July 15, 2025 • 18 mins
Gas up the car, we're headed to the suburbs for today's episode. John and Amy talk about the best food and drink outside of the city, including some of John's favorite Japanese restaurants. Plus, we get the lowdown on Cafe Yaya, the new all-day spot in Lincoln Park from the team behind Galit.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
John Kessler (00:00):
You have a car.
(00:00):
You know somebody who has a car.
(00:07):
Yes,
Amy Cavanaugh (00:08):
Welcome to Dish From Chicago Magazine. I'm Amy
Cavanaugh, Chicago magazine'sdining editor.
John Kessler (00:08):
And I'm John Kessler, Chicago magazine's
dining critic.
Amy Cavanaugh (00:08):
Today we're digging into our coverage of our
suburban dining feature, whichis in the new issue of the
magazine. We're also going totalk about John's latest review,
which is of Cafe Yaya, the newLincoln Park Cafe from the Galit
team. We're also going to sharethe best things we've eaten
Unknown (00:08):
much good food to discover. And isn't that like
(01:34):
what this is all about?
Amy Cavanaugh (01:35):
Completely agree.
I mean, I could stay withinChicago limits and never run out
of restaurants to try or eat at,but I find that when I do
venture out to the suburbs, Ialways find something
delightful. There's alwayssomething new to try. You know,
places I've never heard of comeup out of nowhere, like I spend
time in Highwood and until PeterSagal wrote about Da Local Boy,
a new Hawaiian spot, I hadn'teven heard of it. So that's on
(01:59):
my list for the next time I'm upthere. So to kind of kick things
off, John, what suburbs do youtend to find yourself eating in?
John Kessler (02:08):
Well, Amy, I don't know if you've noticed this, but
I'm very fond of Asian food. Andyeah, actually I am, and because
of that, I have done a lot ofexploring around Arlington
Heights and Schaumburg,Palatine. You know, all those
areas up around the airportwhere there just is so much to
(02:30):
try so many good Japanese,Indian, and Korean restaurants.
How about you?
Amy Cavanaugh (02:37):
I tend to eat more on the North Shore,
Highwood, Highland Park, LakeForest. I like to go to kind of
the more classic old schoolspots up there. I love Del Rio,
which is kind of, it's a100-plus-year-old, like
Italian-ish supper club.
Washington Gardens is, you know,very similar concept. And it's
just started bringing theirpizzas into the city. Once Upon
(02:59):
a Bagel is very classic, too.
And then I also go toLincolnwood spots like L. Woods
and EJ's Place. So definitelykind of a different sort of
suburban dining focus than you.
Yeah, definitely, wow. But yeah,why do you think so many of the
really great Asian places areopening in the suburbs, or have
(03:21):
been there for a while.
John Kessler (03:24):
It's where the people live. You know, I feel
like in cities all around thecountry, immigrant populations
come and there are enclaveswithin the city limits. You
know, places here, like DevonAvenue, with its South Asian
population, the kind of KoreaTown that existed up in Albany
(03:45):
Park area and Japanese inLakeview. But then, as you know,
time went on and people did welland sent their kids to school
and everything. Then a lot ofpeople moved out to the suburbs,
and so that's kind of where thepopulations are. And I gotta
say, coming from the South,which, you know, Southern cities
(04:07):
are just basically nothing butsuburbs strung together by
highways. And like the Asianrestaurants, the immigrant-owned
restaurants in the South arejust all throughout the cities.
And so that becomes a big partof what we like to do when we go
and eat is to find the cool, newrestaurants that people are
eating at.
Amy Cavanaugh (04:26):
So for this feature, you wrote about
Japanese food, and you pickedthree of your favorite spots.
Can you tell us about yourgo-tos?
John Kessler (04:33):
Sure, and let me just preface this by saying,
right out of college, I went andlived in Japan for a couple of
years. This was, you know,decades ago when Japanese food
seemed super weird to a lot ofthe other Americans living
there. I loved it right away. I,you know, had no qualms about
eating raw fish, which, believeit or not, like there were
(04:54):
people who in my cohort whowould go there to, you know,
work and live in Japan and werelike, No, I don't eat raw fish.
Amy Cavanaugh (05:02):
Wow.
John Kessler (05:03):
I know, right? It was a different era, I know. But
anyhow, so what I love is theJapanese restaurants that
Japanese people go to are all inthe suburbs, the ones that just
really feel like the good littleneighborhood restaurants where
you come from. My favorite isTorizen. I go there quite often.
