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Roots Handmade Pizza, which will make it’s debut in West Town at the corner of Chicago and Winchester this March, will be a family-style Italian restaurant and bar with a heavy emphasis on making everything possible in house. In addition to “Quad Cities pizza parlor favorites,” Roots’ bar will offer an extensive Midwest-centric beer list, infused liquors, and house-brewed sodas on tap. Worth keeping in mind for summertime, the location will also have a 50 seat patio dining area, and a late-night window serving pizza by the slice. Now, on to the food.

Giant House Made Mozzarella Stick

After munching on a pretty standard chopped Greek salad, we were served mozzarella sticks made with fresh, house made mozzarella cheese. Most times you encounter mozzarella sticks, you’re dealing with the processed tasting, previously frozen variety at the Friday’s and Applebee’s of the world. The smooth, creamy texture of these, however, were a nice change of pace. The exterior of the sticks had good crispiness and were also coated in a cracker meal and Asiago cheese mixture. As you can see in the picture at the right, Roots’ mozzarella sticks are about four times the size of those you’ll find elsewhere.

Surf N Turf Burger

From there, we moved on to the two items we were most excited to try, two recent additions to The Fifty/50′s menu, the Surf N Turf and O-Face burgers. The Surf N Turf burger ended up as the unquestioned highlight of the night for both of us, combining The Fifty/50′s tasty “Triple Secret” burger patty, with a four ounce house made crab cake. In addition to the “surf” and “turf,” the burger also featured Swiss and pepper jack cheeses, as well as two sauces, a Creole mustard and a red pepper aioli. While I felt that the flavors of the sauces were lost a bit, my partner disagreed, but we both were pleased with the sandwich as a whole. The burger was juicy and cooked perfectly, and the flavor and texture of crab cake complemented the beef much better than I would have imagined. Not to be forgotten, the burger also comes with sweet potato fries and a unique, tangy mesquite ketchup. If you’re heading to The Fifty/50 to catch a game, this would definitely be my recommendation.

O-Face Burger with Mac & Cheese Waffle

While we were less impressed with the O-Face burger, we have to give The Fifty/50′s staff points for creativity. In addition to pulled pork from the smoker in the back and Merkt’s sharp cheddar spread, the burger is also topped with a section of a mac n’ cheese waffle (see picture at right), which is made by running mac n’ cheese through a blender, combining it with batter and throwing it in a standard waffle maker. As someone who spent four years in South Carolina, I’d like to think of myself as somewhat of an authority on pulled pork, and The Fifty/50′s didn’t really jump out at me. Even if it was excellent, we probably wouldn’t have been able to fully appreciate it, as my date and I both felt that there were simply too many heavy, rich ingredients on the burger which all kind of muddled together. The main culprit was the cheddar spread, which tasted like Velveeta and high cholesterol. The taste and texture of the waffle also missed the mark for us, but as I mentioned earlier, I definitely respect the effort.

Behemoth Lasagna from Roots

Although we were both already full at this point, we soldiered on to tackle the next offering, an absurdly large (the picture does not do it justice) piece of lasagna which you’ll be able to tackle with two or three of your friends when Roots opens its doors this spring. While we were a little overwhelmed by the sheer amount of cheese (my date repeatedly wondered aloud how many days it would take in the gym to burn off a full piece), we both agreed that the individual flavors in this dish complemented each other much better than those in the O-Face burger. The acidity and heat from the house made marinara sauce and sausage provided a nice balance for the richness of the melted Parmesan bechamel and surprisingly light, fluffy four cheese blend that made up the lasagna’s filling. We were also impressed to learn that the pasta in this dish, along with the rest of the pasta to be served at Roots, will all be made in house.

The (mercifully) final item of the evening was a sampling of The Fifty/50′s Buffalo wings, which have been voted best in the city by RedEye and WGN. Keeping with the theme of the night, The Fifty/50 makes their own Buffalo sauce, and doesn’t rely on a pre-bottled hot sauce base, like most bars do. I’ve got to say, the results are excellent. The sauce has a great balance of heat and vinegary tanginess. While I wouldn’t put them ahead of the otherworldly smoked pieces of heaven that Risque Cafe in Wrigleyville serves, they were meaty, crispy, and generally pretty damn good.

