Today’s TOC has a feature which blows us away: this awesome graphic of the ovens used by the various members of Chicago’s pizza Brat Pack (Coalfire, Spacca Napoli, Frasca, Crust, and Gruppo Di Amici, to be exact). The chart - which does not render properly in Firefox, by the way - has information like origin (Italy, all of them), cooking time and temperature. A fine piece of data gathering.
The restaurants covered this week include Klas, a Bohemian-American dinosaur in Cicero that received a sympathetic treatment from David Tamarkin, and Gloria’s Cafe, a new family-run Colombian restaurant in Logan Square that Heather Shouse thoroughly enjoyed. We don’t have their official menu quite yet, but after the jump (and we’ll remind you about this later), there’s a sneak preview of what we transcribed of their menu over the phone. Yes, a waiter was patient enough to read it to us! You’ll at least get a sense.
Hot right now: soft shell crab po boy at Heaven on Seven; watercress at the Green City Market; biscotti at Biscotti’s Galore & More (try not to be too judgmental of the grammar); 2005 Crystal Valley Cellars “Cigarzin”, a Zinfandel for all occasions. Hey, we just described an entire meal for you!
Okay, Gloria’s menu, shorthand edition, after the jump. We have to warn you - we didn’t edit this at all, so you will encounter spelling mistakes and incongruities all over the place. Consider this a faithful primary source, and do with it what you will:
appetizers
arepas w/ cheese
choclo
empanadas
chicken wings
ceviche
hummus
salads
casaer
spinach
caprese
rice & shrimp (cold with sweet and sour)
chicken plates
1/4 chicken with rice and beans
1/2 chicken
whole chicken
sweet plaintains/yucca
chicken breast with rice beans, salad, sweet plantains
Steak
churasco strip steak
chimmichurri with rice beans, fried yuca
combo plate with strip and chicken rice beans yuca potatoes
carne asada
biftec with onions with tostones
colombia chuleta sammy or plate
favorites
picata - chichiaron, chorizos, ribs, pork, tostones, arepa, sweet plantains
(feeds up to five)
steak and fried egg with sweet plantains
creole flank stake
