It’s interesting that Il Fiasco and CJ’s Eatery garnered the same review score of three out of six in this week’s TOC.
David Tamarkin’s review of the former gropes to find something nice to say about this highly inconsistent Andersonville Italian, while Heather Shouse’s write-up of the latter is an upbeat little ditty, almost to the tune of “Save this restaurant.” Clearly, these two threes were not created equal. Because how could any scale capture the nuances of expectation and remain consistent between restaurants with vastly different missions? Tamarkin had high standards for Il Fiasco, we’d imagine, because the space, neighborhood, and chef would all suggest a much better experience. Shouse was (probably) happy to champion a nice little cafe in a neighborhood that is sorely lacking in the category. Given all these motivations, what is a three supposed to mean? We don’t know, but we’re equally complicit in quantifying dining experiences, so we’ll let it go (for now).
In other news:
• Irving Park mania! A roundup of 10 hot spots in an overlooked neighborhood
• Barramundi so hot right now at Bonsoiree
• Tips on how to get into booked restaurants. Our advice? Dress up as a health inspector
• Tuberoses are in season - they’re pretty, and you can eat them in a pinch
[Photo: the prettiest tuberose on flickr, erika yoshida]
