First Bite: Vella Cafe
This Chicago Green City Market-based panini stand opened a brick-and-mortar shop last Wednesday under the Blue Line tracks and just across from the station. Weekdays, they serve breakfast and lunch; on weekends, it’s “blunch” (a.k.a. brunch). If you’ve eaten their panini at Green City Market, though, don’t look for them on weekends. Co-owner Melissa Yen says they won’t do both this summer. “It’s just too much.”
Panini include brisket with plum, apple and caramelized onion barbecue sauce with butterkase cheese. Another has bacon, bleu cheese, romaine and apple butter. On weekends, blunch items include crepes (five variations), parsnip potato pancakes and polenta.
On Saturday, we tried a chicken sausage crepe (a crisp, thin pancake wrapped around well-flavored sausage, lots of caramelized onions, and buttery melted butterkase cheese), topped with a generous serving of roasted tomato puree ($7.25). The polenta with sharp cheddar was topped with a poached egg, a piquant and very fresh tomatillo salsa and several large strips of roasted poblano ($7.75). (Our only complaint: The chiles’ skins should have been peeled off by the kitchen.)
The cafe is a wedge-shaped building, with windows on two sides. Light pours into the attractive, modern space warmed with ocher walls and birch plywood tables with seafoam-colored tops. When busy, the room is loud, but not from the trains, which rumble by gently.
1912 N. Western Ave.; 773-489-7777, vellacafe.com
— Joe Gray
Coming attraction: Bluebird
Look, over in Bucktown. It’s a wine bar. It’s a bistro! It’s a gastropub! It’s … a wine bar-bistro-gastropub. That’s the idea behind Bluebird, the newest concept from Webster Wine Bar owner Tom MacDonald. Opening in late June, Bluebird will be a European-style restaurant pairing a small-plates menu with an expansive wine and beer list. Order a steaming bowl of Belgian mussels and wait staff may suggest Belgian ales.
“We’re tailoring the menu to what you eat and what you drink: Good food, good beer and good wine,” he says. “It won’t be the sophisticated dining of fine dining. But is gastropub is an accurate term? Sure.”
Bluebird, 1749 N. Damen Ave.
— Glenn Jeffers
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For more restaurant news, go to chicagotribune.com/stew