One other item to mention was the Mango Chili Margarita that my date ordered, which was served in a 24 ounce football shaped glass. While we both thought the contrast between the sweetness of the mango and the heat of the chili was nice at first, it’s hard to imagine anyone wanting to drink 24 ounces of this in one sitting. After a while the novelty of this unique cocktail wore off, and we weren’t able to finish it, even with two people working on the same glass.

While we were generally pleased with the dishes we were able to sample from Roots’ menu, we definitely thought it was a little odd that there wasn’t any pizza served at a media dinner for a restaurant which will have pizza in its name. We asked one of Roots’ managers about this, and he explained to us they decided not to serve pizza that night because The Fifty/50′s kitchen didn’t have the right kind of ovens. We understood, but we we’re still left feeling befuddled about what to expect from “Quad Cities-style” pizza. Overall, we’ll probably plan to check out Roots Handmade Pizza at some point, but it’s not likely to be a top priority. On the other hand, we’re definitely looking forward to returning to The Fifty/50 in the not-to-distant future, to bask in the glow of the Surf N Turf burger again.

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An untapped resource for fans of ethnic food...

Because I miss writing about food, and because I’m too poor to review Chicago’s fine dining scene on any regular basis, I’ve decided to start a new restaurant-related project here on the blog. I think it’s a pretty great idea, if I do say so myself.

One of my very favorite things about Chicago is the seemingly limitless variety of ethnic food we have easy access to. That’s the good news. If you’re like me — willing to eat just about anything — this is an awesome opportunity. Unfortunately, unless you happen to know someone who hails from every country whose cuisine you’re hoping to explore, you’re not likely going to be able to discern which restaurant features the most accurate representation of each culture’s culinary style. I know what you’re thinking, “But, David, why don’t I just go on Yelp and see which place has the best reviews?!” Well, that’s alright if you’re in a pinch, but I’m pretty confident that if you scroll through the 75 five-star reviews that Ethiopian restaurant has racked up, you’ll notice that about 90% of them were written by white Americans who have never even been to Africa, let alone spent much time learning the ins and outs of Ethiopian cooking.

To address this conundrum, I’ve come up with a system to gather all the restaurant recommendations I can from people who spent most of their lives living and eating in countries other than the U.S. It’s pretty simple; Chicago has a veritable army of international ambassadors roving the city at all times, willing to give you a ride and a bit of insight for a nominal fee. That’s right, cab drivers. I don’t think it’s too politically incorrect for me to assert that the overwhelming majority of Chicago cab drivers are fairly recent immigrants to the States. So, starting a month or so ago, every time I get in a cab, I make it a point to ask the driver where he’s from originally and what one restaurant in the city would he recommend as the best, most authentic example of his homeland’s food. Since I began doing research for this project, I’ve been compiling a list, which you’ll see below. I’ll continue to add to this as I receive new recommendations with every ride.

Now, this project isn’t without challenges. For one, English is definitely a second language to a lot of these guys, and their accents are usually pretty strong, so it can sometimes be difficult for us both to accurately convey what we are trying to communicate. This is most commonly a problem when the spelling of the name of a restaurant isn’t immediately obvious (e.g., Al Bawadi Grill was originally saved in my phone as “Bellady”). The good news is that I can usually figure out the right place with a little help from Yelp and Google Street View.

The second problem is that a significant portion of these cab rides have taken place very late on weekend nights when my cognitive abilities are moderately impaired, thanks to my friend Captain Morgan. This leads to situations like the time a very obviously African gentleman told me that he was from Alaska, and that I should go to Shaw’s Crab House to get the best Alaskan food in Chicago (as a side note, any Alaskans want to confirm or deny this suggestion?). At the time, I remember thinking that he might be messing with me, but I couldn’t be sure, and I didn’t want to come off like a racist by pressing the issue.

