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As far as cooking goes, Andrew has an inspiring creative mindset. He has discussed with me his process of creating new dishes, which I loved. To someone reading a description of a dish he might have created, you could look at it and wonder how on Earth he could come up with those flavor combinations. But if you understand the process of how he develops a dish and pairs flavors, you will see that nothing is forced for the sake of just being original. The flavors all work together in some way or another before anything even touches a plate.
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Who are Chicago’s BEST RESTAURANTS IN CHICAGO?
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CHICAGO’S BEST STEAKS & STEAKHOUSES
The Green City Market Junior Board is prepared to kickstart this season’s Meet the Market series at bellyQ, featuring passed appetizers, cocktails, and the most delicious ingredient of all, Junior Board members. The Junior Board serves to engage young professionals through programs within the…
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Who are Chicago’s BEST RESTAURANTS IN CHICAGO?
For more about Chicago Steaks see:
CHICAGO’S BEST STEAKS & STEAKHOUSES
I have a hard time going to Reno very often, and I’ll tell you why. It’s not because it’s unwelcoming or stark, nor is it because the coffee and food are lacking. Quite the opposite, actually. I’ll go to Reno with the intent of just getting coffee, or something healthy like a yogurt parfait, and I’ll wind up stupified by the array of pastries and desserts unfairly laid out before me like a temptress buffet that I want to crawl through. Anytime I approach the counter, my convictions are tossed out the window and I pace in front of the dessert display like a lion stalking a gazelle. Pastry chef Katie Wyer is always whipping up exciting new creations, like scone bread pudding, tiramisu pie, and iced sweet potato cookies. My latest willpower failure came in the form of her brownie, easily one of the best brownies I’ve ever had.
Growing up, I used to eat Little Debbie brownies with reckless abandon. Ya know, the ones speckled with walnuts or whatever they were pretending to be. At one point, my mom stopped buying the nut brownies and switched to “cosmic” brownies, which were exactly the same thing but with neon-colored candy dots in lieu of nuts. The brownies were fudgy and rich, precisely how I like my brownies. Save your dry, crumbly brownies for the bottom of a well, because I have no need for them. Reno’s brownie is like Little Debbie with a rampant steroid addiction. Not only are they fudgy, but they taste almost like pure brownie batter, baked ever so gently so as to keep it moist like frosting. It’s soft and gooey, not super dense, with a layer of chocolate frosting coating the exterior. As a nice little surprise, the brownie is studded with butterscotch chips, adding a nice caramel flavor. A few cocoa nibs are sprinkled on top, providing a bit of crunch. I mean, they’re not neon candies, but they’ll do.
 Sweet of the Week: Brownie at Reno (Photo: Matt Kirouac)
We hear a lot about gluten-free dining these days, due to the uptick in diagnosed Americans with celiac disease and the response from restaurants offering gluten-free dishes and menus. Did you know 1 in 141 Americans have celiac disease, yet 83% are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed? Oof. Tough pill to swallow. But swallow we must, and the dining industry recognizes the changing tides by adapting and paying more mind to gluten-free cookery. May is National Celiac Awareness Month, an apt time to take a look at some of the restaurants around town serving standout gluten-free items or menus (and in one case, an entire restaurant).
(Arugula salad with three-hour roasted grapes, apples, spicy walnuts, Parmesan, and walnut vinaigrette. Photo: La Madia)
When you think of gluten-free dining, the first thing that pops into your head probably is not a pizzeria. Well, La Madia is here to show the versatility of gluten-free pizzeria fare, thanks to adept chef Jonathan Fox. By omitting the glutenous proteins in grains, he is able to curate an entire gluten-free menu, proving that La Madia is much more than pizza. For starters, there’s crostini-less steamed PEI mussels with melted leeks, fresh fennel, garlic, and white wine brodo, or some oven-roasted globe artichokes with mignonette and mustard sauces. Numerous salads are on deck, such as a chopped Italian lettuce salad with Gorgonzola, spicy walnuts, shaved pear, and balsamic vinaigrette; organic arugula with three-hour roasted grapes (because anything less than three hours is just drivel), local apples, spicy walnuts, shaved Parmesan, and walnut vinaigrette; and heirloom beet salad with watercress, almonds, goat cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette. Risotto Carnaroli with fire-roasted kabocha squash and ricotta, Chianti-braised short ribs, and seared diver scallops with sweet potato puree and black truffles are among the “specialty” entrees. And let’s not forget dessert. I’m loving the idea of La Madia’s chocolate polenta cake. Plus, they’ve got blood orange ice and a “gelato of the moment.” They even offer a gluten-free beer from Two Brothers, and a ton of wines. So cheers to that.
(Harvest Tables at ZED451. Photo: Edible Ink PR)
The seasonal Harvest Tables at ZED451 are kind of a big deal. I consider myself a salad bar pro, having studied at the school of Ruby Tuesday, but ZED really blows the concept out of the water with a jaw-dropping array of composed salads and sides. For the month of May, the restaurant’s Harvest Tables are entirely gluten-free, featuring over a dozen options for guests to augment their heinous meat intake. New items include shaved asparagus salad, strawberry and arugula salad, sugar snap peas, red wine-poached pears, Moroccan chicken salad, salmon ceviche, and roasted pineapples. Selections are unlimited, so you can return to the tables and stock up as much as you’d like, sort of like an all-inclusive cruise ship that happens to wield steak like Zorro.