(05:25):
I love lunch, where you getthese nice teishoku sets, you
know, which are basically, youknow, your box lunch sets with a
little this, little that, andthe main course, and then at
night, it's a real-deal izakaya,where it's beautiful, fun, small
plates, interesting food thatdoesn't cater to the taste of
(05:46):
non-Japanese people. I alsoreally love ramen house
Shinchan. There are three ofthem. I went to the one in
Palatine, and I keep going backthere. They do different kinds
of ramen, including somethingcalled bet-con, which is best
condition ramen. It's a Nagoyastyle that has a lot of roasted
garlic cloves in it and a lot ofstir-fried vegetables. And it's
(06:08):
supposed to—
Amy Cavanaugh (06:08):
That sounds delicious.
John Kessler (06:09):
It is so good, and it is just like a big pile of
slurpness, you know. And whatelse I like? The Torino, which a
Japanese-American friendintroduced me to. It's a ramen
spot in Wilmette, and they'veexpanded in their mini mall from
one storefront to the next tothe next, and they do sushi and
(06:29):
izakaya-style cooking, too.
Amy Cavanaugh (06:31):
So very cool.
Well, we covered a lot of otherthings in this package, too.
And, you know, similar toJapanese food, there's a real
Middle Eastern food enclave outin Bridgeview, and Titus
Ruscitti, who's one of our greatwriters, took a little trip out
there and picked five favoritesof his, which would set anyone
up for a really good tour. Hetalked about dishes like the
(06:54):
smoked beef ribs at M’daKhan,which I have been hearing such
fantastic things about thatrestaurant, and it's like, high
on my list of places to go.
John Kessler (07:03):
Oh yeah.
Amy Cavanaugh (07:03):
And yeah, and we have a stunning photo of that.
And then he also mentioned spotslike Reef Kabob for the kofta
kebabs and Al Manakeesh for theza’atar with cheese flat bread,
which sounds great. But it's notall international food that we
covered out in the burbs. LizGrossman, who's a new writer to
us, has a great story on threebig Chicago chefs who have made
(07:28):
their made their names of thecity, and then headed out to the
burbs to open new spots. Theyinclude Chris Curren at the
Grateful Ordinary, José Sosa atThe Greggory, and Todd Stein at
Deere Park, which is a newHighwood spot that I've been to
and I had a really great mealthere, and very much looking
forward to going back there.
They have an excellent martiniand I love the roast chicken out
(07:48):
there. There's really a lot thathas been happening out in the
suburbs. There's there's justreally so much new stuff.
Another spot that I have on mylist to get to is Five O Four
Kitchen in Glen Ellyn. Have youbeen there yet?
John Kessler (08:02):
I have not, but I know the chef Cristian Orozco.
Is that his name? Yes, I've notbeen there, but I know the chef
Cristian Orozco and I tried hisfood when he was at that great
brunch spot in Pilsen, Frida,and he was doing Frida De Noche,
and it was an evening kind oftasting menu. And I think he's
(08:24):
really talented.
Amy Cavanaugh (08:26):
Yeah, it sounds like he's doing something really
cool out here, where it's an $85create-your-own five-course
tasting menu. Definitely feelslike it's worth, worth a visit.
And then our cover models arethe donuts from Sweet Circle,
which is in Elmhurst. And theyoffer, you know, classic donuts,
like classic old fashioned andglazed. But they also offer
(08:48):
these really fascinatinginternational donuts, including,
like mango lassi, the viralDubai chocolate that's
everywhere—
John Kessler (08:55):
Oh my god.
Amy Cavanaugh (08:56):
Chocolate and pistachio and phyllo dough, and
then a mole donut, which I thinksounds really fantastic. Lots of
great ideas for where to eat anddrink in the suburbs, whether
you live out there or you livein the city and are looking for
a good summer excursion.
(09:19):
John, so for this issue, yourreview is of Cafe Yaya. What's
the story behind this place?
John Kessler (09:25):
So this is the second restaurant from the team
behind Galit, which is rightnext door in Lincoln Park. And
they are Zach Engel, theexecutive chef, and Andrés
Clavero, who is the generalmanager and partner, and Galit
is, by our account, and mostpeople's accounts, one of the
(09:47):
best restaurants in Chicago.
Galit serves the kind ofLevantine cooking that you would
find in the Middle East, youknow, largely Palestine, Israel.
And on that area, Zach hadtrained at the great Israeli
restaurant Shaya in New Orleans.
