The notion that Tank Sushi and onetime Sushi Wabi owner Franco Gianni innocently named his diffuse small-plates joint in the heart of Boystown after his carpenter father, as Eater reported, is cute in light of the way the phone is answered during Sunday brunch, with a cheerful “Morning, Wood!” Ha. Get it? A boner joke in the gayborhood. Oh, you stop.
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I just finished complaining about the preponderance of unfocused small-plates restaurants last week and here’s yet another, with its beet salad and pork belly, flatbreads and pasta, charcuterie and cheese plates, oversweetened cocktails and perfunctory wine list. To be fair, the neighborhood doesn’t have anything like this. A fear of focus might grip the city’s restaurateurs, but that doesn’t mean every neighborhood shouldn’t have something similar to Wood within walking distance. Sometimes you just want french fries with your spaghetti, and chef Ashlee Aubin, a vet of Alinea, HB Home Bistro, and Zealous, doesn’t do too badly at all.
Correction: This review has been amended to reflect the correct pronoun for chef Ashlee Aubin.
