05/07/08

Cute Restaurant Alert

Go Now

Mixteco Grill (1601 W. Montrose Ave.; 773-868-1601), a 35-seat BYO restaurant named for a region of Oaxaca and the indigenous people who inhabit it, opened last week—and we’re smitten. “The food there is the only food that is 100 percent authentic Mexican,” says Raul Arreola, the chef/owner. “No influence of other food. No Mayan. No Spanish. No French.” Arreola, a Mexico City native, put in 11 years at Frontera Grill, and ascended to sous-chef at

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05/06/08

Dish Flash—Achatz Update

Then and Now
A full Dish column is coming tomorrow, but first we wanted to direct you to two terrific stories from our upcoming June issue. One is Burned, a dramatic narrative by Jennifer Tanaka on Grant Achatz’s brave and frightening days since his diagnosis with oral cancer. The other is Dennis Ray Wheaton’s From There to Alinea, a thoughtful examination and comparison of Achatz’s current stunner with the place where he came of age years ago: Napa Valley’s legendary French Laundry.

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04/30/08

Zweiban Goes Indie

Get Provincial

Randy Zweiban, the longtime exec chef/partner of Nacional 27 (325 W. Huron St.; 312-664-2727), steps down on April 30th to open Province (161 N. Jefferson St.), a 140-seat spot in the West Loop. “It’s modern American cuisine influenced by the flavors of South America and Spain,” Zweiban says. “It will be a bit broader than what I’ve done here at Nacional.” A few dishes he’s got nailed down for the menu: Tasmanian salmon carpaccio with preserved Meyer lemon and salsa; spice-rubbed grilled ahi tuna taco with chipotle tartar salsa; prawn and...

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04/28/08

Dish Flash—Death by Degrees

Fahrenheit (1890 W. Main St., St. Charles), a new 130-seat stunner that was going to be a boon to the far west suburban dining scene, has closed. The restaurant, led by Spiaggia veteran Pete Balodimas, quickly earned two stars in the Tribune and in Chicago magazine. Heck, we even put it in our Best New Restaurants issue (May 2008). So why did the place pull the plug after only...

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04/23/08

Geno's Fourth Comeback

His Ship Has Landed

Trattoria Valle d'Itria (581 Roger Williams Ave., Highland Park; 847-266-0600), a casual retreat that opened in the former Tapis Rouge space April 18th, utilizes the talents of three cousins. Chef Giovanni Chirulli is a Kendall College graduate who worked for the Pacific Princess cruise line—yes, The Love Boat—and studied in restaurants throughout Europe. MaryAnn Carioscia brings catering experience to the table. Maria Giallanza has a business management degree. Their menu covers familiar territory: veal marsala,...

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04/16/08

Get Twisted

We’re Not Gonna Bake It

Our favorite new bakery these days is Twisted Sister Bakery (1543 N. Wells St.; 312-932-1128), which opened three weeks ago in Old Town. “I’ve collected and tweaked hundreds of recipes over the past 30 years,” says Lisa Alexander, a partner. “They are all the things that I love.” She loved them so much that when her husband persuaded her to quit her job as a nurse manager at Illinois Masonic and open a bakery, she did just that, teaming up with her best friend, Doug Lee (who didn’t quit his day job as a gastroenterologist). We loved the chocolate...

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04/09/08

The Coolest Spot Ever

Re-Engaged

Dirk Flanigan and Billy Lawless, the men behind The Gage (24 S. Michigan Ave.; 312-372-4243), have secured the 2,000-square-foot space next door, and are moving forward with a new concept. “We are still working on what we want to do,” Flanigan says, “but I can tell you that it’s going to be one of the coolest spots in Chicago—if not the coolest spot on Michigan Avenue. It’s going to be really, really cool...

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04/02/08

Perennial Favorite

Ryan’s Hope

Chef Ryan Poli, who had a huge following at Butter, has returned to Chicago to become the chef de cuisine at Perennial (1800 N. Clark St.), the upcoming spot from Rob Katz and Kevin Boehm (Boka, Landmark). “Things just sometimes don’t work out the way you want them to,” Poli says of his recent jaunt to Phoenix, Arizona. “So I decided to come back to Chicago. It’s where my passion is.” Poli also spent about a year interning in various standouts in Spain, including...

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03/26/08

All Over the Map

What, Nothing from Bangladesh?

Miss Asia (434 W Diversey Pkwy.; 773-248-3999), a 70-seat BYO in the remodeled Thai Me Up space, has opened, and it may cover more square miles than any Asian restaurant in Chicago. “The main thing is the Thai cuisine,” says Charoen Amornpheerakul, the co-owner. “But we have Cambodian dishes. Indian dishes, Chinese. Mongolian, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, Malaysian, Nepalese. Also Singapore.” Most of Amornpheerakul’s kitchen staff are Thai, but he brought in chefs that specialized in many of the above countries’ foods to train his...

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03/19/08

This Column is Made of Chocolate

These Are a Few of Our Favorite Things

As if the name weren’t a giveaway, Chocolate Grape (chocolate-grape.com) (2113 W. Division St.; 773-772-3990), slotted to open in early April, specializes in pairing wines and chocolates together. “The concept came from my family,” says Rehanna Grady, a partner in the 65-seat café. “My brother, in earning his master’s from DePaul, had to create a business plan and a pro forma to show that the business would be profitable.” The plan was for a wine and chocolate café, and the family thought it was such a...

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