The last problem is really the main reason I have to take cabs in the first place; I don’t have a car. A fair amount of these places are easily accessible via a quick trip on the CTA, but there are others that will either require some significant planning, with transfers between multiple buses, or expensive cab rides to places on the outskirts or other side of town (but, hey, at least I could get a couple extra recos out of the ride, right?).

That being said, I think I can make this work. At this point, I’m leaning toward starting with some of the African places in Edgewater, so be on the lookout for the first reviews to arrive in the coming weeks (I’ve already been to Ethiopian Diamond and Bolat, so they’ll probably start at the back of the line). In the meantime, check out the list below, broken down by region. Let me know if you’ve been to any of the places I’ll be heading and what you thought. I’ve made each restaurant’s name a hyperlink to its Yelp page, so you can read what other people thought and see all the other important details.

Wish me luck!

- DGH

• Ethiopian – The Peacock Cafe and Restaurant – 6014 North Broadway – Edgewater
• Eritrean – Ethiopian Diamond Restaurant – 6120 N Broadway St – Edgewater
• Nigerian – Vee Vee African Restaurant – 6232 N Broadway Street – Edgewater – X2
• Nigerian - Nigerian Kitchen – 1363 W Wilson Avenue – Uptown
• Nigerian – TBS African Restaurant – 4507 N Sheridan Rd – Uptown
• Nigerian – Bolat African Cuisine – 3346 N Clark St – Lakeview
• Nigerian – B&Q Afro Root Cuisine – 4701 N Kenmore Ave. – Uptown
• Somali – Muqdisho Grill – 2826 N. Lincoln – Lakeview
• Somali – Banadir Restaurant – 6221 N Clark St – Edgewater
• Somali – Mogadishu Restaurant – 931 N Orleans – Near North Side
• Ghanaian – Grace’s African Restaurant – 4409 N Broadway Street

Pan-Asian:

• Pakistani – Usmania – 2244 W Devon Ave
• Pakistani – Sabri Nihari Restaurant – 2502 W Devon Ave
• Indian - Flaming Wok N’ Grill – 903 N Halsted St – Goose Island
• Nepalese - Chicago Curry House – 899 S Plymouth Ct – South Loop

Middle Eastern:

• Palestinian – Al Bawadi Grill – 7216 W. 87th Street – Bridgeview
• Moroccan – Zad – 3112 N Broadway Ave – Lakeview

American (by region, for cab drivers from the U.S.):

• Chicago Pizza – Father & Son Pizza – 2475 N Milwaukee Ave – Logan Square

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This guy is a baller. He made about $30 in the 10 minutes I was watching. He’s my favorite of the regulars.

This guy is probably the second most talented of those I’ve seen recently. Only electric guitarist I’ve seen.

These guys don’t have much variety in their repertoire (they play this song A LOT). But it could also be that it’s just their biggest money maker.

Here’s another version of “Under the Boardwalk.” This is either the guitarist’s side project, or he just hasn’t found the right partner yet. For what it’s worth I like this vocalist better.

I think this lady is pretty talented, but my opinion of her is forever tainted by the fact that she once saw me filming her and gave me a really creepy wag of the finger. It kinda reminded me of the guy getting cursed in Thinner. Regardless, she kinda plays a guitar and a violin at the same time, so props for that!

Lastly, this guy doesn’t have the best voice, but he’s still pretty damn entertaining. On a separate occasion, I’ve seen him pull a corded telephone out of his bag and tell his imaginary lady friend that he’d be late for dinner.

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I’ve had a good amount of all of the above recently, so I wanted to share some media to capture it.

Upper deck at Wrigley Field. Not a bad seat in the house.

