1. FELD SPARRING

Feld is a small new restaurant with a very large tasting menu—around 30 courses—stressing what they call “relationship to table.” Chef-owner Jake Potashnick worked at various restaurants (including ING in Chicago) and, apparently most influentially, Ernst in Berlin. I point this out in case you have not been following him on TikTok for the last two years; a lot of people apparently have, and he’s pretty well booked up for a $200 tasting menu from an unknown chef.

Michael Nagrant, of course, had to go check it out and see if Potashnick was the new Achatz, the new Trotter:

We arrived for our reservation with a group of others slightly early. The door of the restaurant was locked. Was the first turn captive? Would we be? Serious The Menu vibes were flying.

Eventually Chef Potashnick himself opened the door and welcomed us in with the other cooks. There are no servers at Feld. The generous warmth made me slightly ashamed I didn’t bring a host gift.

But the farm to tableness, recounted by Potashnick each time he delivers a dish, has issues:

A peach slice larded with bacon jam showed up. The peach was hard, lukewarm, and the jam on top shimmered but featured crisp pebbles of pork, more reminiscent of Bacos than Smuckers. I spoke with Potashnick about this dish the week after I dined and he said he did know the peaches were not peak. He said that they received the produce, and that while it wasn’t perfect, a commitment to the purveyor meant they’d try to make it work instead of sending it back.

Reggie Watkins would have refused those peaches at Trotter’s; he was the front line of defense for Trotter’s vision. Nagrant does find one cheese dish that seems to fulfill Chef’s ambitions, which he first saw online:

…a photo of a blue and white polka dot saucer outfitted with three strips of cheese. People who have eaten the dish and those who haven’t held it up as an “emperor-has-no-clothes” bit.

It is actually the very best dish Feld serves. The cheeses from Uplands were made last year on successive days of July 11, 12, and 13. The concept of the plate represents a year and a half of planning, a pilgrimage to Wisconsin and a plea with the cheesemaker, offerings of coffee and donuts to convince him that Potashnick wasn’t crazy.

To be honest, the pictures of food arranged randomly on plates at Feld draw a lot of sarcastic doubt, so it is good to hear that there’s a point to the ultraminimalism. Nagrant kind of buries his judgement pretty deep in the piece, but people have started plucking it out and highlighting it:

Food-wise this is the worst meal I’ve experienced in nineteen years as a food writer.

I haven’t paid that much attention to Feld, partly because I don’t do TikTok, aka the Chinese spy app, and partly because this kind of thing… well, I’ll give it time to shake out. Temporis, which also had some precious moments like the herbs you snipped from the center of your table, had a disastrous media preview early on but got to be very good after a while. Potashnick’s young and he can get better. Instead, though, it looks like he’s going to respond to thoughtful criticism by whining on social media.  (I can’t find it, but you can see it here at Reddit’s r/chicagofood; you can also see the herd mentality there turning on him, which at least gives Warlord a break.)

Nagrant also reviewed Smyth, by the way.

2. MINYOLI LIVE TWICE

Korean noodle spot Minyoli in Andersonville kind of had a week where it was hot, and just as quickly fell off the map. It deserves better, and here’s Steve Dolinsky:

Red braised beef noodle soup is Minyoli’s signature dish. “Housemade bone stock that is seasoned with broad beans sauce,” he said.

Thicker noodles are used in this case, topped with extremely tender – and thicker – slices of beef shank, finished with pickled greens and scallions.

3. EMPANADA CHA-CHA

Titus Ruscitti does a roundup of the local empanada scene:

Honestly the empanadas in Buenos Aires kind of ruined all others for me. Every single one of them could’ve been the best I ever had. That’s how good they were. I’m not saying that Argentinean empanadas are superior I’m just saying there’s so many awesome empanadas in BA. That said I had high hopes for the Argentinean empanadas at Thimi Empanadas at 1247 S. Western Avenue on the edge of Pilsen. It’s ran by a family from Uruguay that lived in Argentina previously. The South American countries are located right next to each other and they have similar cuisines so this isn’t out of the ordinary. They make a variety of baked empanadas but with this being my first trip I had to try the beef which comes ground with onions, bell pepper, hard boiled eggs, garlic, scallion, and spices. One bite of this and I was ready to name these some of the best empanadas in town right now.

