Chicago’s only high-end Kosher dining spot in the Loop, MetroKlub, gets the full attention of the Reader this week, appropriately enough during the High Holidays. The article, by Dawn Reiss, delves into the tortuous machinations of preparing kosher cuisine:
Every day a kosher Jew must open and close the door to the kitchen and turn the ovens on to “start the fire”—a staffer is charged with these tasks. Because the consumption of blood is prohibited, every piece of salad lettuce must be checked under a drafting light for insects. Meats must be deveined and koshered. [Executive chef] Turano keeps certain cuts covered with kosher salt for up to an hour. “Afterward we have to soak our skirt steak in water,” he says.
Well, we can’t argue with the no-insect thing. When was the last time you heard about an E. coli outbreak from kosher food?
The restaurant shares space with Dine, but has been so popular since it opened at the end of July that it’s already expanding. If you go (during lunch, Mon-Thu), expect American comfort food stripped of all its treyf elements - meaning, you can’t get bacon on your cheeseburger. Also, you can’t get a cheeseburger. Actually, that’s not entirely true. In lieu of bacon, the restaurant offers “peppered beef frye,” which looks an awful lot like the real thing. We will have the menu soon to prove this to you.
The Kosher Power Lunch [Reader]
