MARIANI’S

            Virtual Gourmet

      I loved Shawn McClain' s work at Spring, which is still hopping, and I applaud his attempt to bring something new to vegetarian food.  The problem with such food, of course, is that it has an agenda--be it political, philosophical, religious, or driven by some questionable concerns for health--all of which I respect as an individual decision but as a commercial concept, it doesn't usually play out very well.  McClain's Green Zebra (1460 West Chicago Avenue; 773-243-7100) does as well as any, with nothing on the long menu more than $12. Of course, unless you are a vegetarian, this place is only a curiosity to be visited and filed, but if you can forget for a moment that it is strictly veggie, with plenty of delicious dishes that just don't happen to contain meat (there is a halibut and a chicken dish snookered away on the menu), then you'll probably be pleased with an evening here--depending on your tolerance for ear-splitting noise, which can always be controlled but here is maintained  at the level of an avalanche.  Too bad, because I’d otherwise want to linger over the delicious shiitake mushrooms in crispy potatoes with Savoy cabbage and savory; potato gnocchi    Photo: Kippling Swehla.                                                                          with ramps and Parmigiano; curried eggplant potstickers with pickled cucumber and ginger-carrot emulsion; avocado panna cotta with tomato gelée, crème fraîche and corn chips. And the  desserts rank with the best in Chicago right now—rhubarb tart with a cornmeal crust, lemon confit and sour cream sorbet, for instance, and a spiced ginger baba cake with roasted banana ice cream and fresh coconut.
 
     If you're ravenous for sushi in Chicago, you can do no better than to head over to Starfish (804 W Randolph St; 312- 997-2433) on a stretch of Randolph Street quickly becoming a Restaurant Row.  The big, tall-ceilinged rooms, with a brightly lighted sushi counter (overseen by chef Shu San), are done in bold, vibrant colors, with velvet banquettes.  Chef Andy Park and executive chef Hokyong Pak combine a traditional sushi bar with modern Japanese food concepts.  There are bento box lunches, served with rice and miso soup, at very reasonable prices of $13-$17, and the sushi array is excellent and imaginative, from a "Dragon Fire" softshell crab and eel wrapped in yellowfin tuna to "Jazz Spring," freshwater eel with fatty tuna wrapped in a sheet of soybean.  Of the hot dishes, I loved the ginger-and-nori wrapped calamari tower with asparagus, peppers wrapped with fried nori soaked in teriyaki sauce and served on an Asian pear.  There's an admirable selection of wines and sakes to go with this food, well chosen for their spice and body to complement Asian seasonings.
     Starfish's sushi runs $5-$15, cooked items $6-$12, so it's a great place to share food with friends.

     For very refined, very upscale Chinese cuisine, served with enormous grace, Shanghai Terrace (108 East Superior; 312-573-6744), in the lower level of the posh Peninsula Hotel, is a real treasure.  For although some of the food here edges a little too far towards fussiness, the flavors and textures are pure and convincing.  At a recent tasting lunch I began with an abalone and asparagus salad in which the ingredients spoke wholly for themselves--perfect, tender, sweet.  There was also an amuse of shrimp rolled in rice paper and chicken rolled in bean curd, with a mushroom ragoût.
     Next came a delightfully delicate Peking duck salad, a Peeky Toe crab salad, some pristine tuna sashimi, and an oyster fritter, all building delicately to the next course, which were slightly richer flavors: scallop shu mai, crystal shrimp potsticker, turnip cake, and a foie gras dumpling that had us all wishing for more. Shark fin won ton soup in a double chicken consommé was the antithesis of all the watery versions I've endured in Chinese restaurants (including most in Chicago's Chinatown).  Then came the main course of wok-fried lobster with an assertive  ginger and black bean sauce; steamed walleye pike that melted in the mouth; aromatic five-spice duck; kung pao scallops, cooked just to the point of tenderness; and fried flounder, with sugar peas and yellow chives all on the side.
     The delicacy of both the classic dishes and the new, the lightness of the dim sum items, and the quality of ingredients, puts this beautiful restaurant into clear perspective as a standard-bearer in the city.  Its decor has a genteel richness of fabrics and china, a place to conduct a celebratory business lunch or a very romantic evening with someone who can truly appreciate the refinement of such a place as this.  Seating just 55 guests in the main dining, it has intimacy and charm; in good weather there is garden dining available.