I also got to see my first set of Chicago fireworks tonight. Apparently they weren’t quite up to the standard of past years (according to my girlfriend the Chicago fireworks aficionado), but I still loved every second of it. I have a somewhat irrational love of fireworks. If I ever have kids, I hope the appreciate them as much as I do. Every family has one holiday that is THE holiday at their house. It’ll be a tough call for me between the 4th of July and Thanksgiving (I’m an even bigger football fan than baseball fan), but really, can you beat this?:

And the finale…

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“Chicago Next GINeration Cocktail Challenge”

So this is terribly belated, but I figure it’s better late than never, right? A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend and compete against several other local bloggers in New Amsterdam Gin‘s Next GINeration Cocktail Challenge at Old Town Social (hat tip to Stephanie Miller for passing the invite my way).

Although I’m admittedly not much of a gin drinker (I blame it on a few bad experiences in college with large quantities of the plastic bottle variety), I was excited for the opportunity to expand my limited cocktail repertoire.

After a brief introduction to the product (which is definitely the best, smoothest gin I’ve had the opportunity to try), New Amsterdam’s Master Mixologist Alex Ott explained the rules of the challenge. We would be given 10 minutes to create and prepare a cocktail, name it, and come up with a story behind it that explained how our concoction was inspired by the stories of both the brand and the city of Chicago.

In the days leading up to the challenge I solicited advice from just about everyone I know, including my stepmother (a long time bartender), my roommate (a former bartender himself), and all of my Twitter followers (because there’s got to be a few great mixologists out of 900+ people, right?). I picked up a few great ideas, but unfortunately they all included multiple types of liquor, and we learned after arriving that the folks at New Amsterdam had decided to not make any other liquors available to keep the attention on the featured product.

Clockwise from left: Alex Ott, David "The Food Dude" Lissner, Martha Kidd, and yours truly

Back at square one, my ladyfriend and I stormed the ingredient table and grabbed a little bit of everything. As we began mixing our ingredients, we learned quickly that 10 minutes goes by incredibly fast when you have no idea what you’re doing. All wasn’t lost, however, as Alex circulated amongst the contestants, providing us with tips when we were obviously doing something the wrong way. When the buzzer sounded, we had successfully poured and presented our drink but hadn’t yet had an opportunity to taste it. We did get a chance to take a quick sip of it before the judges got around to our station, and I’ve sadly got to say that I wasn’t very confident we had much chance to win. But hey, I’ll steal a poker phrase here; as long as you’ve got a chip and a chair, you’ve got a chance.

While our cocktail composition was a bit rushed, the development of our drink’s name and story was essentially invented as we went along. Because our beverage featured a pinch of cayenne, Martha thought we should give the drink a name that referenced its Latin flair. We ended up going with the Pilsen Picnic as an homage to the area’s large Mexican population, as well as our desire to make a drink that would be great to serve  at a cookout on a hot summer day. Here’s the final recipe: 1.5 oz gin, 1.5 oz pineapple juice, .5 oz liquefied honey, the juice of one whole live, a bit of muddled cucumber, a pinch of sugar, and a hint of cayenne. Shake, strain and enjoy.

Alex Ott (middle) and two New Amsterdam brand reps sample one of the contestant's cocktails

Surprisingly, the judges had nothing but good things to say about the Pilsen Picnic, calling it “well balanced” and “refreshing,” but I had a sneaking suspicion that they may just have been attempting to let us down gently. After making their rounds, the judges retired to their judging chamber to make their final decision. When they returned, they announced the winner and …. unfortunately we didn’t win. That honor went to Jennifer Contraveos of Crafted Cocktail and her North Shore Sour. If you ask me, I think she had an unfair advantage of legitimate experience and skill. I think we should have been given at least a 5 minute head start to even things out ( , sour grapes, I know). Even though we didn’t win the big prize (a catered dinner featuring New Amsterdam cocktails), nobody went home empty handed, as we all received some pretty nice swag bags and were able to keep the bartending tools we used. Not a bad consolation prize.

Now, who wants a cocktail?! I’ve got three bottles of this stuff and could use some help drinking it.

(Disclaimer: New Amsterdam gave us lots of free gin and some tasty appetizers at the event, as well as the bartender’s tools mentioned above. None of this affected my opinion of the product. It’s definitely a solid choice if you’re in the market for gin)

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This next video is from the completely mindblowing encore. If you have the chance to see Jonsi live, you owe it to yourself to do it.