He is the son of a rabbi. He hasbeen to Israel. He knows a lot
(10:10):
about that cooking. He's also aSouthern boy who loves Southern
food, and so for their secondrestaurant, it's kind of the
stuff Zach wants to cook. It's amixture of Southern favorites,
like, you know, baked oystersand collard greens alongside
some very interesting dips. Butmostly it's an all day cafe. And
(10:33):
what Zach was thinking was justto have a restaurant where you
could stop in any time of theday or night. You know, at night
it would be a more involveddinner with table service. At
breakfast, you could pick up apastry at the counter, and at
lunch, you could order at thecounter, and then they'd bring
you, like, a nice salad orsomething like that. He really
wanted something that felt likewhat you would find in Paris or
(10:56):
Tel Aviv.
Amy Cavanaugh (10:58):
I can totally see what he's going for with the
concept, which you know verydifferent from what they're
doing at Galit. I know you havevisited many times. You had
seven meals before?
John Kessler (11:08):
Yes, I did.
Amy Cavanaugh (11:09):
Yeah. I think this is a record for the most
times you visited before writinga review. But kind of tell me
about your your takeaways. Whatwere your what were your
thoughts?
John Kessler (11:17):
So my biggest takeaway was
Zach's cooking, I think when Iwent, they're feeling their way
through this very interesting,eclectic menu. Not everything
works. I gave it a good four orfive weeks before I had my first
meal there. But it keepschanging, and it's still very
(11:38):
early in its life. I will saythat I think dinner is very
good. There are a lot of hits onthe menu. There's an amazing
pork schnitzel. There's somegreat pastry and baked goods
from Mary Eder-McClure, theGalit pastry chef, which can be
absolutely phenomenal, and Ilike it a lot. I want to keep
(12:00):
going. I have not lovedeverything I had, but it's the
kind of restaurant where it'snot so much you want to go and
try everything on the menu andwork like hell to get a
reservation. It's the kind ofplace where you think, Hmm, what
do I feel like eating tonight?
Well, this will work, and thenit will exceed your
expectations.
Amy Cavanaugh (12:21):
Yeah, I totally can see that. I've been twice
myself. I went once for lunchand once for dinner. I think I'd
be more inclined to go back fordinner. So for dinner, I really
had the fantastic schnitzel. Iabsolutely love that, super
crispy. I love the French Onionlabneh dip with malawach, which
is a flaky flatbread. And thenmy lunch was good. I had a
chicken shawarma wrap and trieda few pastries, and I was there
(12:44):
with a friend who's gluten free,and so she was kind of
struggling a little bit, andmidway through our meal, they
brought over just a gluten-freetea cake for her, which was just
like the most thoughtful thing,and it wound up being one of our
favorite things that we hadduring the meal. So I thought
the service was really great atboth my lunch and my dinner. And
(13:05):
definitely would look forward togoing back. I haven't done
breakfast yet, though. Was thereanything at breakfast that you
would recommend?
John Kessler (13:13):
I mean, for me, I really like the pastries from
the pastry case. There's thisShakshuka bun. They do. You
know, shakshukas that eggs, youknow, that are like baked in
tomato sauce, the North Africandip dish that you dip pita bread
in, and they take all thosecomponents, and they bake it
into this kind of crisp bottomchallah bun. And it's really,
(13:35):
really good. I tried one of thebreakfast sandwiches, and it was
just kind of like, a bunch ofcold things that didn't really
seem to like each other inside abun. So I don't think I got the
best version of it. I have afeeling like it was supposed to
be hot, and just wasn't, youknow, all there the day I went,
but I would definitely go backand, you know, pick up a coffee
and a pastry, for sure. Andalso, I don't think we
(13:57):
mentioned, but there's reallynice wine list there from Scott
Stroemer, who does the wines atGalit and it's just a good
variety of nice things to drinkby the glass, whether your taste
is more like skin contact ormore natural, or you want
something a little moreclassical, it's all there.
There's some interestingcocktails. I tried a few of
them. I am never, ever gonna beon Team tahini-washed vermouth,
(14:21):
but that's me.
Amy Cavanaugh (14:22):
Yeah, I did not try any cocktails, but I had
some very nice wines as well. Soreally enjoyed that wine
program. Yeah. And one otherthing that I really liked was a
great brownie. I feel like youdon't see good brownies around
town very often, and Iparticularly like this one,
really good and fudgy.
