1. ALINEA AT ONE

Everyone’s been talking about Next doing Charlie Trotter, but the next Next menu will be Alinea Year One—a natural followup to the Trio menu (the restaurant that brought Grant Achatz to Chicago) they did a decade ago. Ari Bendersky talked to Achatz about the Alinea Group at 20—Nick Kokonas leaving and Jason Weingarten taking his place, Roister becoming Fire, and more:

Next is transforming into Alinea Year 1. Next opened in 2011. So what took so long to come back to the beginning for you?

On the 10th anniversary, we did a retrospective. This one’s a little bit different to me and there’s a lot of the fact that we’re turning 20 is a bit wild. There’s a lot of magnitude there for me. A lot of the alumni are reaching out to me John Shields, Greg Baxtrom, Alex Stupak, Jordan Kahn, Dave Beran. And it’s just really rewarding. It’s really kind of monumental and I am not a very sentimental emotional person in that way, not outwardly. And it just really makes me feel proud and very lucky.

2. MARISCOS SANS PARISIANS

Louisa Chu writes about several of the dishes at Mariscos San Pedro in Thalia Hall, pointing out their French roots (Oliver Poilevey of Le Bouchon is one of the owners):

The brandade tacos dorados borrows from the French. Deliciously deep-fried golden to a perfect crunch, they are the must-order dish for Ascencio and me. That’s even before they’re covered in a cloud of crema, bejeweled with heirloom tomato pico de gallo.

And the fluffy filling, with salt cod and potato, is from Le Bouchon.

“It comes with Oliver doing brandade forever,” Ascencio said. “You get the nice potatoey soft texture inside.”

3. ISTMO’ BETTER

Michael Nagrant went to a Oaxacan restaurant in Wrigleyville called Istmo, from a Bayless protege named Carlos López Muñoz, and he liked it:

The pork shoulder, a Flinstonian-hunk of meat doused in liquor and flamed tableside featured a bed of creamy potato mash and a rusty nutty guajillo sauce. Everyone at our table went as the influencers like to say “feral” and gnawed the silky flesh straight down to the bone.

I did the same with a rich bone-in carbon-flecked chicken having a three way with a grassy bright arroz verde (green rice) and an opulent lake of mole negro speckled with toasty sesame seed. Many mole negros I’ve had have been almost inky like the night sky and full of bitterness, but this one was bright with a touch of contrasting acerbity.

Months ago, I saw Rick Bayless posting on Instagram about Istmo coming soon, and went there for breakfast very early—maybe the first weekend. And honestly, it was not good—neither the service nor the food. One of the secrets of food writing is the number of times you simply blow off about writing about somewhere, on the theory that in not too long, it will either be better, or gone—and either way your opinion from today will be useless by then. Nagrant thinks Istmo got good, so I guess I need to go back and see.

4. UND SO WEITER

The Infatuation tags Etc., a new restaurant in the Loop from Lamar Moore, as “Southern American.” Took me a second of thinking Moore is cooking Brazilian or Argentinean now before I realized they just mean “Southern”:

Etc.’s tasty Southern food, stylish space with fluorescent pillars, and upbeat R&B soundtrack could trick you into thinking The Loop was cool. Couples split savory rice with smoked turkey and fried okra. Friends pass around juicy lamb chops with whipped potatoes.

Sounds good! Though some of the individual dishes they call out don’t sound exactly Southern, like the lamb t-bone:

Our favorite entree here—it’s thoroughly seasoned with Moroccan spices, and lays on a bed of whipped potatoes. It also comes with some pleasantly bitter asparagus that cuts through the saltiness.

I guess it’s Southern, Etc.

5. WING IT

By the time you read this the need for chicken wings to accompany the Bowl of Superness will have passed, but you won’t go wrong reading Steve Dolinsky on three Asian wings joints, beginning with Cà Phê Dá and Dang Good Wings in Pilsen:

“I wanted to treat it like Buffalo wings where I dredge it, and then fry it and have a sauce separately and tossing in it,” said Thai Dang, the chef and owner.

Marinated in fish sauce, sugar, chilies and garlic, the wings are dredged in cornstarch and rice flour before being fried for the first time.

“Which gives it this really crispy texture on the outside,” Dange said.

They’re fried a second time to-order, then tossed in a vibrant, lip-smacking sauce of fish sauce, sugar, fresh Thai chilies, garlic and scallions. A riff on the Buffalo version contains sriracha and Thai chile, balanced by sugar and garlic.

6. ABBREVIATING HOSPITALITY

I mentioned not that long ago that I wasn’t sure if Grimod at Understanding Hospitality would be able to find enough future places for his typical exhaustive reviews based on a large number of visits, and he must have wondered the same, because he announces a switch in format for a review of a recent visit to Obelix:

…frankly, I have also grown bored with Chicago’s dining scene. I find myself eating at the same five or six dynamic establishments over and over again, and my forays into what’s “new and exciting” often leaving me feeling the same way: asking, “must I really stomach coming here two more times just to declare it a good (not great) restaurant with savvy branding and a crack public relations team?”

