River North’s Gilt Bar is only the latest in a long line of new restaurants testing the limits of how much gastropubbery the market can bear. Nearly a year and a half after the Bristol and the Publican broke this ground, communal tables, shared plates, odd meats, and beer, beer, beer are everywhere, and if you haven’t had enough I have some marrow bones I can sell you at a 150 percent markup.
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There are plenty of nods in the expected directions, but the meaty options don’t get any more threatening than a pot of duck-and-pork-liver paté or a six-inch-long marrow bone split lengthwise. Despite its unnervingly humanlike appearance, this is actually a very satisfying presentation of a dish that’s rapidly becoming a cliche: two convenient troughs with easy access to the precious meat jelly inside.
A selection of eight small, inexpensive vegetable plates tips the balance toward plant eaters. In a couple cases I found myself rebelling against Sodikoff’s minimalist approach and using them as add-ins for simply executed but one-dimensional pastas. The blackened cauliflower with red onion, capers, and chiles significantly increased my appreciation of a buttery pappardelle set with two coins of oversalted and overcooked scallop. And fluffy brown-butter ricotta gnocchi became a different and better dish when I tossed on some of the tart, clovey red cabbage slaw. Next time I’m applying the bean-and-chorizo-tossed kale to the cheesy pecorino-Parmesan pasta.
The house special beef soup (niu rou mian), is one of the most fantastic noodle dishes I’ve had in Chinatown, loaded with long, thin, chewy noodles in a tangy broth with big, tender chunks of beef and a garnish of pickled vegetables. An has also duplicated his cold appetizer bar from Spring World, offering a selection of any four for $4.95, an astoundingly good value. There’s also a large selection of heavily seasoned grilled kebabs—lamb, beef, chicken, pig’s feet, quail, and more—a couple skewers of which will run you $3-$4.
Chef Joe Doren (Blackbird, Sixteen) has dreamed up some extraordinarily creative and powerful flavor combinations. The top-loader buns—locally baked pan de mie, buttered, griddled, and split along the upper length—permit a peek at tantalizing presentations like a lamb keema dog with English peas, cucumber salad, house-pickled pearl onions, and socca. Other combinations include the Tur-Doggen (turkey-and-date sausage with crispy duck confit, herby aioli, onion relish, and pickled carrots) and the N’awlins Dawg (andouille sausage with mustard ketchup, fried okra, shrimp, and chives). We were delighted by the Mystery Corn Dawg, a rotating sausage selection encased in unconventionally fluffy breading made with Anson Mills polenta, served with sauerkraut and two mustards.
230 W. Kinzie, 312-464-9544, giltbarchicago.com
Tao Ran Ju 2002 S. Wentworth, 312-808-1111
Franks ‘n’ Dawgs 1863 N. Clybourn, 312-281-5187, franksndawgs.com