John Kessler (14:40):
So if you're gonna go to Cafe Yaya. Like, you know,
don't go out of your way to getthe 7 p.m. Saturday night
reservation. Go some like, go.
Go Wednesday, when you'rethinking, let's go out to
dinner. Get some of the dips andspreads. Get the pork schnitzel,
which is amazing. And the bakedleeks are really great. The
(15:01):
sweet breads are very fun. Andyou know, just go in, walk in,
you may have to wait a littlebit. It'll be worth it.
Amy Cavanaugh (15:20):
John, what's the best thing you ate lately?
John Kessler (15:23):
So I've been going to Green City Market every
Saturday, and I'm so happy thatthis new stall called Sidekick
is there. I love them. Do youknow them? They are so cool.
Yeah, it's this young couple,Alex and Jenny. They make a lot
of ferments, kimchi, pickles,all sorts of things. And they
(15:43):
make kimbap, you know, thoseKorean sushi rolls filled with
their own fermented pickles andspinach and egg omelet and beef.
And it's just like it's, youknow, when it's like 95 degrees
out on a summer day. I don'tknow what all y'all
Midwesterners do eating grilledcheese sandwiches, but the
kimbap is great. How about you—
Amy Cavanaugh (16:05):
I've had it. It is, yes, it's delicious. And
they're also at the Wednesdaymarket too. I go every Wednesday
morning, and I've had that forbreakfast. It's delightful.
John Kessler (16:15):
Kimbap for breakfast is one of the great
unsung you know, delights ineating. I think.
Amy Cavanaugh (16:21):
Yes, all right, well, and I just had dinner at
Aba recently when it was one ofthose, like, 92-degree days and
sitting out in the sun, and itwas just like unbearably hot. So
we had this beautiful tuna andwatermelon like poke with
radishes and cucumbers and ayuzu vinaigrette, and it was
just like the most refreshingsummery plate I could imagine.
(16:43):
And it was like, just perfectfor dinner.
John Kessler (16:45):
Oh, wow, that sounds great. Were you up there
on the rooftop?
Amy Cavanaugh (16:48):
I was on the roof. And also, if you go you
have to get the Thirst Trapcocktail. It is, they do a
really good job with frozendrinks there. And it's like
Aperol and fruity. And it wasreally, really great.
John Kessler (17:00):
Okay, can I take a selfie of myself with the Thirst
Trap cocktail making like poutyfish lips, you know, and put it
up on my Instagram?
Amy Cavanaugh (17:09):
Yes.
John Kessler (17:09):
Okay,
Amy Cavanaugh (17:09):
I was only slightly embarrassed by the name
of it, but I got over it.
Thanks for joining us for thisepisode of Dish From Chicago
Magazine. Your hosts are diningeditor Amy Cavanaugh and critic
John Kessler. editing by SarahSteimer and music by Bill
(17:31):
Harris. You can find us onlineat chicagomag.com. Please be
sure to follow, rate, and reviewus wherever you get your
podcasts. We'll see you nexttime.
You have a car.
(00:00):
You know somebody who has a car.
(00:07):
Yes,
Amy Cavanaugh (00:08):
Welcome to Dish From Chicago Magazine. I'm Amy
Cavanaugh, Chicago magazine'sdining editor.
John Kessler (00:08):
And I'm John Kessler, Chicago magazine's
dining critic.
Amy Cavanaugh (00:08):
Today we're digging into our coverage of our
suburban dining feature, whichis in the new issue of the
magazine. We're also going totalk about John's latest review,
which is of Cafe Yaya, the newLincoln Park Cafe from the Galit
team. We're also going to sharethe best things we've eaten
Unknown (00:08):
much good food to discover. And isn't that like
(01:34):
what this is all about?
Amy Cavanaugh (01:35):
Completely agree.
I mean, I could stay withinChicago limits and never run out
of restaurants to try or eat at,but I find that when I do
venture out to the suburbs, Ialways find something
delightful. There's alwayssomething new to try. You know,
places I've never heard of comeup out of nowhere, like I spend
time in Highwood and until PeterSagal wrote about Da Local Boy,
a new Hawaiian spot, I hadn'teven heard of it. So that's on
(01:59):
my list for the next time I'm upthere. So to kind of kick things
off, John, what suburbs do youtend to find yourself eating in?
John Kessler (02:08):
Well, Amy, I don't know if you've noticed this, but
I'm very fond of Asian food. Andyeah, actually I am, and because
of that, I have done a lot ofexploring around Arlington
Heights and Schaumburg,Palatine. You know, all those
areas up around the airportwhere there just is so much to
(02:30):
try so many good Japanese,Indian, and Korean restaurants.
