`I just want you to know,” said our server by way of introduction, “that I’m the world’s worst waitress.”
These are not the words I want to hear from my server. Those are about the last words I want to hear from my server, actually, along with “The health inspector says everyone has to leave now,” and “I specialize in cases like yours. Call me.”
Despite her awkward disclaimer, our waitress (a day manager dragooned into emergency floor duty) did just fine. She smiled a lot, didn’t drop anything and knew the menu pretty well. She may not have a lot of experience, but she instinctively did the right thing.
That pretty much parallels the way this restaurant, Tomboy, runs. This is a fledgling operation, and the staff’s combined restaurant experience might not total 10 years. But there are talent, and effort, and an eagerness to please. They count for a lot.
Jody Andre was an advertising executive before abandoning the world of New! and Improved! to pursue her dream to be a restaurateur. She rehabbed a space in Andersonville, assembled a team of cooks (all grads from Kendall Culinary School and the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago) and opened her doors last November.
Andre’s head chef is Nicole Parthemore, a recent CHIC grad whose cooking impressed me mightily.
Two dishes in particular stand out. An appetizer, dubbed “porcupine shrimp,” is a fun dish that coats the shrimp with deep-fried phyllo-dough strips, splayed out to resemble porcupine quills. A lively mango salsa and a savory blueberry syrup are fine companions.
And Parthemore’s presentation of creme brulee knocked me out; the creme is served in a cone-shaped cookie cup, borne to the table in a martini glass, and the brulee topping is perfect.
In between, there are plenty of other interesting dishes. For starters, there is a delightful salad of seared scallops with mixed greens and a light lemon-balsamic vinaigrette; and a very nicely composed salad of hearts of palm, Granny Smith apple slices and nuggets of gorgonzola cheese over mixed greens, toasted pecans and a raspberry vinaigrette.
Soups change daily. When the somewhat spicy tomato gazpacho is available, grab it; ditto for the chilled avocado soup, seasoned with various herbs, of which basil is the most pronounced participant.
Escargots, a passion of Andre’s, are offered in a classic preparation though sprinkled with a little lemon zest to give the finished dish an offbeat flavor.
Entrees include Andre linguini, a simple but tasty pasta dish with chicken, mushrooms and asparagus, a light cream sauce and plenty of parmesan cheese. Even better is the grilled pork chops, served with a sweet apple-onion confit and a hefty baked potato with sour cream and gorgonzola cheese.
Daily fish specials have included grilled salmon, with a light honey-mustard glaze, served with a nicely textured couscous studded with dried berries; and peppercorn-crusted tuna, seared to rare, with still-crispy julienned vegetables.
Duck breast slices arrive atop two wild-rice pancakes, with cremini mushrooms and a port-wine sauce; it’s a good dish, but our plate was uncharacteristically stingy with duck. (Generally, portions are quite generous here.) The grilled quail with wild-rice stuffing are off the menu for now, but look for them in the fall; they’re first-rate.
The aforementioned creme brulee is the star dessert here, but there’s also a delicious chocolate layer cake, with chocolate and raspberry sauces; a rich and satisfying cheesecake on an Oreo-cookie base, topped with chocolate mousse; and a fine bread pudding with caramel sauce.
The restaurant is BYOB, and Tomboy provides decent glassware, including champagne and martini glasses, if need be. There is no corkage fee.
The decor has a funky charm. Vintage posters hang on brick walls; an odd, spiderlike light fixture extends from the bar into the dining room. Floors are hardwood; acoustic tiles on the ceiling valiantly try to hold down the ambient noise. The all-walks-of-life crowd provides interesting people-watching; the only thing you can safely assume you won’t see is a tie.
There is a yet-to-be-resolved problem with the air conditioning. The restaurant’s system has proved inadequate to a fully packed house (a given on weekends); when the a/c is on, kitchen smoke makes its way, slowly but pervasively, throughout the dining room, and although the smoke didn’t bother me significantly, there were more than a few teary-eyed customers and waiters in view.
Andre says that upgrades are in progress and should be completed soon, but for the next week or so, be forewarned, especially on very sultry evenings.
Hot or not, I recommend a visit to this place.
Ask for the world’s worst waitress.
———-
Tomboy
(star) (star)
5402 N. Clark St.
773-907-0636
Open: Dinner Tues.-Sun.
Entree prices: $10.50-$18
Credit cards: A, DC, M, V
Reservations: Recommended on weekends
Other: Wheelchair accessible
Rating system
(star) (star) (star) (star) Outstanding
(star) (star) (star) Excellent
(star) (star) Very Good
(star) Good
Satisfactory
Unsatisfactory
