Posted by Bud on October 23, 2009 at 11:01:33:
Critic looks at 25 years of eating out in Chicago
October 23, 2009
BY PAT BRUNO | Chicago Sun-Times
I am not sure I can lay claim to being the longest-running (and still standing) restaurant critic in this country, but 25 years on the culinary front without being felled by a stray oyster is quite a feat, I say. No way did I anticipate doing this job for so long, but my passionate connection with food just kept on being passionate, so why push back from the table?
My first column appeared in the Sun-Times on Oct. 28, 1984. I wrote about four restaurants -- not reviews, but four of what I called back then "My Secret Havens," casual eateries that had something special that I enjoyed. Those places were Home Run Inn on West 31st Street and D'Amato's Bakery on West Grand for pizza. (I still count both places as favorites.) I also wrote about Al's on Taylor Street for an Italian beef sandwich and Parky's (the original on West Roosevelt in Berwyn).
Those were interesting choices on a few levels: Those are four of the places my wife and I would go to for a bite to eat while on a "casual date."
Interesting choices, indeed, considering that before I started this job, my wife and I were fortunate enough to travel extensively in Europe and eat at some of the best restaurants in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria and the United Kingdom. I didn't realize it at the time, but I was honing my palate for a job like the one I have now. I have a passion for food and an even greater passion for writing.
THE TABLES HAVE TURNED
When I started writing about restaurants 25 years ago, Chicago magazine was the go-to restaurant guide. (I reviewed restaurants for that magazine for a couple of years prior to this Sun-Times gig.) The December 1984 issue of Chicago listed 197 of the most popular restaurants around. Of those 197, only 14 are in business today. That's the nature of this beast that we call dining out. But new restaurants just keep coming and coming. It seems to me that our hunger for the new and interesting (check out the long lines at Rick Bayless' XOCO eatery for proof of that) has not abated one iota. And that is why, in just the last five years alone, hundreds of new restaurants (including name changes) have opened in Chicago and suburbs. I relish the thought of sampling the harvest.
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
Restaurant concepts and styles have changed quite dramatically over the years. Those of a certain age will remember nouvelle cuisine, but few will recall exactly what it was that made it so nouvelle. And don't get me started on Cuisine Minceur.
Then there was the so very short-sighted take on Italian food that took the name "Northern Italian." Italy, a country so rich in culinary heritage, being cut off at the outskirts of Rome? I don't think so. That culinary term was given the heave-ho pretty fast. Now we are deliciously immersed in the cooking of all of Italy and up to our mozzarellas in a particular food that originated in Naples called pizza.
A lot of restaurant designations had as much depth (or lasting ability) as cotton candy at a state fair. Tex-Mex, Cal-Mex (let's call it what it is -- Mexican). Global (show me a chef, any chef, who can get his arms or talent around anything that big). Pacific Rim (where does the rim end, if anywhere?). Fusion was the so-called cuisine style that really got me. I pretty much refused to use that F-word in my reviews, because it was such a catch-all, one that meant nothing.
I am also averse to anything with a "Pan" prefix, as in Pan-Latin, Pan-Asian. Unless somebody can explain to me how far the "Pan" extends, that prefix doesn't do much for me. The word "Heartland," as it pertains to a cuisine or style of cooking, has some merit, but even here the word is so broad that it defies interpretation to anyone looking for a square meal.
Twenty-five years ago, you really had to fish around to find a sushi restaurant in Chicago. Now there are boatloads of sushi restaurants to choose from. Japanese cuisine (including sushi) now has a big footprint in Chicago (10 popular restaurants in 1984; 60-plus now).
My favorite sushi: Sushi Wabi on West Randolph.
Twenty-five years ago, there were few Mexican restaurants outside of Pilsen (Nuevo Leon gave me my first taste of Mexican food in Chicago in 1967); now there are Mexican restaurants practically everywhere you turn, and to my way of eating, there is no mole sauce that will escape me. My favorite Mexican: Frontera Grill on North Clark.
Tapas. Unless you had been to Spain, who knew tapas in 1984? Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! on North Halsted took care of that in short order. Now there are tapas restaurants from city to suburbs and beyond. And most of them are quite good. My favorite tapas: Cafe Iberico on North La Salle.
In Chicago magazine in 1984, a mere 25 Italian restaurants dotted the Chicago landscape (most of them now gone). The current Zagat for Chicago lists no fewer than 125 Italian restaurants for pasta, pizza and all good things Italian (some a lot better than others). My favorite Italian? Depends on what I am in the mood for. The best pasta dishes (especially the cavatelli) and sauces and a mean seafood salad? Rosebud restaurants. The easiest and least expensive menu to work with? Quartino on North State. The best linguine with clam sauce? La Scarola on West Grand. The best chicken cacciatore? Natalino's on West Chicago. The best risotto? Coco Pazzo on West Hubbard. The best hometown pizza? Home Run Inn on West 31st Street.
Unfortunately, the years have seen the practical demise in Chicago of a cuisine that I rather enjoy -- German. Now when I want my schnitzel fix, you will find me at Mirabell on West Addison or Edelweiss in Norridge.
What a difference 25 years can make
Then, there were chefs whose names we knew or not (and didn't much care as long as the food was good). Now, there are more celebrity chefs than can be counted, and we hear their names over and over as they flog myriad products.
* Then, there were chefs who actually cooked in the restaurant that listed them as owner/executive chef. Now, their names are still listed on the menu, but the chance of their being in the restaurant is nil.
* Then, there were owners who actually worked the room (Arnie Morton, Louis Szathmary, Jovan Trboyevic, Don Roth, Gordon Sinclair, Hal Binyon, Leslee Reis, Alfredo Capitanini, Michael Foley). Now, there are owners who check the room from afar via a computer screen.
* Then, you got pork. Now, the pork (chop and more) has a designer name (Slagel, Gunthorp) attached to it. Ditto for chicken (Amish) and beef (Tall Grass) and vegetables (Nichols Farm) and domestic prosciutto (La Quercia).
* Then, a hamburger was a hamburger (with lettuce and tomato) and cost about eight bucks (or less). Now, there are hamburgers loaded with the kitchen sink (and that cost twice as much or more).
* Then, communal seating was a stool at the counter. Now, communal seating is a long, long table that seats 16 or more.
Pat Bruno is a local free-lance critic and author. E-mail brunoeats(at)aol.com. Listen to Pat Bruno talk about food and wine Tuesdays at 6:23 p.m. and 10:23 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 7:53 p.m. on WBBM News Radio 780-AM.