belated thanks (Spring World) and a couple reviews

Lots of travelling and being in the midst of preparing for a big move -- weak excuses but what can I say -- have prevented me from posting on LTH till now. But the memory of our introduction-to-Chicago's-ethnic-food-scene baptism dinner at Spring World, treated by a host of generous LTHers (you know who you are) lingers.

I would imagine that this place has been reviewed and reviewed again on this site so I'll keep it to a minimum (I also don't remember any of the Chinese names ... neglected to take notes). I learned to love tripe (well OK, maybe only learned to "like" it) with a soupy dish heavy on fiery red oil ... I regret not asking for a bowl to slurp up some of the incendiary "broth". Bon bon chicken was complex, delicious, and as far from the candy sweet, much-too-peanuty versions usual found at Chinese restaurants as one could imagine. Chengdu noodles (cool) took me back to the street vendors of that city on a wiltingly humid summer day. A well-made version of this classic has always had a special place in my heart and the taste of Spring World's was, too borrow a phrase from the Coasters, so down home. Highlight of the meal would have to be the dishes made with dried wild mushrooms from Yunnan -- very special and completely new to me. Meaty, woodsy, earthy ... makes me ponder a trip to Kunming and beyond. I would have to call the lamb-fish stew "interesting" .... the sauce was delicious and the combo certainly intriguing, though I'm not sure it's a match made in heaven. Thanks reneg for introducing us to true French cider (and for the tip on Helix), vitalinfo for the champagne, everyone for the good conversation (never veering far from the task at hand) to complement the meal .... and for the Italian ice.

Difficulty sleeping after dinner only proved that we are far from the 20-something English teachers in Chengdu who used to down multiple pork-fatty big baozi *before* a lunch of several bowls of red chili dao shao mian and hongyou wonton. Oh well -- I'd head back to Spring World for the same menu (minus fish and lamb) in a heartbeat. I can say with certainty that Yunnan-Sichuan food of that caliber cannot be found in Vietnam, nor in Bangkok, nor --- this is according to Malaysian friends -- in KL. This may well be the best Y-S food outside of China.

Sat nite found us at Green Zebra. I have mixed feelings about this place. I'm not enamored of the decor -- too harshly urban zen for my taste. And there seems to be some disconnect betw. mission - table size - plate size. Knowing ourselves to be pigs (and thus plate collectors) we asked to be seated at one of two empty 4-person tables, but were turned down by the hostess. Understandable, but then both tables stood empty until about 5 mins before we left. Our friendly, well-informed waitress explained the small plates concept, emphasizing that the food is designed to be shared. Lovely -- except that the attractively arranged food arrives on plates at least 10 inches square. Tables for two are extremely small ... which makes sharing 3 or 4 starters, each on its own fashionably huge plate -- and juggling wine and water glasses --- a bit of an uncomfortable challenge. So I'd just like to say to whomever is running the restaurant: beef up the tables or minimize the plates.
But to the food -- disappointed they didn't have the avocado panna cotta I'd read about in a magazine (I love avocado). Generally delicious, though I can't say I remember every dish as I do our meal at Spring World. Most striking were gnocchi with fresh ramps, a plate of oversized ravioli that oozed the most purely fresh-tasting pureed corn filling, and fresh morels en croute (though Dave complained that ratio of pastry to shrooms was too high). A Merry Edwards pinot noir was delicious but overpowering -- my poor choice. In general I would have to say that we were quite glad to have experienced Green Zebra, generally satisfied with our meal, but not too sure if we'd go again, or that if we lived in Chicago it would be on our "special nite out" list.
Sunday morning was spent with rst at Maxwell Street. Well what can I say about this scene that hasn't already been said. We were blown away by the quality and variety of Mexican treats available here. I most remember a stall where the "Masa Madonna" patted out perfect tortillas, and the mole at that place; oaxacan (I think?) tamales steamed in leaves, and a relatively new (according to rst) barbacoa vendor. We spent some time with the amazing dried chili vendor, I stocked up on chipotles and some exquisite dried poblanos that he suggested be just dipped in warm water and then filled with cheese (haven't tried it yet). This market is a gem, I would be a regular if I lived in Chicago.
Finally, Avec for dinner Sunday night. Unplanned, as at 6:30pm we felt we were still bloated from Maxwell market feasting. But a couple of cocktails led to the reappearance of Dave's appetite (mine was still slumbering) and we headed to Avec about 8:30 and snagged a couple spots. We kept it light (for us, anyway) -- passed on a delicious, very tender-looking stewed pork casserole and a whole grilled fish and went with a couple of apple, almond, and celery salads (refreshing ... and with delicious almonds I'm not familiar with -- rounded rather than ovoid), puree of dried salted cod and potato (name of this dish escapes me at the moment), and a *wonderful* snail stew. The latter was truly memorable -- because flavor of the snails came through and it was wonderfully grassy (tasting like a fresh-mown lawn smells). Had to pass on quite a few tempting dishes .... one with piquillo peppers stuffed with chorizo and raisins sounded especially good. A bottle of excellent albarino to accompany. I liked this place, minimal attitude, good honest food of the sort I like. I wish I'd had more of an appetite that nite so as to have properly tackled the menu. But what's with the extremely uncomfortable seats -- numb rear end syndrome after about an hour and the unfortunate diner sitting on the aisle is stuck with a backless stool. Still, I'd go back.

All in all, our brief intro to Chicago dining leads us to believe that the city is a leader in the US when it comes to food. So many ethnic pockets to explore .... LTHers, consider yourself very lucky indeed.

HI,

It was a privilege to finally meet you after reading your posts for years.

I hope foodfirst will not mind if I inform everyone here she helped initiate the translated Thai menu. She worked with her Thai language tutor to translate the Thai menus sent as e-mail attachments in coordination with Gary, RST and Zim. While she did not have the advantage of refining the menu definitions with the restaurants, her efforts gave us the first peak.

Thank you again for your contribution to the Chicago food scene via the Asian district office.

Best regards,

Thanks Cathy. We had a great and delicious time at Spring World. A major regret is that Maxwell St market tummy fatigue prevented us from working up an appetite for a Thai feast Sunday night. Next time....

As to the translations -- I gotta thank Chicago Thai food fans for encouraging that effort on my part. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot in the process. I would have to say that, at least for me, food is the ultimate motivation when it comes to learning a foreign language, and I never view translating a menu as work!