GREENBACK RIVER

Mike Sula sees plutocrats all over the Danny Meyer-Dead Rabbit collaboration GreenRiver, calling it “an easy hang for a certain species of Gold Coaster—kind of a Monk’s Cafe for Montgomery Burns.” (Congrats to anyone under 50 who recognizes that venerably fusty Loop relic of the Don Draper era.) Anyway, he finds the well-executed food a nice match for the drinks, if not as complimentary as they might hope: “The cocktails I tried were as good as any you’ll find in the city’s better bars, though I’m not sure if these culinarily finessed drinks harmonize in any meaningful way with the food, which also happens to be very good.” (Reader)

LATINOPOLY

Block 37 Latin food court Latinicity seems to be a hit—they had to shut down to restock and regroup after their first weekend, which is exactly what happened with Eataly after its first week, too. Because while there may be plenty of other places in Chicago to get tacos or even ceviche, the Loop still is not one of them. (Eater)

CANTINA 9 OUT OF 10

Amy Cavanagh says fie to Yelpers, “Cantina 1910 is serving some of the most personal, interesting Mexican food in Chicago,” giving it 4 stars and praising the drinks, too: “Michael Fawthrop (Aviary) delivers terrific cocktails, like the Chicago Manhattan, local FEW Bourbon, Rhine Hall apple brandy and CH amaro mixed with vermouth.” (Time Out)

ENOUGH OF YOUR DEEP DISH BEEF, HEATHENS

Something from New York called Little Beet Table is promising us “smart food” (formerly known as vegetables) because, quote, “Chicago is known for eating very big, very similar to the Boston eater—lots of meats, lots of potatoes, comfortable and filling.” Thanks for introducing us to these new foodstuffs of which we have heard little, New York Chef. More pork belly pierogi? (Eater)

ART THE DUCK?

There’s a new duck in town, Wicker Park’s The Cotton Duck, with a James Beard semifinalist chef named Dominic Zumpano and a curious conceptual concept—the food follows the theme of the paintings on display at that time. But Mike Sula says “For now all I can say about his food’s relationship to broken battleships is that it features lots of seafood, much of it with haute ambitions, lots of blank space on the plates, many squiggles and smears of rich, voluptuous, and often salty sauces, strong flavors competing for attention in each dish, but little harmony or balance.” (Reader)

RATED #1 PIZZA NO ONE HAS RATED #1

Redeye gets into the pizza list biz with a list devoted to “underrated” pizzas. Which somehow includes the city’s most celebrated Neapolitan pie—Spacca Napoli—and The Art of Pizza, whose publicity prominently calls out its “#1 Deep Dish” ranking from a publication Redeye might know, the Chicago Tribune. You’re gonna have to eat more ‘zas during the same lunch hour to challenge Dolinsky with that list

PANGS

Okay, we doubt that he’s feeling too many. Hot off the successful premiere of his documentary For Grace, Kevin Pang is leaving the Trib food section (possibly in the current buyout, though Robert Feder didn’t name him among the buyout-takers). Anyway, good luck, no doubt we’ll see more of him in Lucky Peach and other places.

PR WORD OF THE DAY

Soulful. Monteverde is soulful; so is Dos Urban Cantina. Cue Eater National piece denouncing your white privilege for deciding which cultures have souls in 3, 2…