Guess that explains him never reviewing, say, Jaleo. But anyway, I wouldn’t call his look at Obelix exactly short, but it’s thoughtful:

In all its forms, the “Tête de Cochon” ($27) is a favorite, but I must give special credit to the current set, which really epitomizes the cultural exchange going on in the kitchen. To begin, meat from the pig’s head is crisped and formed into a neat patty that is coated in black garlic hoisin. Surrounding the flesh, guests find a couple “mochi crepes” (that I would liken to a more rigid, slightly chewy flatbread) and a suite of toppings: chili crunch, onion kimchi, whipped tofu, cucumber segments, and perilla leaves.

Though the pork is juicy and full flavored when eaten on its own, it really shines when layered (via a wrap) with the accompanying creamy, chewy, and crunchy condiments. Each bite taken in this format is endlessly engaging, with so many dimensions of crispness playing off of the pig head’s own shattering crust. The meat’s depth of sweetness and umami, too, is enhanced by notes of nut, tangy allium, anise, and a tinge of heat. As seen in so many of Obélix’s best dishes, an impeccable sense of balance ensures these diverse elements are channeled toward a deeply savory sensation of broad appeal. There are no rough edges here—just a fun, hands-on expression of carnal pleasure. The “Tête de Cochon” continues to be a real highlight of the menu.

7. VOID WHERE INHIBITED

A year ago, 15 dozen eggs cost about $31 but now are $105, Nickson said. Eggs are normally an inexpensive protein. But now “they’ve turned into filet mignon,” he said.

“I may have to raise prices across the whole menu. I use eggs in everything from our corn muffins, pancakes, crab cakes and more,” Nickson said. And food costs across the board have risen steadily, in addition to spiking egg prices. These are “tricky times,” he said.

9. ESSENCE OF BARS

A few weeks ago I linked to Maggie Hennessy writing about the challenges of listicles, talking about one she had just taken on. Here it is, at Wine Enthusiast: The Most Essential Bars in Chicago.

10. TONY AND JOHN

What Tony Mantuano will do next is a good question, even if not quite the one that everyone’s asking (that’s “Is Giuseppe Tentori taking over Charlie Trotter’s or what?”) I don’t know if you’ll get any clues from him and John Hogan (River Roast etc.) talking about Chicago food history at Culinary Historians of Chicago on Wednesday, February 19. It’ll be on Zoom (so alas, nothing to sample as they talk) on Wednesday, February 19; I interviewed both of them at length for my presumably upcoming book (that’s the question I get the most, “When is your book coming out?,” and heck if I know). The world of Chicago restaurants has more questions than answers… Anyway, go here to register for the thing. (H/t Anne Spiselman)

11. PASS THE ŘÍZEK V CHLEBU

No, it’s not a lawsuit between two Czechs—Řízek v Chlebu is a pork schnitzel sandwich from Czechia, as Sandwich Tribunal explains:

Řízek may not be the national dish of the Czech Republic–that distinction likely goes to Svíčková, roast beef tenderloin served with gravy–but řízek is very popular among Czech nationals. So popular in fact that one page I read joked that you can tell the who the Czechs are on a hike because they’ll have a schnitzel or two in their backpack. Stereotypes like that are boring, lazy, and unfunny; yet Czechs online seem to bear this out, posting about taking schnitzels on a hike, or a trip, or on the schoolbus. Řízek is frequently served with something starchy–French fries or potato salad or other potato dishes, or rice, or–especially on the go–between two slices of bread (chlebu in Czech) as a sandwich.

12. LISTEN UP

I just sat next to Felipe Ospina at an event for Greg Hall’s Virtue Cider (about to come back to the Chicago market in a big way—check out Mitten in particular) on Thursday. Who? you ask. Well, he’s a fairly ubiquitous figure at food events, especially if they have anything to do with One Off Hospitality (he helped open Pacific Standard Time, just one of a claimed 25 restaurants he’s helped open). These days he works for Sysco, helping them understand how to market to high end and hipster restaurants. Anyway, he’s a guy who sure knows our food scene, which is why Joiners talks to him this week.

David Manilow does something different this week at The Dining Table—he uses AI to imagine the next hot restaurant in Chicago.

Supper With Sylvia talks with Anthony Iannone of the North American Pizza and Culinary Academy in Lisle. If that sounds vaguely familiar… that’s him on the right of this 2018 piece at Fooditor (the place had a different name then).

Note: because lately direct links for podcasts often haven’t been posted in time for this newsletter, I’ve decided to stop hunting them down. You know how to use a podcast app, and I always post the name so you can search for it.

IN MEMORIAM

Just his name, Fred Rosen, might tell you who he was—and if not, his dad’s name should: Sam Rosen. As in Sam’s Wine & Liquor, which Fred ran for many years; he died last week at 88. Eater has a very good obit:

Rosen leaves a legacy in Lincoln Park, establishing Sam’s as an influential player within Chicago’s beverage community. Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises co-founder Rich Melman recalls dinners with Rosen and his old high school basketball teammate, Neal “Mookie” Miller. Their conversations usually didn’t focus on work, but Melman says Rosen was fascinated by how Melman’s restaurant, R.J. Grunts — the first Lettuce Entertain You restaurant, which opened in 1971 — would draw twentysomethings. Rosen wanted to draw a similar crowd to Sam’s.

“It was an iconic store, and the icon was always there,” Melman says.