Time for New Year's resolutions. If you're like me, most of yours revolve around food, what you're going to eat - or not eat.
I'm going to have a fling. In last fall's annual "Best of Chicago" survey, Newcity chose Gulf Rim cuisine as the best new eating trend. It seems we were dead-on for 1999: this year's hottest eating thing is a Latin fling - specifically Nuevo Latino.
For the past year or so, fine Cuban cuisine has been popping up all over town, at restaurants like Havana and Cohiba. Columbian-style chicken rotisseries have proliferated. Just this month, Lettuce Entertain You unveiled a facelift to the formerly upscale Mexican joint Hat Dance, and introduced Nacional 27, featuring the "vibrant colors" and honoring "the unique culture and culinary heritage" of "27 South and Central American nations." Now, pending a liquor license, we're anticipating the opening of MAS with Chef John Manion, formerly of Havana, for the New Year. Chef Shelley Young of The Chopping Block views Latin American cooking as a healthier, more aromatic alternative to Mexican cuisine. "Latin American cuisine allows for more combinations of fruit with savory foods," she says, "such as a stew prepared with chicken, pineapple, cinnamon, chocolate and prunes."
I'm going to search for independence. More and more, we're seeing trained chefs going out on their own and opening unique, independent eateries. Comments Executive Chef Paul Kahan of Blackbird, "Independent operators are presenting high-quality food; restaurants like Blackbird, MK, Crofton's, and Harvest on Huron are all good examples. You don't see as many cookie-cutter restaurants - these restaurants provide personalized, specialized service. The food is high quality, the best quality available, and seasonal cooking also seems to becoming pretty popular."
Lucky for those of us who like to eat out frequently, many of these chefs who have gone solo have also recognized the limitations of our pocketbooks. Chefs like Charlie Socher of Cafe Matou will not only continue to bring us a fine dining experience that highlights years of training, but also serve it moderately priced at $15 or less. Eric Aubriot of Aubriot notes, "I think chefs have become more conscious and smarter about food costs. Their level of education has been raised."
I'm going to blow a fuse. Now that every eatery in town will be trying to combine chicken with pineapple, cinnamon, chocolate and prunes, we should see a backlash to simpler, more straight-forward foods. In the past few years, restaurants melding the influences of the Mediterranean with the Pacific have popped up everywhere. "Global fusion food" has become an explanation for recklessly tossing together all the spices in Mother Hubbard's cupboard. Diners are increasingly seeking the less adorned flavors of classic comfort food and French bistro fare to combat the complex layered assault of multiethnic conglomerations. Explains Jeff Auld of Sunset, "Fusion cooking has had its day. We are looking to streamline our menu with basic, straightforward, unmasked flavors. Dishes are best when limited to two or three flavor combinations. The key is taking the time, using various preparation techniques, to bring out natural flavors."
I'll be an American in Paris. Once upon a time, trattorias were everywhere, as were plates of olive oil for dipping. But we began to see one too many shallow bowls of expensive pasta in cream sauce, and the trend seems to have run its course. These days, it's viva la France. La Sardine, Savarin, Mossant, a new Bistrot Zinc, even a scaled-back Un Grand Café that became Mon Ami Gabi - Chicago's French connection looks to increase in 1999. Some of the new French places have risen from the ashes of former Italian, including Michael Kornick's MK the Restaurant, which replaced Aldo Brando, and Asian-influenced French Vong (one of those fusion places we said would go away) will open its doors in the location occupied for years by Tucci Milan.
I'm going to stop lounging around. So, everyone likes a comfortable chair, but what's with all the couches that have started appearing in the city's hot spots? Lead by Narcisse, restaurants like onesixtyblue, 56 West, Trocadero and Pasha have added ample cushions to pillow the bottoms of their patrons. Some label them "banquettes," but to me, they look like couches. There's a reason couches haven't been seen in dining rooms and drinking establishments since the Romans. Today's tight, short, stretch skirts are far less suited to sinking back and lounging around than the concealing drapes of a toga. So, when I head to one of these "see and be seen" spots to grab a seat and pose, I'm going to avoid the couches. Or, I'm going to wear a toga.
Preferably, a black one by Prada.
(A. Laban)
copyright 1998 New City Communications, Inc.