Category Archives: I like to eats

December 28, 2010 · 12:05 am

Peanut brittle at 16

From executive chef Frank Brunacci’s elegant and seasonally focused menu, to the most gorgeous Swarovski crystal chandelier in the city there are many, many reasons to love 16 restaurant in Trump Tower. But another to add to the list is Pastry Chef Sarah Kosikowski perfect peanut brittle. It was a discovery at the end of an amazing Opus One dinner (we swooned over the 2001, 2003 and 2006 vintages!), and so good that we ordered extra for the table after only a few pieces arrived on the tray of mignardise. Brittle often runs the risk of being sickly sweet, tooth-jammingly crunchy or too hard, but Kosikowski’s version is smooth, perfectly sweet and crunchy, packed just the right amount of peanuts and tasted freshly cracked. All that was missing was a bag to take a batch home. 16, 410 N. Wabash, 312.588.8000

Peanut brittle at 16

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November 21, 2010 · 11:42 am

Share our Strength taco at Mercadito

You officially have 9 days left to try the killer taco Girl & the Goat Chef Stephanie Izard whipped up for this month’s featured taco at Mercadito. Tacos for Strength is Share our Strength’s year-long campaign that invites chefs to concoct a taco of their choice to be offered for a month at Mercadito locations in Chicago, NYC and Miami. Even with turkey, turkduckens or other Thanksgiving usual suspects in your future this week, it’s worth a stop in for Izard’s smoky, creamy delicious duck-fat braised chicken with fermented black beans, olive tapenade and avocado crème topped with smoked tomato salsa and shaved brussels sprouts. Just like all of Izard’s dishes, the combo is creative, colorful and perfectly balanced with the flavors of smoky tomato, crispy juicy chicken and cooling avocado cream on a flour tortilla lingering on your palate long after the last bite. Next up, Jimmy Bannos Sr. and Jr. will offer up a (Cajun?) taco for the month of February 2011, and chef Ryan Poli of Perennial will be on taco duty next April. Check out the whole list here.

Duck-braised chicken taco from Stephanie Izard

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October 1, 2010 · 12:05 am

On the table: Lillie’s Q

2 knives, 2 forks, 2 napkins, 5 house BBQ sauces, tray. Lillie’s Q, 1856 W. North Ave., 773.772.5500

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September 30, 2010 · 12:05 am

Quince at Zest

Not only did a recent lunch at Zest in the InterContinental involve a Stedman Graham sighting (he’s got be close to 7-feet, for real), but the very impressive chef’s seasonal tasting menu ($29) highlighting quince. The starter was the prettiest, most delicious and got me excited for my impending trip to Spain (Friday!). The handsome plate had a juicy, salty stack of Serrano ham, a smudge of sweet quince jam, a pungent pile of blue cheese, micro arugula for bite, and balsamic reduction on a delicate cucumber carpaccio. When combined or enjoyed on their own, the deconstructed ingredients were a perfect match. What followed was a tender, crispy duck leg confit with honey-glazed quince and a viennese poppy tart, also phenomenal. The quince tasting menu continues only for a few more days, so stop in before the next seasonal ingredient takes over the plate. Zest, 505 N. Michigan Ave.

Serrano ham, quince jam, blue cheese and micro arugula on cucumber carpaccio

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September 22, 2010 · 12:05 am

Sea Salt Caramels

The sea salt caramels are put up at the registers of Whole Foods sometimes for a reason, it’s so one point of purchase impulse buy can lead you to a life of constant craving. It’s like a confectionary pusherman. That’s how I feel about the sea salt caramels at Whole Foods. Salt, chocolate, blah, seen it..but chocolate covered salted caramels topped with a sprinkling of thick, crunchy sea salt granules? Just try not to finish the box even when it’s above your desk and you goal is one a day. Yeah, just try.

Sea salt caramels from Whole Foods

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August 30, 2010 · 12:05 am

Crocks at Kith & Kin

I still dream about the buttermilk fried chicken thighs with green garlic and the bibb lettuce salad I had at Kith & Kin a while back, but my new obsession with the homey Lincoln Park restaurant are the crocks. How can you go wrong with a starter that involves of lots of crunchy, thin crostini and a layer of hardened clarified butter? The chicken liver paté crock was just that, a delicious whipped paté hiding under a hard layer of clarified butter, with cornichons, and Dijon mustard on the side. There’s a pimento cheese spread, eggplant purée with almond raisin relish, Duroc pork creton and foie gras with peach butter, and all hover around $9 with enough spread-fulls to satisfy 2-3. All of Chef David Carrier’s crockcoctions are delish, but I prefer the paté with cornichons (crisp, tiny tart pickles I could eat pretty much by the handful, I think). Just save room for buttermilk-fried chicken. Oh! And I owe you all a report of my unreal meal at Moto..watch for it.. Kith & Kin, 1119 W. Webster Ave.