How about you?
Amy Cavanaugh (02:37):
I tend to eat more on the North Shore,
Highwood, Highland Park, LakeForest. I like to go to kind of
the more classic old schoolspots up there. I love Del Rio,
which is kind of, it's a100-plus-year-old, like
Italian-ish supper club.
Washington Gardens is, you know,very similar concept. And it's
just started bringing theirpizzas into the city. Once Upon
(02:59):
a Bagel is very classic, too.
And then I also go toLincolnwood spots like L. Woods
and EJ's Place. So definitelykind of a different sort of
suburban dining focus than you.
Yeah, definitely, wow. But yeah,why do you think so many of the
really great Asian places areopening in the suburbs, or have
(03:21):
been there for a while.
John Kessler (03:24):
It's where the people live. You know, I feel
like in cities all around thecountry, immigrant populations
come and there are enclaveswithin the city limits. You
know, places here, like DevonAvenue, with its South Asian
population, the kind of KoreaTown that existed up in Albany
(03:45):
Park area and Japanese inLakeview. But then, as you know,
time went on and people did welland sent their kids to school
and everything. Then a lot ofpeople moved out to the suburbs,
and so that's kind of where thepopulations are. And I gotta
say, coming from the South,which, you know, Southern cities
(04:07):
are just basically nothing butsuburbs strung together by
highways. And like the Asianrestaurants, the immigrant-owned
restaurants in the South arejust all throughout the cities.
And so that becomes a big partof what we like to do when we go
and eat is to find the cool, newrestaurants that people are
eating at.
Amy Cavanaugh (04:26):
So for this feature, you wrote about
Japanese food, and you pickedthree of your favorite spots.
Can you tell us about yourgo-tos?
John Kessler (04:33):
Sure, and let me just preface this by saying,
right out of college, I went andlived in Japan for a couple of
years. This was, you know,decades ago when Japanese food
seemed super weird to a lot ofthe other Americans living
there. I loved it right away. I,you know, had no qualms about
eating raw fish, which, believeit or not, like there were
(04:54):
people who in my cohort whowould go there to, you know,
work and live in Japan and werelike, No, I don't eat raw fish.
Amy Cavanaugh (05:02):
Wow.
John Kessler (05:03):
I know, right? It was a different era, I know. But
anyhow, so what I love is theJapanese restaurants that
Japanese people go to are all inthe suburbs, the ones that just
really feel like the good littleneighborhood restaurants where
you come from. My favorite isTorizen. I go there quite often.
(05:25):
I love lunch, where you getthese nice teishoku sets, you
know, which are basically, youknow, your box lunch sets with a
little this, little that, andthe main course, and then at
night, it's a real-deal izakaya,where it's beautiful, fun, small
plates, interesting food thatdoesn't cater to the taste of
(05:46):
non-Japanese people. I alsoreally love ramen house
Shinchan. There are three ofthem. I went to the one in
Palatine, and I keep going backthere. They do different kinds
of ramen, including somethingcalled bet-con, which is best
condition ramen. It's a Nagoyastyle that has a lot of roasted
garlic cloves in it and a lot ofstir-fried vegetables. And it's
(06:08):
supposed to—
Amy Cavanaugh (06:08):
That sounds delicious.
John Kessler (06:09):
It is so good, and it is just like a big pile of
slurpness, you know. And whatelse I like? The Torino, which a
Japanese-American friendintroduced me to. It's a ramen
spot in Wilmette, and they'veexpanded in their mini mall from
one storefront to the next tothe next, and they do sushi and
(06:29):
izakaya-style cooking, too.
Amy Cavanaugh (06:31):
So very cool.
Well, we covered a lot of otherthings in this package, too.
And, you know, similar toJapanese food, there's a real
Middle Eastern food enclave outin Bridgeview, and Titus
Ruscitti, who's one of our greatwriters, took a little trip out
there and picked five favoritesof his, which would set anyone
up for a really good tour. Hetalked about dishes like the
(06:54):
smoked beef ribs at M’daKhan,which I have been hearing such
fantastic things about thatrestaurant, and it's like, high
on my list of places to go.
John Kessler (07:03):
Oh yeah.
Amy Cavanaugh (07:03):
And yeah, and we have a stunning photo of that.