4. BUT I MADAI

The Infatuation goes to Casa Madai, that lightly Mexified sushi place in Pilsen:

Casa Madai sometimes struggles, however, with consistency. It usually comes down to factors like how salty the otherwise refreshing Oaxacan-influenced ceviche is, or if the sushi rice is a little too mushy and falls apart before it makes it to your mouth. But after multiple visits, it’s clear these missteps aren’t the norm. And despite what its clubby soundtrack and occasional diner sporting a jersey may signal, Casa Madai takes its food as seriously as the NHL takes playoff beards. But to enjoy a meal here, you won’t have to.

I had to check if I had already linked to their review of Cariño, but no, so here it is:

A michelada-inspired oyster cameos on both the $190 tasting menu and the $125 taco “omakase” at Cariño. It’s also the dish that captures Cariño’s best traits: playful, sophisticated, and delicious. At this intimate Latin restaurant in Uptown, a Bad Bunny playlist serenades couples while chefs in faded Nike caps crack jokes from behind the counter. With its casual-swagger approach to fine dining, Cariño is a refreshing change-up from stuffier spots that also love tweezers and edible flowers.

5. CROISSANWICH

The Chicago Tribune and Pastry Review does a guide to local croissants.

Meanwhile, in a piece that maybe reveals more about life at the Trib than was intended, two former editors went on a trip to Naples and got a piece on Neapolitan pizza (and a write-off) out of it.

6. CEDARS OF KEBABON

The headline of Mike Sula’s piece on the second generation in charge of long-running Cedars in Hyde Park annoyed me: “They’re Laughing In the Face of Famine at Cedars Mediterranean Kitchen.” As has been widely documented by now, apparently there is no famine in Gaza, for all the press Hamas gets claiming such things. Set that aside, though, and it’s an interesting piece about being a Palestinian in America, one side in things like standup comedy and investment banking, one in wanting to help his people back home:

“I’m Palestinian, but my roots are not there,” Amer [Abdullah] says. “And they’re not here. I got one foot in each world, and that planted a seed that right now is such a big part of me. So when I took over the restaurant I was like: ‘What’s Cedars?’ When I went back to my mom and some friends that knew my dad, they were like, ‘Yeah, he named it out of fear.’ I was like, ‘Oh fuck that. Let’s be real. Let’s be authentic, and hopefully it doesn’t sink the business. I wasn’t sure, at that moment, what I was gonna do, but I did know I needed to work with some professionals to start to rebrand and rethink the restaurant.”

7. ON A ROLL

Dennis Lee goes to Maine—by which I mean, north Elston—to have a lobster roll at The Fish Guy:

Quantity aside, this is definitely a different type of lobster salad than I’m used to seeing. This one’s the mayo-dressed type (aside from the warm buttered variety), but what makes it a little more unique is that there’s a tiny bit of red tobiko mixed in, which is the same flying fish roe you see adorning your maki rolls at sushi restaurants. This doesn’t affect the taste much, if at all, but it definitely adds a new visual element to the sandwich.

8. GEORGIA ON MY MIND

Boy, after my recent visit to Stumara, everybody’s discovering the little hive of Georgian food up around Wheeling in the northern suburbs. Eater did a piece on Stumara, and now here’s Cynthia Clampitt checking out Stumara and some of  the others in that area:

When Diplomat Café opened in Lakeview a few years ago, a review in the Chicago Reader celebrated “the city’s—and perhaps the state’s—only restaurant devoted to the feasting foods of the Republic of Georgia.” Well, it appears that it may still be the only one in the city, but if you find yourself in the northwest suburbs, there are several additional options—three restaurants, a bakery, and a deli. Kitchen House Café in Wheeling (341 East Dundee Road) is the smallest of the three restaurants and has a nice rustic look. Stumara, also in Wheeling (847 West Dundee Road), is narrow and handsome, and is next door to Pirosmani Georgian deli and bakery, with which it shares a kitchen. Aragvi in Palatine (1280 East Dundee Road) is sprawling and upscale, with a large bar area separate from the dining area and an attached bakery/deli (live Georgian music on Friday and Saturday nights!). And, of course, if you’re in the city, there is Diplomat Café (3134 North Lincoln).

