Openings

Rockit Ranch Exec Chef Leaves To Make Philly Cheese Steaks

Next to the Philly Cheese Steak, Chicago’s Italian Beef looks like the soul of refinement. The problem is, the authentic Philly Cheese Steak is built on el cheapo ingredients, especially the Cheez Whiz; you can make one of better stuff, and many do, but the better it gets, the less it’s an authentic Philly Cheese Steak. (Send complaints about the above to heywedidntgrowupheresochillout@grubstreet.) Eater reports on a chef leaving his job to launch an authentic Philly Cheese Steak joint. Eater also reports that he’ll be using aged Wisconsin cheddar sauce, not Cheez Whiz. Which is bad news for authenticity, good news for flavor, we suspect.

In any case, the chef is James Gottwald, now former culinary director of Rockit Ranch (Sunda and the Underground), who’s left to start Monti’s with his wife Jennifer Monti, near Lawrence and California at 4757 N. Talman. Whatever the authenticity of his cheese, however, he is proving to be a stickler for one true-to-form ingredient, the rolls from Amoroso’s Baking Company, imported elsewhere around the country by shops aiming to reproduce the exact taste of a Philly from Philly. The restaurant will also offer gourmet pizzas and a complete bar (really, how could a place called Monti’s with a red awning not have a complete bar?) and hopes to open in mid-March. [Eater]

Rockit Ranch Exec Chef Leaves To Make Philly Cheese Steaks