New Restaurant Roundup, Spring Edition
New restaurants emerge in Chicago practically on a daily basis, which is great for all those who love good food, yet potentially crippling for the indecisive. Here to navigate some of the season’s standouts, notable new openings include a couple seafood spots, a couple barbecue spots, and a new location for a wine-fueled favorite.
Restaurateurs David Flom and Matt Moore have turf covered with Chicago Cut. Now they’re adding surf to their portfolio with the opening of C Chicago in the bygone Keefer’s space. Inspired by Mediterranean seafood, the duo along with chef Bill Montagne are bringing a pristine taste of the oceans to the Midwest in a bold (and big) new way. Leaning more towards the fine dining spectrum, C Chicago displays Montagne’s knack for meticulous nautical technique, dealing in flown-in-daily seafood and fish for dishes like scallop carpaccio, sea urchin pasta, whole-roasted Dover sole, and an awe-inducing presentation of pastry-encrusted turbot. Just as Chicago Cut rounds out their meat-heavy menu with some seafood, C Chicago does likewise by augmenting their oceanic provisions with beef dishes like a 24-ounce bone-in rib-eye. There’s also a surf & turf dish made with A5 Kobe beef and butter-poached lobster.
In a totally different part of town, another seafood restaurant has washed ashore. Sink|Swim, the first restaurant-focused concept from the Scofflaw Group skews more casual and contemporary on the outreaches of Logan Square. The group brought in esteemed Cleveland-bred chef Matt Danko to captain the kitchen, who presides over a menu of modern coastal creations. These run the gamut from small plates like shrimp toast tea sandwiches and beef and oyster tartare to fresh oysters and entrees like warm smoked fish, fish & chips, and clam-strewn spaghetti.
From seafood to smoky meats, the other omnipresence amid Chicago’s latest openings is barbecue, starting with the onset of New York-based Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. The first Midwestern location of this East Coast favorite set up shop in Lincoln Park with an enormous bi-level space. As the aroma of billowing smoke will indicate, the focus here is on the Southern-tinged meat menu. Everything from BBQ chicken wings and pulled pork to succulent beef brisket and St. Louis-style ribs are present and accounted for, along with Chicago-exclusive creations like jerk lamb shoulder and the pork “3-way,” a trifecta of crispy belly, hot link sausage, and St. Louis ribs with chow-chow.
Meanwhile, up in Andersonville, Pork Shoppe has expanded from its Avondale roots to open a large new outpost of its own. The barn-like space is a sprawling enhancement of the original, outfitted with a 20-foot bar, flat-screen televisions, and private event space. The meat of the matter, though, is the pork belly pastrami. And the coffee-rubbed chopped brisket. And the Nashville-style hot chicken. You get the drill. Housemade sausages, pulled pork, smoked whitefish brandade, craft beers, and whiskey cocktails round out the repertoire.
Shockingly, there were restaurants that opened recently that didn’t boast a palpable seafood or barbecue focus. One such example is Bin 36, a name you probably recognize as an established entity in the Chicago dining and drinking scene. That’s probably because it reigned supreme in River North for more than 15 years before shuttering and relocating to the West Loop. Now, Bin 36 2.0 sports a heightened focus on seasonal American cuisine to complement its renowned penchant for wine. Oenophiles will swoon over the 55-bottle reserve list, the 48 wines available by the glass, and even the wine-focused cocktails. To eat, chef Shane Graybeal gets crafty with seasonal inspirations like pimento cheese fritters, charred carrots, and a spring risotto studded with peas, asparagus, and green garlic.
C Chicago
20 W. Kinzie Street, Chicago
(312) 280-8882
Website
Sink|Swim
3213 W. Armitage Avenue, Chicago
(773) 486-7465
Website
Dinosaur Bar-B-Que
923 W. Weed Street, Chicago
(312) 462-1053
Website
Pork Shoppe
5721 N. Clark Street, Chicago
(773) 654-1800
Website
Bin 36
161 N. Jefferson Street, Chicago
(312) 995-6560
Website