Chicken liver crock at Kith & Kin

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August 13, 2010 · 12:05 am

Urban Burger Bar

Urban Burger Bar chalkboard sign

Cupcake overload? I’m thinking this city had been hit much harder with burger buzz. Burger restaurants, bars, eateries, windows, carry-out take-outs, bar menus, $5 lunch specials…no truck (yet), but it’s the feast du jour and I love it. OK, I will admit, I am not a huge classic hamburger person, but when a menu like the one at the new Urban Burger Bar has tuna sashimi burgers, turkey burgers with dried cranberry chutney with peppered bacon and chicken burgers with pesto aïoli, I am overjoyed with options. Since this new spot opened last week, I will admit I have been there three times, but it’s also dangerously close to my office…so it won’t be long before I scarf the whole menu…or maybe just this. The tuna sashimi burger…

Tuna sashimi burger

You never know what you are going to get when it comes to tuna burgers, but when I see accompaniments like spicy cucumber slaw, eel sauce (hello??), pickled ginger aïoli, I know it can’t go wrong. And it doesn’t. The tuna patty is moist, delicious, sweet and sour, the bun buttered and slathered with mayo. But of course, most people popping into UBB will be doing so for some real meat, the Tallgrass beef burger, the High Hog stacker with barbecue pork, bacon, ham and white Cheddar, and the Fa-Getta-Bod-It, prosciutto, fried egg, fresh mozzarella, tomato and mayo…fried egg…um, yeah, yum.

The For-getta-bod-it...in daylight

The rest of the menu at UBB is equally as delish, especially the specialty fries; truffle, sweet potato, Cheddar, green bean, panko-crusted zucchini and holy hell…tempura battered portobellos…

Tempura mushrooms..damn this came out dark, but trust me they are still good

And last but not least, UBB shakes things up in the form of cheesecake, malted milk ball, banana Nutella and other hand-spun shakes served in a tall glass…

Malted milk ball shake

As if a malted milk ball shake wasn’t enough, throw in an awesome beer selection, large bar, 8 house-made sauces for various dipping purposes, outdoor seating and very close proximity to the new Apple store and you can see why multiple visits to this neighborhood newcomer would be the norm. 1578 N. Clybourn, 312.255.0055.

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July 28, 2010 · 12:05 am

Cho Sun OK

Cho Sun OK sign


This sign above Korean barbecue favorite Cho Sun OK may just be the fanciest thing about this place, but when you’re there to fire up your table charcoal grill and cook up Korean BBQ accompanied by a killer array of small plates, salads and bites, the surroundings don’t matter much. The place is pretty bare-bones (with some nondescript tables and what look like Himalayan salt block sculptures scattered throughout), but perpetually packed with a line out the door, so on my visit the only available seat without a long wait was a quick at the bar (no grill), and our tender, tangy short ribs and charcoal-broiled tender beef were brought to us cooked. But before that all arrived, it was the Korean seafood rice flour pancake that I still think about and crave, pretty much on a daily basis. Loaded with scallion, slim slices of bright green onion, calamari and other juicy seafood baked into a not-too-greasy pancake with a tangy soy-based dipping sauce. Surprisingly enough, it was too big to finish, but the leftovers were also killer the next day.

Korean seafood pancake


As I mentioned, we did an abbreviated version of Cho (sans table grillage), but our meat arrived perfectly cooked, seasoned and sliced with an endless array of small plates filled with cucumber salad, fish cakes, bean sprouts, potato salad, kimchee and other bright vegetables and sides to mix and match.

Korean beef and sides


If we had sat at a regular table, that spread would’ve looked something like this…

We were all up in their grill...

We left Cho Sun mostly full of meat, pancakes and veggies, and that telltale Korean BBQ smell, but I’d like to go back to try the more traditional Korean dishes like japchae, bi bim bap and some of the codfish and mackerel dishes, and definitely take a crack at cooking up some of our own ‘cue. Cho Sun OK, 4200 N. Lincoln Ave., 773.549.5555

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