Tablehopping is back — with First Bites (short critiques of new restaurants) and Worth Noting (updates on others) among the offerings. Go to chicagotribune.com/stew for more dining news.
First bite: Coal Fire Pizza
Chicago’s thin-crust pizza competition is hot. Coal Fire Pizza, which opened May 8, is as good as Neapolitan-pie fan fave Spacca Napoli.
We know, heresy.
And we’re not saying Coal Fire makes Neapolitan, we’re just saying the thin crust with puffed-up, crispy edges, some of it beautifully charred, is delicious with doughy goodness and the perfect amount of salt.
Wedged in amid the Italian businesses (restaurants, bakeries and grocery) dotting this stretch of Grand Avenue, Coal Fire welcomes with gleaming wood floors, freshly painted maroon walls covered with oversized art and a large counter surrounding the oven. We were promptly greeted by a capable, quick, snappy favorite-aunt type server who explained “this is how it’s gonna go”: First you pick out what you like, give your order to “the guy with the white hair” at the counter (paying when you order), then she brings you your order.
We ordered the white pizza ($13.50) and the sausage ($14.50; sweet or hot — we chose sweet). Almost immediately, we wished we had ordered Coal Fire’s Napoli pizza, heavy with anchovies, scarfed down by at least two other tables. Our two 14-inchers just fit on our table, elevated on industrial-size empty imported Italian tomato cans. The white pizza was studded with clumps of fresh-tasting ricotta atop a blend of melted mozzarella and pecorino, perked up by garlic, oregano and basil. The sausage pizza featured a restrained hand with the tomato sauce (a bit sweet, but not too) and mozzarella, plus a meaty, rich-tasting but not greasy sausage. The Napoli will have to wait until our next visit.
Coal Fire Pizza, 1321 W. Grand Ave.; 312-226-2625.
— Joe Gray
First bite: The Gage
There is a rule in the Big Book of Chicago Rules — I swear — that says one must dine outside as often as possible to make up for all those days when such repasts are utterly impossible. Which is why we happily sat in the sun this past Saturday morning in one of the freshest, finest sidewalk cafes in the city: The Gage.
It’s a tiny little thing plunked on Michigan Avenue directly across from Millennium Park’s most artful assets. And while the dining rooms of this newcomer are truly handsome (and worthy of a visit), we happily devoured brunch outdoors: An Irish breakfast (black and white puddings, rashers, tomatoes, eggs, beans, $14) was tasty. So was the crisply-coated Scotch egg app ($6) atop a bed of greens. And The Gage’s strawberry-stuffed French toast? Well, you’ll need a forklift to remove you from the table after consuming the mountain of slices of thick French toast, fresh strawberries and tangy cream plus tiny pitcher of maple syrup ($10). Brunch is served Saturdays and Sundays, with a menu mix of traditional and tweaked breakfast fare (omelets, potatoes with brie and grits with goat cheese, for example) plus The Gage’s lunch menu. The dinner bill of fare at this 2-month old spot may be dubbed a “gastropub,” but it boasts fresh twists, thanks to chef Dirk Flanigan (Meritage, Blue Water Grill). The Irish accent? That would be courtesy of Billy Lawless (The Grafton, Irish Oak) who’s running the place with his dad, another Billy. But that is worth another story.
The Gage, 24 S. Michigan Ave.; 312-372-4243
— Judy Hevrdejs
Coming attractions: Art Smith’s Table
Art Smith — one-time personal chef to Oprah Winfrey, best-selling and award-winning cookbook author, founder of Common Threads (which fosters accepting, familial environments for kids through food) and the James Beard Foundation’s 2007 Humanitarian of the Year — is about to become a restaurateur.
In late June, if all goes well, Smith will unveil Table at 52 W. Elm St., on the site of the old Albert’s Cafe & Patisserie in Chicago.
Table will begin, Smith says, as a 38-seater serving dinner. But he says he hopes to add an upstairs tea room (dubbed Teaspoon) shortly thereafter, and eventually bakery-breakfast service as well.
Look for signature dishes such as pistachio-crusted chicken, lamb chops, Smith’s famous fried chicken (available Sundays only, he vows) and his 12-layer chocolate cake.
— Phil Vettel
Sequels: The Capital Grille
The boy (that is, the one who hasn’t started college yet) was in the mood for steak, so we slipped over to the Capital Grille — not the well-established Streeterville outpost, but the new one that opened a few months ago in Yorktown Center mall.
You’d think that you could slip in at 8 p.m. on a Wednesday and get seated right away. You would be wrong.
Luckily a few tables called it a night early, and we had a table after just 10 minutes .
Like the other links in this steakhouse chain, the Yorktown location is dark and clubby — predictably masculine, but very elegant. We had a very good broiled sirloin (dry-aged in-house) and a sensational veal chop in a Roquefort cream sauce.
It will be interesting to see what happens when Harry Caray’s opens on the other side of the mall, in the new Westin Lombard Hotel, in August.
The Capital Grille, 87 Yorktown Center, Lombard; 630-627-9800
— Phil Vettel
