Noting how easy it is to get hammered at each Next menu is a curious way to start off an appreciation of how the new one captures the wonder of childhood. But Mike Sula isn’t the first to notice that they bring you a lot of hooch during the course of a meal devoted to childhood pleasures, and he makes it make sense: “If the collective front of the house ever seeks to change careers, it could launch a world-class daycare.” He admires the ingenuity that went into creating this box of recaptured and deconstructed childhood delights, and has high praise for some things (the truffle Oreo). But he also finds the effort somewhat paradoxical: “My least favorite dish on this menu was its most successful in terms of transporting me to some other place, subjectively at least. A fast-food hamburger—the final savory course—arrives detonated on the plate as if it’s spent ordnance from a food fight, ketchup, mustard, and cheap white bun splattered across a figurative restaurant floor. It’s one of the funnier portions of the meal, and it’s spooky how faithfully the junky sweet and savory flavors and gummable textures of fast food are replicated… almost exactly how you’d remember a Big Mac if you’d never had a fondness for them.” [Reader]
Kennyz calls the latest incarnation of Dharma Garden, a Thai restaurant on Irving Park which has changed owners and/or chefs a couple of times, “the most exciting thing to happen to the Chicago Thai food scene in years,” and says “the new owner earns the admiration of Thai cooks and staff at favorite places such as Aroy and Sticky Rice, [so] I would have expected the Thai-obsessed eaters at LTHForum and elsewhere to flock to Dharma Garden.” He especially praises “Gang Som - a thin, sour curry that’s available at a few other places around town. Dharma Garden’s is a richer broth that’s a bit more sour than others, and it’s served with perfectly crisp and moist pieces of delicious fried catfish.” In the end, he notes “The translated Thai menu at Dharma Garden is 3-and-a-half pages long, and I look forward to enjoying a lot of it.” [FOF]
Titus at Smokin’ Chokin’ and Chowing With the King takes a trip to an old school Italian deli in the little-explored south suburb of Blue Island. Stefanelli & Sons was the original location of slightly better-known Calabria Imports in Beverly, and he has high praise for its Freddy— a Chicago native sandwich of “Italian sausage patty placed on a sub roll then topped with marinara sauce, sauteed green peppers and melted mozzarella (giardiniera an option)… the sausage is well spiced and grilled as opposed to griddled which makes for some more good flavor.” [Smokin’ Chokin’ and Chowing With the King]