Chicago’s breakfast queen, Ina Pinkney, takes gluten-free cooking very seriously at her namesake restaurantIna’s. She affirms it is not enough to simply offer gluten-free items, but a kitchen must designate special equipment and areas for preparing gluten-free foods, so as to prevent any possibility of glutenous crossover. Throughout her menus, she denotes gluten-free items, and attracts a lot of customers with gluten intolerance as a result. Ina’s is a place where they can come to relax, reassured that they can enjoy a safe, delicious meal. Try her famous scrapple, a tasty medley of meat, cornmeal, corn, black beans, and cheddar. All her omelettes and egg dishes are naturally gluten-free. She serves a mean vegetable hash that is supremely hearty and comforting, and there’s an impressive roster of sausages you won’t want to miss, like her veal-chive sausage and chorizo.
(Edamame is always a solid choice at Sunda. Photo: Sunda)
For gluten-free dining with a side of intimidatingly high fashion, head to Sunda. The Rockit Ranch spot known for sushi and celebrity-spotting pays a lot of care to gluten-free dining, offering entirely gluten-free lunch and dinner menus. As with everything served at Sunda, dishes are glamorous and pricey, especially when compared to more authentic, no-frills Asian restaurants. Sunda has all the frills and the prices to match. However, interesting options like duck congee, miso-bronzed black cod, and a rainbow-esque “Bang! Bang!” salad with green papaya, carrots, zucchini, chayote and jicama help the medicine (prices) go down. Plus, gluten-free food just tastes better in high heels and tight dresses.
 (Stellar scallops at Senza. Photo: Senza)
I can’t talk about gluten-free dining without giving a hefty nod to Senza, a recent Lakeview addition that is entirely gluten-free. Prior to dining at Senza, I would have said asking me to eat at a gluten-free restaurant would be like asking an astronaut to remove his helmet mid-orbit. I love my gluten, and I have a crippling affinity for doughnuts, cookies, pasta, and anything else that would make Dr. Atkins roll over in his grave. But Senza was an enlightening experience for me. Rather than stuff their menu with gluten-free renditions of typically glutenous dishes, the restaurant simply prepares elegant dishes that happen to not have gluten. Had I not known this was a gluten-free establishment beforehand, I probably wouldn’t realize. It’s essentially fine dining, with a couple tasting menu options for dinner, and even one for brunch. Dishes are gorgeous, seasonal, and meticulous, like scallops with ramps and blueberries; lobster- and caviar-bedecked parsnip soup; pork belly with strawberries and carrots; and milk chocolate with blackberries and bacon. Dining here does not feel like eating diet food, which is the stigma unfortunately asigned to gluten-free eating. It just feels like a finely tuned restaurant serving up exemplary contemporary American cuisine.
Who are Chicago’s BEST RESTAURANTS IN CHICAGO?
For more about Chicago Steaks see: CHICAGO’S BEST STEAKS & STEAKHOUSES
Family-style Mother’s Day feast at Embeya.
Sure, you can follow the brunch bunch on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 12, but why not let mom sleep in and enjoy something different? Here are a few uncommon ways to celebrate with Mom this weekend.
- Start Mother’s Day weekend off by taking mom to a special Truffle Making Party at Katherine Anne Confections in Logan Square at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 11. Chocolatier Katherine Duncan will show you and mom how to design, melt, chill, scoop and roll luscious chocolate truffles. Munch on scones and finger sandwiches and sip mimosas alongside samples of the chocolates. Each attendee will leave with a sampling of the four truffles created that day. The event costs $60 per person. Reservations are required.
- Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace is known for its lavish brunch buffet, but at 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 11, they’ll host a Mother and Daughter Tea in their new French Room. The buffet menu includes sandwich selections such as cucumber with herb cream cheese, radish and arugula on white bread; smoked turkey and pear chutney on brioche; and classic egg salad on rye; freshly baked scones with Nutella, lemon curd and other toppings; and for dessert, cream puffs, éclairs, mini fruit tarts, mini cannoli, and chocolate covered strawberries. An array of fine teas, from darjeeling to lemon ginger, also features. You can follow it up with a performance of “Oliver!” Mother/Daughter Tea is $22/per person. For tea and theater tickets, the package is $71/per person.
- Embeya, in the West Loop, serves up a family-style, three-course, prix-fixe, Mother’s Day lunch by Chef Thai Dang, featuring dishes such as beef carpaccio with maitake mushrooms, marinated peppers and chili oil; seafood stew flavored with coconut, lime, and scallions; garlic chicken; and ribs with tamarind, toasted garlic and hoisin, $38. Lunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Black Ensemble Theater in Uptown offers a special concert, “To Mother – With Love (A Concert Just For Her),” at 3 p.m. Sunday. Featured performers include Rashawn Thompson, Melanie McCullough, Dawn Bless, Meghan Murphy and Lyle Miller. Tickets are $50.
