Slovakian restaurants in Chicago

Hi, I was wondering if anyone knew of any good Slovakian restauraunts in the Chicagoland area? We just got an exchange student from Slovakia who has been with us for 1 week and doesn't like most Chicago foods. Thanks in advance!

I like Klas:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=4006

http://www.chicagoreader.com/cgi-bin/rrr/details.cgi?RestaurantName=klas&PriceCategory=&numb=3163

We just got an exchange student from Slovakia who has been with us for 1 week and doesn't like most Chicago foods.

Would you mind detailing your experience with this kid?

I've had multiple European visitors arrive with their food prejudices front and forward. I'm really curious how your guest is behaving. We had one young man from Prague who put ketchup and/or tartare sauce on everything he ate. He claimed all Czech's do this. My family and I did a mental survey to find nobody we knew from there who did this.

When this young man from Czech came to Chicago, his Father specifically did not want him brought to any Czech restaurants or social programs. He wanted his son to have the total American cultural and language immersion. He felt once his son made any Czech friends much of the language and social immersion would be defeated. While this young man was supposed to stay with us for 6-9 months, he stayed 10 days. The daily phone calls from his girlfriend caused him to get homesick. I met him last year for dinner. He is kicking himself for being so short sighted and missing the opportunity of a lifetime. The girlfriend? Long since broken up with.

Since this is so early in his visit, why not get some cookbooks from the library, then work with him to make a meal from his background. Have him e-mail his family for a few recipes, which he can teach your family.

Regards,

Whether there are many specifically Slovak restaurants around (surely there are at least a few that are Slovak owned) I do not know, but from an outsider's point of view, at least, there are clearly points of overlap between the cuisine of Slovakia and those of the neighboring Czech Republic and also of Southern Poland. Both Czech and Southern Polish, 'Highlander', cuisines are well represented in parts of the city and the nearby suburbs. Perhaps the unadventurous one will object to the suggestion that Slovakia's neighbouring cuisines are similar to his/her own (let us remember how many Serbs and Croats insist they speak very different languages, pace each and every Slavicist worthy of the name) but then maybe he/she really just needs some comfort food and will gladly accept it even if it's served up with a Czech or Polish name.

Antonius

P.S. I remember a Polish (family from Southern Poland, I believe) aunt of mine, when needing help in her old age, hired a Slovak woman as a live-in helper. They got along famously, my aunt speaking Polish and the helper speaking Slovak. Now and again miscommunication occurred but with a little work they could get around the occasional problem. Apparently, my aunt thought the Slovak lady's cooking was great and much like what she had grown up with (before the forced conversion to Italian cuisine ).

I guess we are not the only ones finding it difficult to list specifically Slovak restaurants:

http://www.czechslovak.com/slovak/index ... estaurants

Cathy2 wrote:

We just got an exchange student from Slovakia who has been with us for 1 week and doesn't like most Chicago foods.

Would you mind detailing your experience with this kid?

I've had multiple European visitors arrive with their food prejudices front and forward. I'm really curious how your guest is behaving. We had one young man from Prague who put ketchup and/or tartare sauce on everything he ate. He claimed all Czech's do this. My family and I did a mental survey to find nobody we knew from there who did this.

Maybe "everything" is an exaggeration, but when I lived in Eastern Europe, it was pretty common to see ketchup all over the place -- on pizza, on spaghetti, on open-faced sandwiches, in steak tartare, etc. (I even found myself putting ketchup on some of the less-than-tasty pizzas myself, horror of horrors.)

So I could actually believe him.

As for the Slovak, any Eastern European restaurant should serve the picky eater well. Slovak cuisine is generally fairly bland meat-and-potatoes type fare (don't get me wrong, I do like something like strapcky/sztrapacska, but it's not exactly fancy food), so any of your Polish, Czech, or even German places should placate your friend. There's some crossover between Slovak and Hungarian cuisine, as well, so you might want to check out Paprikash Restaurant, too.

Binko,

Everything is the fact. I made Spaghetti Carbonara and he blessed it with ketchup. I made eggs, he added ketchup. I made roast beef, he added ketchup. If he had breakfast cereal, on this occasion he refrained from having ketchup. I am really not exaggerating.

Probably I am familiar with an older generation where ketchup doesn't bless all the food. Most of my time spent there was prior to fall of the socialist-communist regime.

However, I did spend about 10 days near the Czech-German border about 18 months ago. I ate daily in the factory canteen at my request. I did not see ketchup as a regular condiment on the table or on any occasion. I did see a strong Hungarian influence with variations of Goulash offered daily. Lots of potatoes and dumplings of all sorts. So even my most recent experience didn't have a ketchup dominance. (I have the pictures, the notes and somehow I never quite write that post)

When I went to Prague on the weekends, I didn't see a strong ketchup presence either. We went out to eat a few times, but mostly we cooked at home because they wanted to learn a few recipes from me. The mystery of roast turkey was finally revealed: no water in the roasting pan!

