Virtue
1462 East 53rd Street
Chicago features good traditional Southern cuisine: fried green tomatoes, catfish, broccoli, biscuits with fried egg and smoked turkey sauce, beef ribs with spinach cream and Gumbo soup with prawns and the famous andouille, the spicy Louisiana sausages. It is impossible not to return at least once and, as you do, you will certainly give in to your cravings and ask for another serving of the thin and tender catfish, served with slightly sweet barbecue carrots and rice. Without forgetting the "hated" broccoli, with which we reconcile as soon as it hits our table, flavored with caramelized pecans, sweet peppers and cubes of white cheddar cheese.
Omakase Yume
651 West Washington Blvd Suite #101
Among the various international cuisines, the Japanese one stands out thanks to Michelin star of Omakase Yume restaurant, where Sangtae Park - a master of molecular cuisine - works his magic. This is not a simple sushi evening but a far more sophisticated experience: the extremely refined Omakase, the chef's choice, popularized by Jiro Ono of the legendary Sukiyabashi Jiro of Tokyo. Diners are advised to consume each piece within 10 seconds because flavors are taken to their extreme and make for a truly fleeting moment of enjoyment. Only 16 people eat each night at Omakase Yume and there is room for two services of approximately 90 minutes, during which you enter fish paradise: aged, cured, blanched, glazed and sliced. The nigiri is the king of the club together with Park himself, who slices, shapes and paints the nigiri with the dexterity of a croupier. There are no bowls of soy sauce or drops of green horseradish; just a bunch of slices of pickled ginger, useful to cleanse the palate after each bite and avoid fainting from the intensity of the tasted flavors.
HaiSous Vietnamese Kitchen
1800 South Carpenter Street
HaiSous Vietnamese Kitchen offers well-sliced prawn summer rolls in their thick, fragrant and pungent hoisin room; tender, buttery grilled ribeye beef with lime juice reduction and charred lemongrass, or mussels in coconut broth. A modern and spacious restaurant where the Thai chef, expert in Asian fusion, and his wife Danielle Dang introduce Vietnamese flavors. Among the dishes you can order and share with loved ones at the table we find papaya salad with Vietnamese dried meat, fried chicken wings topped with an incredible spicy caramelized fish sauce, and any fish proposal which is always served fresh and well-cooked.
Bellemore
564 West Randolph Street
Jimmy Papadopoulos is the chef at Bellemore, a classic Chicago brasserie restaurant. High ceiling, comfortable seating and plenty of space to enjoy lunch or dinner in peace. The Michelin guide noted the seared scallops with kombo vegetable butter, grapefruit and breadcrumbs as well as the pork collar with smoked semolina, turnips, carrots and pickled peppers. However, the special presented by the restaurant's menu is the salty oyster pie: two small slices of oyster cream cake topped with a generous portion of caviar and a fresh oyster to wash down with two glasses of Grand Vintage 2009 Moet & Chandon champagne. On the other hand, customers show their appreciation for the venison tartare with pickled pear, mushrooms and hazelnut brittle and the cashew caramel cake with green spelled ice cream, sweet and sour sorghum, bergamot and puffed cereals. To find out who is right, just visit Jimmy Papadopoulos’ young and enterprising team.
Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab
60 East Grand Avenue
Quite a mouthful for name but illustrative of Chicago's two main features in the gastronomic field: it is the city in the United States where you eat the highest quality meat and the most exquisite stone crab claws. Everyone swings by Joe's for this reason and then they discover king crab legs, a proverbial steak and Lyonnaise potatoes that should be banned by law, so much so they risk creating addiction.
The dining room is formal and elegant and the service, despite its refined dish presentation, is by no means overwhelming; on the contrary, it contributes to making the evening unique and to enjoy a rich and always quality offer at its best. There is the risk of forgetting the main character and the savory celebration in your palate as soon as the succulent pulp of the claws of our stone crabs dips into the typical mustard-based sauce prepared by Joe. While stone crabs are usually best when in season, Joe's offering is simply and exceptionally outstanding all year round.
Author : The Slowear Journal