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Although I’d never been to Vosges, I knew good things were in store shortly after I walked in and noticed some of the unique flavors which populated the shop’s shelves, including bacon, curry, wasabi and cardamom.

The evening started with a light, refreshing cocktail which Rob, the Corzo “brand attache” referred dubbed a Corzo White Sand. This was the type of drink that could easily get you in trouble on a hot summer day, as the deceptively high alcohol content went down maybe a bit too smoothly. For those of you interested in mixing one of these up at home: combine 1 1/2 oz. Corzo Silver, 1 1/2 oz. white grape juice, 3/4 oz St. Germain, and 3/4 oz. sweet and sour.

The tasting portion of the event began with a how-to on the best practices for tasting tequila and chocolate. While the instructions for chocolate won’t surprise you (rub your fingers over it to release the aroma; take a moment to smell it; once you bite into it, rub it on the roof of your mouth and let it slowly melt on your tongue), the “right” way to taste tequila is less obvious. The key is to swallow the liquid quickly and immediately exhale. Doing this reduces the amount of oxygen that hits your palate, eliminates the burn that you normally feel while ripping shots of Cuervo at the bar, and allows you to really pick up on the aromatic notes of the spirit.

From there, we moved on to the pairings. The first round offered Corzo silver, a light tequila with strong peppery note, with one of Vosges Naga truffles (Indian curry, coconut, milk chocolate). It seems like I’ve encountered Indian curry in a variety of unusual places recently, but this was definitely one of my favorites – especially while enjoyed simultaneously with the tequila.

The second pairing brought Corzo’s Reposado, a slightly darker tequila that has been barrel aged for four to six months. The provided tasting notes indicated that I should have been picking up “warm hints of white oak (leading) to a custard finish comprised of lemon, coconut, baked banana, and brown spice,” but call me unsophisticated when it comes to spirits, because I couldn’t pick up much beyond the spice and a slight hint of banana.

While I may not have developed a full appreciation for the nuances of tequila, I am pleased to say that I enjoyed every last note of the accompaniments. The star here was the Seven Year Old Quebec cheese, which easily ranks among the best cheeses I’ve ever eaten. Sharp and creamy, with just the right amount of salt, I would gladly put my arteries in harm’s way for a pound of this and a plate of grapes. The chocolate offerings here were also top notch: a buttermilk banana truffle with a silky smooth center and a wonderful vanilla aroma, and a piece of Vosges fantastic Mo’s Milk Bacon Bar which was infinitely more enjoyable than my unfortunate run in with a maple-bacon lollipop.

Like with any tasting, the boldest flavors were saved for last. Corzo’s Anejo is aged the longest of any of the distillery’s varieties, spending 14 to 18 months in oak barrels. This warm, full-bodied tequila had distinct notes of caramel and toffee, and would be – in my opinion – the best to enjoy on its own. The cheese chosen for the Anejo was tasty, but more notable for its description which included the note that this particular cow’s milk Gouda had been aged for five years IN A CAVE. That’s pretty cool in my book. Ok, back on track. The chocolate pairing here, owner/chocolatier Katrina Markoff’s Red Fire truffle, which expertly combined Ceylon cinnamon and Mexican ancho chillies with 65 percent dark chocolate to provide just the right amount of heat. If I was to go back to Vosges, this would definitely be one of the first things I’d buy.

However, that brings me to an important note. While I was thrilled to be invited to this event and certainly enjoyed all the pairings, I’m sorry to say that I don’t see myself repeating the experience at home. Although I’m no longer on an intern’s budget, it’s tough for me to justify dropping $50 to $70 on a 750ml bottle of unnecessarily high end tequila. Similarly, while I could eat Katrina’s chocolates all day, every day, the $7.50 price tag on one of Vosges 3 oz. bars will make them a rare luxury.

But hey, next time I win the Powerball, fancy chocolate and tequila all around!

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It’s because if they slack off and force humans to do it for them, this is what happens. I’m sorry Murphy.

Before:

After:

Look at that look of dismay.

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