Again, rather than take this person to a restaurant, I would attempt to cook at home some of their missed food. It would an interesting experience for everyone involved. If they don't know how to cook now, believe me this will likely be the stimulus to learn.

Regards,

When my sister and her husband came back from a year in Slovakia, of course what they initially wanted was Mexican food, fresh orange juice, etc. etc.

But after a couple of weeks they came to visit Chicago... in part because they figured they could satisfy their sudden nostalgia for grey meats in gravy and such here.

Not only did they find the Polish restaurants all but indistinguishable from the reality of Slovak dining, they were even more delighted to find that they could walk around Avondale speaking Slovak to Poles and being answered in Polish and basically getting by just fine. So I'd say, immersion in a Polish neighborhood would do the trick better than searching for a Slovak restaurant-- though I also agree with the advice that the kid should be led out of his comfort zone, too.

I knew of one Slovakian place (Happy Noodle--see here, et. seq.).

Czech food: While Klas the other night with EC and PP (or should that be pp) was about the best Klas has been, I still think the cooking is a bit better at Operetta, especially the soups. I do caution on the extreme smokiness at Operetta. Klas is also a better deal and a more interesting place decor wise.

Now, further north, the owner of Miro's Little Europe is Slovakian, but his menu is pan-Mittel Europe.

ahh, as a good little Slovak girl, my advice:

Slovak food is actually very similar to Hungarian, in many ways. Slovak and Hungarian culture bear many similarities (while Czech culture is typically thought of being more similar to Austian culture). Paprikas and haluski (which some heathens call spaetzle, but it's only spaetzle if it's German, hmph) are frequently made in Slovak kitchens. Polish cuisine is also very similar (as is the language, as someone above pointed out), so any Polish cuisine is a good bet.

as for specific restaurants, I'm not too terribly helpful, because I'm one of those annoying people who just whines that "it doesn't taste like grandma's!" however, Hungarian and Polish restaurants are likely to be a good starting point.

She seems to not want to eat any Chicago food. She went to Portillo's and couldnt believe we put poppy seeds on buns. She also said the buns in her country taste more "fresh and home made". We took her to Las Palmas and she doesnt like any type of spicy food. She seems really really picky!

I'm starting to think tough love is required here. Of the "you eat what we eat or you don't eat" variety.

Mike G wrote:I'm starting to think tough love is required here. Of the "you eat what we eat or you don't eat" variety.

LOL, I'm reminded of when my father was overseas and got a week of R&R with my mom. I, being the oldest, was allowed to stay at home but my younger siblings were left in the care of a fellow Marine family - very much of the tough love variety. My quite picky-eater sister was browbeaten by the (very bad cooking) guest family into eating what she was served with threats of "I'll feed you like a cobra!". I think it is of note that her host's second favorite saying was the quote from then Washington Redskins football coach George Allen "You've got to hurt to be good!". That was almost 30 years ago and she still vividly recalls those meals, and not fondly.

I'm not saying that anyone here is suggesting those types of extremes. I do think, though, that food goes beyond that which is on the plate and touches many different personal points for each individual - I'd imagine especially for those far from home. Certainly this group opines on countless shades of grey relative to food that transcend presentation and taste. In that regard I think that Cathy2's advice of trying to engage the visitor into preparing dishes to their liking in the kitchen holds out the most hope of a true bi-directional exchange that would have promise of engaging the visitor into (for them) new culinary opportunities.

Or not. What the heck do I know?

brschwartz wrote:She seems to not want to eat any Chicago food. She went to Portillo's and couldnt believe we put poppy seeds on buns. She also said the buns in her country taste more "fresh and home made". We took her to Las Palmas and she doesnt like any type of spicy food. She seems really really picky!

Well, she certainly is right about the buns tasting more "fresh and home made" in her country. While I do like hot dog buns for what they are, we must admit, they don't really taste like what bread is supposed to taste like.

And most Eastern/Central Europeans I know--heck, add many Midwesterners to the mix too--are not very tolerant of any spicy foods. My aunt, who is American, even finds A1 sauce too spicy for her taste (eek!) Like I said before, Slovak food isn't known for its judicious use of spices. A typical dish, like strapacky, is spaetzle-type noodles, fresh white cheese, sour cream, and chunks of bacon. A Polish, Hungarian, or German place should serve her well.

