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Back in town, Monica Eng has a review of Blue Nile, the Ethiopian hot spot (Ziggy Marley's been there!) in a Rogers Park strip mall. Since every Ethiopian restaurant in America serves essentially the same things, it would be enough to say that Eng largely enjoyed Blue Nile's rendition of the cuisine, save for the kitfo. If you've never had Ethiopian before or are sick of the Clark St options, this would be a good introternative (we couldn't help ourselves).
Last week, there were two articles. The first, by Jenny B. Davis, is about an indie wine store in Bucktown called Cellar Rat Wine Shop. Charming, right? It's run by indie musician Dean Schlabowske, who rails against the corporatization of aesthetics in all fields. All the wine in the store is from small and independent wineries, which Schlabowske believes to produce better and cheaper wine. That is a fine opinion to have!
The situation really started coming to a head in the past few weeks on LTHForum. First, CTB started a thread called "Baccala-Is it on it's last Porcine legs?," bearing familiar bad news: "We arrived a little before 9pm and the place was about 25% filled." Subsequent commenters talked about how both the food and service had been going downhill for months (remember, this was a top-reviewed restaurant when it opened at the end of March).It's true, many may have seen it on their radar, but this weekend is the last for the offshoot of timo, and all its pork filled goodness. And no I will not be working there this weekend, so this is not a shill, but rather a suggestion to go get a pork belly with smoked gouda risotto tonight or tomorrow before they are gone. I truly enjoyed the food there, it made serving it to everyone very honest and easy. Although things were inconsistant in the foh at the end, I think that losing Scylla and Baccala is a terrific blow to a neighborhood whose food options are mediocre at best. I feel bad being the bearer of bad news, but it is better than letting it go without it's goodbye's.and everyone on LTH was sad about it. Maybe the neighborhood wasn't ready for that much porky goodness? they mused.
For a city lacking in cheep and decent Chinese food Eat First stands out for great hangover takeout. Calling for pickup is the way to go, as the food is generally ready for you by the time you walk over there. 'Cause secretly we're all sick of Thai.That may be, but people are still putting on a good show about it. Around 10% of the reviews we get each week are for Thai restaurants, and they're usually pretty favorable. This week, for example:
• In the theater district, Custom House turned out a decent prix fixe, although the seafood this reviewer got was not the restaurant's strong point [Chicago Foodies]
So far as we can tell, this has happened three times over the summer, most recently in a review on Drive-Thru. People seem to constantly be discovering its existence, what with its out-of-the-way location, semi-obscure cuisine, and fringy religious ties, but everyone who makes the trip down to 75th Street (and writes about it) seems to enjoy what SVE has to offer.[Soul Vegetarian East's] vegan cuisine is inspired by owner Prince Asiel Ben-Israel's religious beliefs. He and his wife Yohanna are African Hebrew Israelites, one of the purported "lost tribes" of Israel (for a gross oversimplification, think of it as a Jewish version of Rastafarianism), and among the Biblical passages they take seriously, one from Genesis stands out in informing their dietary choices: "God also said: 'See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food." There's plenty of stuff in the Bible about eating animals, too, but whatever - Soul Veg's offerings are a hell of a lot healthier than standard soul food fare, but similarly spiced and entirely enjoyable. Good for the Earth, good for the body, good for the soul, and all that jazz.Finally, we should point out, per Drive-Thru, that SVE's wraps are available for take out at the Barnes and Noble at State and Jackson in the Loop, but we think you shouldn't deny yourself the trip to Greater Grand Crossing for the full experience.
The NYTimes excels at finding a story where none exists. Case in point: this article on the wild ginseng hunters of South Korea. Apparently, the root can command upwards of $130,000 a pound, which is like, more than gold times cocaine. What this reminds us of is the black truffles of southern Europe, although the Koreans aren't able to use special pigs to sniff out the plant. Also, the ginseng isn't intended to be shaved over pasta, oh no - either one makes tea, or more likely, gives it as a gift to connote power and influence. Neither one is worth it!
David Tamarkin's review of the former gropes to find something nice to say about this highly inconsistent Andersonville Italian, while Heather Shouse's write-up of the latter is an upbeat little ditty, almost to the tune of "Save this restaurant." Clearly, these two threes were not created equal. Because how could any scale capture the nuances of expectation and remain consistent between restaurants with vastly different missions? Tamarkin had high standards for Il Fiasco, we'd imagine, because the space, neighborhood, and chef would all suggest a much better experience. Shouse was (probably) happy to champion a nice little cafe in a neighborhood that is sorely lacking in the category. Given all these motivations, what is a three supposed to mean? We don't know, but we're equally complicit in quantifying dining experiences, so we'll let it go (for now).
• Monica Eng has a roundup of inexpensive restaurants that feature locally sourced ingredients, all this in preparation for next month's "Localvore Challenge."
It's called "Salsa Under the Stars," which is both frightening and not bloody likely - it's forecast to be cloudy with occasional thunderstorms this evening. But anyway, the party is free to the public from 6:30pm-10pm, and involves food from the restaurant, Corona beer, and music courtesy of the Mambo Allstars (to facilitate the salsa-ing). Pepe's is also giving away a vacation to Mexico, and if that's not enough, WLS-AM's Jerry Agar will be broadcasting live from hoedown. AM radio!
"We suffer on days and nights with Cubs games. The groups of Cubs fans actually interfere with our business. We expected a different response," Mootoo says. "We have observed that one person controls each group of fans. If that person, be it he or she, stops to sample a waffle, they all do. But most of those in control walk right on buy, oblivious to the aroma, headed to a predesignated destination -- probably to drink.Social Darwinism aside, maybe this means Baladoche should start serving booze?
Basically, while the ban is technically in force, restaurants have found loopholes like "giving away" FG as an accompaniment to some other, mysteriously overpriced dish, or simply on discreet request. This second option sounds like an invitation for a sting, but the accompaniment scheme apparently works. Vettel reports that the Health Department "concluded that [a restaurant doing this] was within the letter of the law."