- Chef Takashi Yagihashi honors his 85-year-old mother who inspired his cooking career in his hometown, Mito, Japan, where she still cooks daily, with a special 10-course Mother’s Day tasting menu at Takashi in Bucktown. This special menu focuses on Mama Takashi’s very favorite ingredients, and features some cooking techniques and dishes she taught the chef. The lineup includes spring pea tofu and North Carolina sashimi fluke with yamaimo and salted plum; otsukuri (sashimi) of Hawaiian big eye tuna, Scottish salmon, and Alaskan Spot prawns; sukiyaki of kurobuta pork loin; age-mono “Bad Hair Day” of prawn, kani croquette and age-chicken shumai; shio-koji marinated Scottish sea trout “roch etive”; shabu-shabu of Maine monkfish with truffle ponzu sauce; aka-miso-nikomi udon with Amish chicken; miso cheesecake with blood orange ice; and anmitsu, sweet red beans and soba ice cream. Moms will also receive a variety of Takashi’s signature macarons to take home. The meal is $100; A credit card is required to hold reservations, and there is 24-hour cancellation policy.
- Geja’s Café in Lincoln Park will treat your mom to a 5-minute massage by a licensed massage therapist from Lincoln Park Massage Spa if you bring her in for fondue on Mother’s Day.
- Restaurant Michael, Winnetka, offers a three-course Mother’s Day prix fixe featuring such choices as house-cured and smoked salmon rosette over a warm potato gateau with lemongrass-honey crème frâiche; pan-roasted soft shell crab, spring pea and truffle purée, tangerine micro greens salad and crispy gruyere cheese tuiles; gratin of morel mushrooms, spring onions and asparagus tips with preserved tomato sabayon; spring pea soup with truffle and spring pea custard and “Scotch” quail egg; filet of halibut and lobster printemps with roasted new potatoes, fava beans, spring onions and mushrooms; roasted foie gras-stuffed breast of hen, leek and confit cabbage tart and truffle game jus; and roast saddle of Australian lamb stuffed with garlic-mint lamb sausage, duck fat roasted Yukon gold potato, grilled asparagus and mint-kissed lamb jus. The menu is $45: kids under 10 get half portions at half price,
- Take mom for an Asian dinner at Koi in Evanston on Sunday and they’ll give her a free orchid. Dinner service begins at 4:30 p.m.
- mk The Restaurant in River North will give all moms having dinner there a glass of champagne and special gift bag that includes a $25 gift card to the Bucktown boutique p.45, ; a $25 gift card to Michael and Michael Salon; a $25 gift certificate to return to mk; and a take-home treat from Pastry Chef Stephanie Mazzone. Dinner starts at 5:30 p.m.
- Moms lunching or dining at Pasteur in Edgewater will receive a complimentary mimosa and a Vietnamese recipe booklet that highlights the owner’s family recipes that have been passed down for generations.
u bake a mean chocolate cake or a decadent chocolate mousse?
Chocolate artist Alain Roby of All Chocolate Kitchen in Geneva invites home cooks to honor their moms and enter the bakery’s “The Mother of All Foodies” recipe contest.
By 5 p.m. Wednesday, enter your top chocolate dessert creation and you could win a chance to bake with Roby, as well as a manicure and pedicure, signature facial, Manisha eyebrow threading and a makeover with Jane Medale products for you and your mom (or a friend) from Beauté by Sylvie, a European day spa in Geneva.
Send your best chocolate dessert recipe along with a letter on why your mom is the sweetest to info@allchocolatekitchen.com by Wednesday, May 8 at 5 p.m. The winner will be notified via email and must be available on Saturday, May 11, to share the recipe, enjoy a day at the spa, and bake with Roby.
Who are Chicago’s BEST RESTAURANTS IN CHICAGO?
For more about Chicago Steaks see: CHICAGO’S BEST STEAKS & STEAKHOUSES
 Telegraph Serves Brunch for Mother’s Day
If you’re looking to treat mom to something a little classier than breakfast in bed this Mother’s Day, look no further than Telegraph. That’s right, everyone’s favorite Logan Square wine bar, normally only open evenings, is poised to serve a special Mother’s Day brunch on Sunday, May 12 (as if you didn’t already know what date Mother’s Day fell on).
Telegraph excels at seasonal contemporary American fare thanks to chef John Anderes, and for Mother’s Day brunch, the menu will primarily stay true to what they do best at dinner, but wih more eggs. Dishes are served à la carte, with first course selections such as oysters on the half shell ($16 per half dozen, $30 per dozen); smoked trout tartine with roasted green garlic, spring greens, and fried farm egg; Aubergines and housemade mozzarella tartine with tomato sauce, basil, and Parmesan ($8); and baby romaine salad with spring peas, pickled radicchio, walnuts, and sun-dried tomato vinaigrette ($9)
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Who are Chicago’s BEST RESTAURANTS IN CHICAGO?
For more about Chicago Steaks see:
CHICAGO’S BEST STEAKS & STEAKHOUSES
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