fries, and you recently named your favorites in town, which we will discuss in a moment. But before we talk about those, what makes a good fry?

John: Oh, I have thoughts. I think that something that started in a freezer bag, while delicious at the right moment, is discountable. They have to start with fresh potatoes. I don’t like weird shapes, which I know will offend some people, but I think, you know, curly fries and waffle fries have their purpose. They’re not ever going to be top notch french fries in my book. And also, as long as I’m being snotty and saying what doesn’t make a good french fry before I be nice and talk about what does make a good french fry, I really hate it when they’re coated with seasoning spices, particularly when you get that kind of, you know, sweet citric acid barbecue sauce flavor. That just drives me up a tree. So snottiness gone: What makes a great french fry? Crispy on the outside, pillowy on the inside, tastes like potato, begs for ketchup. That’s what makes a good french fry for me. How about you?

Amy: It sounds so simple, but it’s hard to achieve that. I mean, I totally agree with you. I hate curly fries. I hate seasoned fries. I do like a waffle fry. There’s something nostalgic about like a crinkle cut sometimes, 

John: Maybe, yeah. 

Amy: You’ll allow it, yeah. But yeah, I, you know, I, I think we disagree here, like, I like a thinner fry, like, I like a sort of, like McDonald’s size fry, yeah, I like a shoestring, and, you know, I like them when they have, like, a mix of, like, crispy and soft to, like, have a variety of different textures going on here. And I love when—

John: You do the four-fingered bag dip? When you get that, like, bunch of fries at once, and you get those different textures.

Amy: Yes, I love it. 

John: Okay. 

Amy: And then, yeah, I like ketchup, but I’d rather, you know, I’d like, I like an accompaniment, like, if I’m having, like, a steak frites or something at like, Le Bouchon, like, I want to soak up, you know, the peppery sauce. So.

John:  Okay, yeah, I I will not only allow that, I will endorse that, because I think the world’s most perfect meal could be a steak frites, where the steak is kind of bloody, and there’s a very acidic salad on the side, like arugula and lemon juice, or some kind of really sharp salad, and you get that bite of the three together. And I think that is utter perfection.

Amy: Yes, that sounds amazing. You recently, for your newsletter, named the top three. Let’s start with three. We’ll count down.

John: Okay, yeah, and super quickly, just to say these are all done, sort of the pommes frites method, which is, I think, is also essential, which is, they’re twice fried, once at a lower temperature to cook them through, to make the starch become cooked, gelatinized, I guess is the word. And the second time at a higher temperature, to really crisp the outside, where all the starch has been pushed. So number three for me — and this is also based on a recent just eating all three, right in a row, and the specific ones how they came out. Number three for me was John’s Food & Wine, which has always been one of my favorites. They were great. They always are great. I think every once in a while, the fries at John’s Food & Wine can be a little bit too creamy, mushy in the center. I like a little more. Or, you know, texture, but they’re lovely. They’re perfectly salted. Their leek aioli is good.

Amy: Yes, I have had these. I’m a big fan of these. I like having them at the bar with a dirty martini.

John: Right? What do they call that? A Chicago handshake? 

Amy: Chicago Happy Meal. 

John: Oh, Chicago happy— oh, right. Chicago Handshake is the Malört and the Old Style? 

Amy: Yes

John: Okay. Reason number 365 I should be thrown out of Chicago

Amy: Yeah. 

John: Can’t even get that right. Okay, yes, the Chicago Happy Meal is a, is a happiest of meals, okay. Number two is Hawksmoor, the small chain, the small group of restaurants that came out of London. There are two in the United States, one in New York, one in River North. I love— they call them beef dripping chips. And maybe I just like the name, you know. 

Amy: It’s a great name. 

John: Right? Like you go to a club in, you know, in Shoreditch to go see the beef dripping chips, but, but they’re great. I mean beef dripping being, you know, beef tallow, so they’re fried in beef fat, like good fries often are, as John’s are. They’re fat. They’re super golden, crispy, and they have all these great steak sauces. So you can get, like, green peppercorn sauce, or different kinds of mayonnaise or bordelaise sauce. So that is great. I love that about Hawksmoor and sitting at the bar, fries, a little side car of sauce and a delicious cocktail, which they do make. Lovely.

Amy: Yeah, those are some excellent ones. And then how about your number one?

John: So based on recent meals, I’m going to go with Creepies. I loved the fries I had. They are, you know, they might be a little too snappy for some people, the way that the chef there, Tayler Ploshehanski, fries them. And she told me the process and it is intense. I mean, there is air chilling and freezing and all sorts of various steps to this, but she gets them to come out so that they just, they snap. Like they are just firm, and they snap on the outside, and then, you know, steam escapes from the center. And I love the flavor, the buttery flavor of them. Now, am I mistaken: Did you think they’re a little bit too snappy?

Amy: I found them a little too snappy. I wanted to really use them to soak up that liver sauce with the chicken, and I found that like, they didn’t do that to my liking, but they came with aioli and the caramelized onion chutney, which I thought was tasty, but, yeah, just a little a little too snappy for me.

John: Okay, I can, particularly, if you want them to, I feel like they are fries to have with a drink or something, as opposed to, you know, like steak frites fries. I see that, yes, I think I’m gonna have to do more research, you know, maybe we can. You know, the ranking is always subject to change

Amy: Well, and seems like everyone is opening with fries on their menu these days.

John: They are. They are. It’s a, you know, it’s one of those things where it’s a good challenge for the chef. They like that. It’s, you know, are they going to source the right kinds of potatoes, and are they going to, what’s the technique going to be? What’s the frying medium? So I think it’s one of those things that people love to figure out.