9. TEN OUT OF TEN

Ari Bendersky has a fun piece for foodies to debate at Resy: 10 Moments That Defined the Last Decade of Dining in Chicago.

10. IF I CAN MAKE IT THERE

The New York Times did one of those a short-time-in-Chicago pieces, and guess who got quoted in it?

11. LISTEN UP

David Manilow talks with Rosanna D’Amato, third generation owner of D’Amato’s, which has expanded under her reign.

Oliver’s is a hot new place in the South Loop, and Joiners talks to Luke DeYoung, who used to work with host Danny Shapiro at Scofflaw.

WHAT MIKE ATE

John Manion’s Brasero has a big iron hearth blazing away in the open kitchen, so I assumed it was going to be kind of a meat emporium, like El Che. But Manion says he considers it more of a South American seafood restaurant, and although nothing against the platter of sliced picanha with chimmichurri that we got, I came away mainly remembering seafood—and vegetable dishes. (I was invited as a media guest, fyi.)

There was a beautiful tomato salad—admittedly, not hard in July—with straciatella and Marcona almond pesto, and I really liked a later salad or side dish or something of pea shoots and sugar snap peas tossed with a light vinaigrette. Sounds simple—it is simple—but it really popped with summer flavors. Manion told us that a few weeks ago it was an asparagus salad; he made reference to a certain restaurant touting its relationships with farmers, and just said, that’s what we all do now, it’s just taken for granted that you get the list from Nichols or whoever of what they have this week, and then you adjust your menu to fit.

In terms of seafood, the menu hits a lot of notes—there are robust char-broiled oysters hot off the grill (they bring tongs for the hot shells), but also a terrific crudo of hamachi with coconut-lime ponzu, that obviously didn’t go anywhere near the grill. A moqueca (grilled shrimp, mussels and mahi-mahi in a soupy bed of coconut rice) rounded it by reminding me of grilled langoustines at La Sirena Clandestina. We didn’t need dessert, but they brought it out anyway, and I quite liked a passionfruit panna cotta or custard. Somm Alex Cuper brought us some very nice glasses of South American wines like Pais, each of which had a story to tell (we got to try two from the same producer, but different techniques).

I was talking with another food writer not long ago about who our go-tos for good quotes are, and we both agreed that Manion is always reliable for a quote that’s savvy about the world but not cynical. He’s like the beat cop of the food scene. (You’ll find plenty from him here.) When it comes to food, Manion is also reliable as hell, but if that sounds like faint praise, it’s not meant to be. As we were leaving my friend and I were both talking about coming back with our wives—to spend our own money. Is it the best new restaurant I’ve been to this year? An arguable point, but it is the most purely pleasurable.

I opened a book a few weeks back and found a few stickers from Santa Masa Tamaleria, a tamale take-out spot that existed fairly briefly in COVID times, and which was best known for an Italian beef tamale. I wondered what had ever become of owners Danny and Jhoana Espinoza (though I knew Danny was making green verde chorizo for other chefs). I swear it was just a day or two later that I read announcements that they were coming back from obscurity, opening way west on Addison—west of Harlem, in the O’s.

It’s a cute-looking place with a setup like a diner, a row of seats along a counter. I had the Italian beef tamale again, and felt the same way I did in 2020 or whenever—a gimmick that’s good for attention, but doesn’t especially work as a tamale or an Italian beef. A conventional tamale was considerably better, thanks to the very good ancho sauce poureed over it. The best thing I had was one that I think people might miss, just because it’s at the end of the menu—it’s called the Santo Taco, and it has adobado, the green chorizo, barbacoa and cheese crisped up on a tortilla. It offers some of the same pleasures as a quesabirria, namely cheesiness—but less mess.

And Tuesday is National Cheesecake Day! Not a holiday I normally observe, but… it meant that friend of Fooditor Jim Graziano sent me a cannoli-flavored cheesecake, a collaboration between his brand Taste Real Chicago and Eli’s. It was mighty fine; I loved the little hint of orange on the crumbly crust. You can buy one on Tuesday at J.P. Graziano in the West Loop, Eli’s Cheesecake World on the northwest side or online here.