Mediterranean Reconnaissance Recommendations...
Hi!
Want to do a "dine-around" hitting Mediterranean hotspots including markets and restaurants...particularly interested in tasting food from
Greece
Spain
Morocco
Italy
Southern France
Thank you!
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It's not from your requested area list, but I'm really fond of Cafe Suron on Pratt and Sheridan in Rogers Park. It's a persian restaurant, with the best dolmeh ever and a variety of dishes you won't find at a lot of other mediterranean restaurants. They have a great eggplant appetizer dip (not baba ganoush). It's in the former lobby area of an old hotel, so it's also got lots of large windows and a fountain in the middle of the dining room.
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Definitely try Greek Islands at Adams and Halsted in Greektown.
Also try the homemade gyros at Rodity's (greasy but sooo tasty).For something different;
Raw Bar in Wrigleyville is fantastic for Persian and Egyptian inspired steak, seafood, chicken, etc. in a cool casual atmosphere. -
Jason Dumo
Dec 18, 2006 01:23 AM
PERFECT! Thank you! (and yes, plan on hitting all in one swoop, i.e., a dine-around.)
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I'm not sure what you mean by "dine-around" - if you are trying to hit all of these in one neighborhood, that is nore difficult.
Greece - easily covered by Greektown. Just walk down Halsted from Randolph down to Van Buren. My favorites are Parthenon and Pegasus, but there are lots of great options. For more of a market feel (although not actually a market) you can go into Artopolis.
Spain - My favorite Tapas is up in Evanston, Tapas Barcelona. Other Tapas places worth going to: Cafe Iberico, Cafe Ba-ba-reeba (in a pinch). I'm not a fan of Emilio's which has a bunch of locations around the city.
Morocco - Andalous is very good, not expensive, and BYOB.
Italy - your options for Italian food in Chicago are so plentiful that a price range would be helpful. The best Italian in Chicago is Spiaggia, but hat is very formal and very pricy. There is a somewhat less fancy, still excellant sister restaurant called Cafe Spiaggia in the same building. I also love Coco Pazzo.
Southern France - I'm not sure where to send you for Southern French cuisine. Most of the French restaurants I've been to in Chicago have not focused on Southern French cuisine. I seem to remember that Cyrano's had several Provencal options the one time I was there.