NEW YORK CORNER
by John Mariani

Ouest
2315 Broadway
212-580-8700
www.ouestny.com

   It’s been a while now since the myth of the Upper West Side’s being a gastronomic wasteland was dashed. Every month now a new and often very exciting new place opens in the neighborhood, and none was more of a kick-starter than OUEST, which chef-owner Tom Valenti opened two years ago on Broadway.  Valenti’s reputation preceded him after winning accolades at Alison on Dominick and Butterfield 81, neither of which he owned, and here he brought his true blue feeling for hearty French-Mediterranean cooking to bear and immediately won the hearts and stomachs of the locals and anyone else looking for a good meal wherever it’s located.  He also opened ‘Cesca last year, an Italian restaurant nearby, so I thought it a good idea to revisit Ouest to see how he’s dividing his time.
     Frankly, my first visit to Ouest when it opened was pleasing but not revelatory of much more than simple good food where none previously existed, and I found it expensive, in some cases for too little food on the plate. Having now returned, I found the latter problem is one no longer, and you can certainly eat your fill here, though it's still a pricey place, with appetizers running $9.50-$27.50 and entrees $24.50-$34.50.   The two-tiered restaurant is as bustling as ever and even now, two years after opening, reservations are hard to come by on short notice.  The crowd can really raise the rafters here, for the decibel level can be very high; there seems to be no dress code. There are some comfy semi-circular booths here, and service is responsive, bringing the food straight from the open kitchen.      
    The menu is one of those from which you want to order just about everything.  How does one choose among lobster ravioli with roasted tomato, lemon, and fresh herb salad (very good, with real lobster meat inside the pasta, not the mush many places use), a charred lamb carpaccio with roasted peppers, Calamata olives, and feta (wonderful), and a sweet pea soup with Parmesan custard--one of the best soups I've had all year?  Tasteless, however, were  dreary asparagus in a salad whose only interest was some marinated anchovies and sauce gribiche.          
     Among the main courses, I was very happy with chef de cuisine Chadwick Greer's sautéed skate with Yukon Gold potato purée, roasted beets, and a sauce of parsley and olive oil, just the kind of dish I could eat week in and week out. Also excellent were braised short ribs with soft polenta and smoked onion jam, but braised pork shank with herbed orzo and vegetables would have been a lot better had it come hot to the table. Which is odd, since this is one of those dishes that should be bubbling away in a pot all night, but this evening it had obviously been left out too long.  Rosemary-and-garlic-crusted rack of lamb would have been better had it been well-fatted American lamb instead of the anemic Australian variety.  By the way, there are nightly specials, which includes a beloved Sunday meatloaf.
    I suspect you'll love dessert here--especially the fabulous iced cappuccino sundae with espresso semi-freddo and caramel sauce, the pear crisp with vanilla ice cream, and the crème fraîche pannacotta with passion fruit and sesame tuile, all made by pastry chef Rosemary Addo. 
    Ouest's wine list is richest in the kinds of hearty Mediterranean and Provençal reds that connote the restaurant's name, which is indeed a place to go for Franco-West Side cooking. Ouest is open daily and for a very popular Sunday brunch.

WE'VE ALWAYS FOUND FOUR ADVIL BEFORE BEDTIME DOES THE TRICK













ON HIS NEXT MENU HE'S THINKING OF DEEP-FRYING IT






An  Invitation
Owing to the genteel response to my recent article "A Gentleman's Guide to Dining Etiquette" (July 26, 2004: http://pages.prodigy.net/johnmariani/040726/), I thought it only sensible to compile "A Lady's Guide to Dining Etiquette," but I am a tad uninformed in this area. I therefore ask my female readers to write to me (at johnmariani@prodigy.net) to tell me what they believe constitutes ladylike behavior at a restaurant in a world largely without a clue about such things. Credit will be given for tips provided.

QUICK BYTES

* Chef Willis Loughhead of Bizcaya restaurant at The Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove, FL, is recreating the opulent era of transatlantic cruising with two cross-continental culinary tours in the restaurant - the first (now  thru Sept. 19) is a 3-course dinner for $48 pp; the second, a fall/winter voyage, (from Sept. 29 through the holidays and culminating on New Year’s Eve, when Bizcaya presents a grand dinner gala affair in the restaurant and al fresco under the stars by a cascading fountain. ” This is a 4-course dinner at $65. Call 305-644-4680 or 800-241-3333,  or visit www.ritzcarlton.com

*  Throughout the month of August, Chicago's BIN 36  and the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board will present various Wisconsin artisan cheeses and a featured all-cheese menu presented by Executive Chef John Caputo. BIN 36 will also celebrate Wisconsin artisan cheese as part of a larger monthly series of regional cheese producers as of mid-September, with more than 50 cheese selections and wine pairings. Call 312-755-9463.

* Fetzer Culinary Director John Ash will celebrate the Harvest with a series of  dinners and conversation in the Reserve Garden at Valley Oaks Ranch, CA, beginning Aug. 28 and continuing through October, incorporating  produce at the peak of freshness from the Organic Garden at Valley Oaks, and featuring  unique Reserves yet to be released wines from the winemaking team at Fetzer Vineyards and Bonterra, led by winemakers Dennis Martin and Bob Blue. Complete details are found at Fetzer.com, and tickets, priced at $100 pp  may be purchased by calling 800-846-8637.