111385 Mon Sep 16 14:36:42 -0700 2002 6 7 Chicago Area 0 602839 I was hoping to meet everyone at Maxwell St. (sounded like a great time) but had to entertain family, so I tried to come up with second best: a smorgasbord of takeout from gems I've wondered about along my West-Side jogging route, followed by dinner at the sushi place Heat, with a Hot Doug's snack in between. I'll try to be brief, and point out some of the many "bests" my famiglia tried on Saturday. Lunch: (1) a tray of scacciata(bakery pizza) from D'Amato's #1 on Grand (1124 West): even better than usual; (2) a tray of pierogi (potato and sauerkraut) form Andrzej Grill, 1022 N. Western: cool phone-booth sized place with more video poker machines than tables, Polish TV blaring, construction worker crowd, and the babushka in back makes my new favorites, just incredible; (3) Puerto Rican pollo "chon" with platanos maduros (the latter is not on the menu, but ask)from Papa's Cache Sabroso, 2517 West Division, the best damn chicken in the state for my money (roasted to a dark brown with great mojo de ajo and served Harold's-style with lots of white bread (except Cuban) to sop up the juices). It took no longer than 35 minutes to drive to these establishments, order and pick up the food. A perfect three-for-three, all agreed. Snack: Hot Doug's wild boar sausage with grilled onions and brown mustard, thuringer hot-dog style, duck fat fries. The fries were good, but still too limp. Doug should get that Times article from a few years back re the secret to Belgian fries. The boar was a noble, but failed, experiment -- the flavorful albeit athletic beast simply did not have enough lard for the well-cooked sausage. The thuringer was just a very wide, very good hot dog. I still relish being part of Doug's revolution-in-progress by sampling the misses as well as the hits; and it's not like it costs much. Dinner: Heat (1507 N Sedgwick). Fantastic. I've been to the other highly-regarded sushi places in town and in other cities. Heat is qualitatively (and regarding price, quantitatively) different. First, there is an "otherness" about the place attributable to the decor, service, staff and crowd that made me feel more like I had left Chicago and the US than any other place in town. Although hip and tiny, we were comfortable at the bar with a fish tank below and good views of the masterful and gracious chefs. (The stools are the cushiest I've encountered -- BTW I ditched the family for this one, just me and my wife.) The server, a polyglot who I guess to be from Singapore, was top-notch. He actually talked us out of the 11-course Kaiseki (sp?) menu explaining that it doesn't work out well on hectic weekends. And getting the stools back could not have been his motivation since we were seated late. We opted instead for a live sashimi plate followed by the Omakase (chef's choice) 4 course menu -- sushi, maki, hot plate, dessert. Highlights include the following personal "best evers": otoro sushi that looked like pork belly with its many layers of delicate fat; seared rare white salmon (came with the second of 2 sushi plates); uni, the freshest possible; and the seared tuna steak with mushrooms, various seaweeds, "Japanese raspberry" (not a raspberry at all, but good) and a "teriyaki" reduction that was much better than the name suggests. The sashimi presentations, including our "oyster toadfish" (think small monkfish) with ponzu sauce, were simply spectacular. Here he was in happier days: http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/releases/2001/Q4/toadfish1.html. We were the only partons to sup on this wildly ugly creature. I liked it, although the meat was quite firm like raw shrimp, for example. A huge Japanese-American celebration, kids to grandparents included, taking up most of the restaurant ordered several rounds of the imposingly large black drum. This big fish (prob. 5-6##) moved quite a bit after it was dispatched. Perhaps the most visually appealing was the flying fish sashimi presentation (not alive) that seemed popular with other diners. The head and fins of this handsome little fish were arranged to give the impression that it was jumping out of the ice in the serving vessel. The only low spots were a forgettable fresh fruit arrangement for dessert -- you would think a produce-obsessed place like this could come up with better than apples, oranges and kiwi a la Jewel -- and $12 for a mediocre French rose, the finest of which can cost little more than that per bottle. In the final analysis, I loved it and look forward to trying the kaiseki menu now that the live fish experiment is out of the way. In terms of ingredients, skill and presentation, none of the 5 diamond/stars has anything on this place IMHO. Service, surroundings, dessert are all different considerations. Oh, and the tab was just under $200. Not cheap, but I've paid considerably more for less enjoyable meals, and you can hardly get out of a steak house for less these days. (For big eaters like me, I would also suggest a lunch and snack like those I described.) Mon Sep 16 14:36:42 -0700 2002 0 JeffB 1 602872 Thanks for another great post, Jeff. Tue Sep 17 11:50:05 -0700 2002 602839 0 Harry V. 1 602886 when you say "uni, the freshest possible" do you mean... the freshest possible concidering we are so far from an ocean... or... this stuff was really fresh! (the days i plucked those little beauties from the sea of japan really spoiled me) Tue Sep 17 15:16:56 -0700 2002 602839 0 patoriq 2 602889 I had the impression that they recently had been swimming (walking, scooting?) with the other shellfish in the tank. Tue Sep 17 17:29:12 -0700 2002 602886 0 JeffB 1 602890 hey JeffB - thanks for the report - I was hoping to pick up some of that Puerto Rican pollo "chon" before the Truco & Zaperoko performance at the humboldt st. boathouse on friday - is there anything there that would make a veggie happy? also I looked around on the web and found another address for Papa's Cache Sabroso(1642 n california ave) are they related or is the north ave one an old address? Tue Sep 17 17:42:02 -0700 2002 602839 0 zim 2 602906 Zim, I also saw that listing. I assume it is the same place, with new digs on Division. It seems very new inside, yet appeared to have regular customers. (I was drawn in by the aroma, the neon, and the cartoon of chicken and a pig.) As for veg. eats, you've got starch, including platanos maduros, tostones, and yuca. The yuca I saw was of the boiled and sauteed in mojo variety, although they could probably make yuca frita. They make lechon (pork) on weekends, and if the chicken is any predictor, it should be pretty good. Arroz con gandules (yellow rice with pigeon peas) came with the fowl as well, but it was not up to the other items. Strict vegetarians should ask what has lard, salt pork, etc. In Carribean cooking (as many others), it is usually necessity, not religious, ethical, or health considerations that result in apparently "vegetarian" dishes. Regarding the yuca and the rice, for example, I'd be surprised if animal fat was not involved. Enjoy. Wed Sep 18 14:33:02 -0700 2002 602890 0 JeffB 3 603049 Jeff, thanks for the heads-up on Papa's. it was very very good chicken indeed. I'm a little curious there was some seaoning (a kinda sweet spice) that I couldn't place in the arroz con gandules. Turn's out that the california address was their previous location and they are solely at the division st. spot now. BTW, the show at the humboldt st. boathouse was great and it's a great building - national landmark. I know they're doing another one sunday at 2:00 and I'd highly recommend the outing. Papa's Cache Sabroso 2517 W. Division 773-862-8313 tu - thu 10am - 9pm fri- sat 10am - 10pm sunday 10am - 6pm closed monday Sat Sep 21 14:39:54 -0700 2002 602906 0 zim