Amy: Any other favorite fries around town? 

John: I will say Dear Margaret, which is temporarily closed, but they make really great fries with beef tallow. And it sounds gross, but I love to swipe them through their duck liver mousse. And I’m not averse to McDonald’s. 

Amy: I’m not either. 

John: I mean, side salad with a small bag of fries dumped on the top of it is my McDonald’s order. And you know, that’s a lovely meal. 

John: I did not participate in this, but I’m excited to read it. You had a bunch of writers find out the best places to eat in the airport or to explain why they loved certain restaurants, and that sounds like some seriously good reader service.

Amy: Yeah. So you know, we, in an earlier podcast, I shared the experience when I had to spend eight hours at Midway and I ate at both the Billy Goat Tavern and Arami. So I had a burger and I had sushi, and that prompted doing a larger look into where else to eat at these, you know, of the two airports I probably fly equally out of O’Hare and Midway. So I have favorites at both. Besides those two at Midway, besides the Billy Goat and Arami, I like Big Shoulders Coffee, which is, you know, they’re a local roaster. You can go get espresso drinks, cold brews, and things like that. So that’s a good find. It’s at the very end of Concourse A, so you have to, like, really hike down there, but it’s worth it. And then over at O’Hare, you know, 90% of the time I go to Tortas Frontera. Have you been before?

John:  Oh, yeah, that’s my go to. 

Amy: What’s your, what’s your go-to order?

John: Um, they have a chorizo and something. Is it chorizo and pepper? Chorizo and egg.

Amy: They do a chorizo and egg in the morning. 

John: That’s, that’s it. The chorizo and egg in the morning is something that I live for. And then they also have that Gunthorp Farms pork, you know, that I really like a lot. But honestly, what I like to do there is get one of the big salads and put a plop of meat on top of it. That is nice.

Amy: Yeah, I like the eggs and rajas in the morning for a vegetarian option. Okay, those are roasted poblados. And then I like the crispy chicken milanesa, if I’m there for lunch or dinner, which has also, you know, crispy chicken, cabbage, pickled jalapenos — super good. And then they make a great margarita. So, you know, if you’re delayed and need to wait things out, there’s three locations of it, so it’s in Terminals 1, 3 and 5, so you’re never too far from one.

John: Wow. Okay, so three locations, I did not realize that.

Amy: Yeah, and then Publican has also a footprint in two locations. They have Publican Tavern, which is a sit down restaurant in Terminal 3, and then they added a stall for Publican Quality Bread in Terminal 5, so you can dine in at the restaurant. And our writer recommends the pub burger there. But they also have a grab-and-go section where you can get, like, really good sandwiches, like a chicken sandwich with bacon, avocado, and blue cheese aioli. Or, if you’re flying out of Terminal 5, you can go to Publican Quality Bread and get a kouign amann and a latte, which is a nice thing to have in the morning. So, you know, it’s nice to see local restaurants coming in and, like, really doing some good stuff.

John: A lot of them have these, like, you know, licensing agreements. So they’re, you know, they’ll come in and they’ll work with a, you know, staff by HMSHost or one of the other purveyors. And some of them, I’m sure, with Publican Quality Bread, they’re supplying the bread to them, so that keeps the quality up. But in other ones, there will be, it’ll be the name. They’re going to try and recreate the recipes. But if they can keep it at at a high level, that’s always the trick. And I understand that Gene & Georgetti had a licensing agreement in Midway that just kind of fell apart after several years, right?

Amy: That just happened, yeah. And so it’s, I mean, certainly, working on this, working on this feature, I learned the ins and outs of how this all comes together. And so, yeah, it’s very complicated, but it’s, it’s great that, like some of these are very high-quality options. I think that that has, is something that has changed in recent years, which is great. You can find the full list at chicagomag.com, which includes more picks for where to eat, at O’Hare and Midway.

Amy: Let’s talk about the best things we ate lately. John, what’s the best thing you ate?

John: I went to Minna’s in Belmont Cragin, just to try and support a local Latino-owned business, in light of all the horrific things that are happening in our town and— such a good restaurant. And what I love there are the picaditas, which are like, they’re like sope base, they’re cornmeal cakes, but they’re pinched around the edges so that they can contain just a little bit of beans and cheese and a little salsa, like you can get them green or red. They’re they’re vegetarian-ish, I guess, because it’s probably lard in the beans. But they’re so good. It was just, it was so so so good. I’ve been thinking about them and plotting to go back. How about you? 

Amy: Dimmi Dimmi makes this Italian beef carpaccio, which I think is, like, the most elegant twist on Italian beef I’ve seen so far. There’s thin slices of beef over a beef jus aioli. It’s topped with a big, not, the chunks aren’t too big, but they’re like, they’re good, good bites of hot housemade giardiniera. So it’s got, like, a great spice, and then shaved Parmesan and arugula. It’s really delicious. It comes with slices of toasted sesame sourdough on the side, so you can, you know, spread the ,spread the jus and, you know, put together a perfect bite. But, yeah, I mean, it hits all the notes of an Italian beef, but it’s very light and delicious. Really good starter.

John: I’m trying to remember that from when I attempt to get into Dimmi Dimmi again. And I bet you wish you could go back in time and put that in our— anachronistically get them to open earlier so it could have gone into our big Italian beef package a few months back.

Amy: I know. I keep encountering new Italian beefs and new giardiniera options, which I was just like, oh, this would have been so perfect for these features. But it also just goes to show that we were right on time with those and so. 

John: Exactly, yeah.
Amy: Yeah.