Granted, she's got to adapt. Otherwise, Cathy's suggestion is perfect. Cook some food with her at home. Good luck!

You know, it is just possible that she doesn't come from a food obsessed family. Or that she is adjusting to the water and heat and whatever, which may be very different from what she is used to.

When I landed in Brasil at age 16, I enjoyed my orientation to the country very much. It lasted a week. Then I was sent to a host family. Less than a week later I had my appendix removed at midnight on the first night of carnaval.

I'm not suggesting that there's anything physically wrong here. But I do remember not wanting to eat because I was being offered "California burgers" which had mayonaiise on them (yuck!) and a whole different palate of food. I liked canja, the wonderful portuguese/brasilian chicken soup. It kept my strength out.

And I was coming from a fairly food obsessed family and environment. Maybe just lay off a little bit. Take her to a farmers market and let her eat a peach. Just let her find her own way. It may not be your way, but she might be more comfortable with it than having somebody way "I can make you this or I can make you that."

Wow, so surprised to see so many Slovaks crawl out of the woodwork.

My mother is 100% Slovak, and I spent at least half a week during my entire childhood and adolescence with her old-world Slovak family. Whenever my Mom visits from California we'll visit Sak's Ukrainian Village, mainly because it's closeby, or venture out to any myriad of Polish restaurants so she can get her "fix." (She prefers Sak's because the bar and its patrons remind her of the old Sokol.)

I disagree that the exchange student here was probably NOT raised in a food oriented family. From my travels in Slovakia, I found that whether you're getting fed by a family like the one I stayed with in a small town or at a family-operated restaurant, Slovaks, like countless other cultures, are food-oriented, even if the availability of ingredients is limited. In fact, that may make them more food-oriented. Throughout most of its history, Slovakia was primarily an agrarian culture, and evolved into an industrial nation only in the last 50 years or so. Also, it was sealed off as a longtime member of the Communist bloc and subject to their shortages. Thus, most food they have is grown or made locally. There's a huge difference in taste between a freshly-killed chicken and one that's been frozen for three months. There's also a huge difference between fresh vegetables and those served up in a lot of restaurants and between bread that's stale and that which is fresh. We forget how much we (even us chowhounds) sacrifice in quality and freshness as Americans (or at least we're willing to put up with it).

For example, twelve years or so ago, I remember visiting what was the "supermarket" in the small town in Slovakia where I stayed. It was the size of a 7-11, but with its shelves mostly bare, and it sold almost exclusively soda or novelty drinks and candy; but very few things you could make a meal of. I think that says a lot. This experience also mirrors my family's where they didn't starve during the great Depression in part because they raised their own chickens and grew their own vegetables. The store was there for only those things you couldn't raise or make on your own. (My great-grandmother, also rented out rooms for newly arrived Central/Eastern Europeans, was able to communicate adequately with Ukrainians, Poles, and Czechs - that should give you an idea how close their cuisines are as well. She also made bathtub gin for these fellows during Prohibition.)

While I'm not trying to argue that Slovak cuisine (if you can call it that) is superior in any way, imagine if you were raised in a closed-off agro-industrial society, you are not likely to enjoy our notion of fast food (a la Portillo's) or spicy food (like Mexican), which is too unfamiliar. She is also probably homesick, so weaning her away from her culture little by little is probably a good idea. Also, Cathy2's idea to involve her in a making a cross-cultural meal that isn't too shocking to her system might be a good way not only to wean her off her Slovak foods, but also to cure some of her homesickness by providing a little love.

There's a big difference between food oriented and food obsessed, which is what I said. Especially if you're coming into the land of plenty where you can have "whatever you want" at a moment's notice, and spend precious gasoline to drive and get it. That simply doesn't happen in agrarian Europe, in my experience.

My family had a German exchange student from Bavaria arrive many years ago in August. He was definitely not used to the heat, and we have had a hot dry summer. And even the not so hot days have been really uncomfortably muggy. When he came, I had returned a few years earlier from a year in Brasil, where the seasons were reversed, and I noticed that both going and coming I felt that the weather, in combination with the sheer difference in what was normally served, and at what times of day, put me off my feed for awhile.

In my mind, it's a matter of semantics between food-oriented and food-obsessed. In reality, I was directing my comment to the exchange student's experience, in particular, at Portillo's. It's not surprising that she thought the bun was stale (or "not as fresh"). You don't need to be a sophisticated food-lover to necessarily taste that difference. Along the same lines, although she doesn't have access to the variety of foods we have here (which is really a modern American concept), that doesn't mean she won't balk at our concept of food which a lot of times can mean poor ingredients, stale bread and food sitting under a warmer for 15 minutes.

I do think your suggestion to let her to take things slow and easy is a good one.