And then he also mentioned spotslike Reef Kabob for the kofta
kebabs and Al Manakeesh for theza’atar with cheese flat bread,
which sounds great. But it's notall international food that we
covered out in the burbs. LizGrossman, who's a new writer to
us, has a great story on threebig Chicago chefs who have made
(07:28):
their made their names of thecity, and then headed out to the
burbs to open new spots. Theyinclude Chris Curren at the
Grateful Ordinary, José Sosa atThe Greggory, and Todd Stein at
Deere Park, which is a newHighwood spot that I've been to
and I had a really great mealthere, and very much looking
forward to going back there.
They have an excellent martiniand I love the roast chicken out
(07:48):
there. There's really a lot thathas been happening out in the
suburbs. There's there's justreally so much new stuff.
Another spot that I have on mylist to get to is Five O Four
Kitchen in Glen Ellyn. Have youbeen there yet?
John Kessler (08:02):
I have not, but I know the chef Cristian Orozco.
Is that his name? Yes, I've notbeen there, but I know the chef
Cristian Orozco and I tried hisfood when he was at that great
brunch spot in Pilsen, Frida,and he was doing Frida De Noche,
and it was an evening kind oftasting menu. And I think he's
(08:24):
really talented.
Amy Cavanaugh (08:26):
Yeah, it sounds like he's doing something really
cool out here, where it's an $85create-your-own five-course
tasting menu. Definitely feelslike it's worth, worth a visit.
And then our cover models arethe donuts from Sweet Circle,
which is in Elmhurst. And theyoffer, you know, classic donuts,
like classic old fashioned andglazed. But they also offer
(08:48):
these really fascinatinginternational donuts, including,
like mango lassi, the viralDubai chocolate that's
everywhere—
John Kessler (08:55):
Oh my god.
Amy Cavanaugh (08:56):
Chocolate and pistachio and phyllo dough, and
then a mole donut, which I thinksounds really fantastic. Lots of
great ideas for where to eat anddrink in the suburbs, whether
you live out there or you livein the city and are looking for
a good summer excursion.
(09:19):
John, so for this issue, yourreview is of Cafe Yaya. What's
the story behind this place?
John Kessler (09:25):
So this is the second restaurant from the team
behind Galit, which is rightnext door in Lincoln Park. And
they are Zach Engel, theexecutive chef, and Andrés
Clavero, who is the generalmanager and partner, and Galit
is, by our account, and mostpeople's accounts, one of the
(09:47):
best restaurants in Chicago.
Galit serves the kind ofLevantine cooking that you would
find in the Middle East, youknow, largely Palestine, Israel.
And on that area, Zach hadtrained at the great Israeli
restaurant Shaya in New Orleans.
He is the son of a rabbi. He hasbeen to Israel. He knows a lot
(10:10):
about that cooking. He's also aSouthern boy who loves Southern
food, and so for their secondrestaurant, it's kind of the
stuff Zach wants to cook. It's amixture of Southern favorites,
like, you know, baked oystersand collard greens alongside
some very interesting dips. Butmostly it's an all day cafe. And
(10:33):
what Zach was thinking was justto have a restaurant where you
could stop in any time of theday or night. You know, at night
it would be a more involveddinner with table service. At
breakfast, you could pick up apastry at the counter, and at
lunch, you could order at thecounter, and then they'd bring
you, like, a nice salad orsomething like that. He really
wanted something that felt likewhat you would find in Paris or
(10:56):
Tel Aviv.
Amy Cavanaugh (10:58):
I can totally see what he's going for with the
concept, which you know verydifferent from what they're
doing at Galit. I know you havevisited many times. You had
seven meals before?
John Kessler (11:08):
Yes, I did.
Amy Cavanaugh (11:09):
Yeah. I think this is a record for the most
times you visited before writinga review. But kind of tell me
about your your takeaways. Whatwere your what were your
thoughts?
John Kessler (11:17):
So my biggest takeaway was
Zach's cooking, I think when Iwent, they're feeling their way
through this very interesting,eclectic menu. Not everything
works. I gave it a good four orfive weeks before I had my first
meal there. But it keepschanging, and it's still very
(11:38):
early in its life. I will saythat I think dinner is very
good. There are a lot of hits onthe menu. There's an amazing
pork schnitzel. There's somegreat pastry and baked goods
from Mary Eder-McClure, theGalit pastry chef, which can be
absolutely phenomenal, and Ilike it a lot. I want to keep
(12:00):
going. I have not lovedeverything I had, but it's the
kind of restaurant where it'snot so much you want to go and
try everything on the menu andwork like hell to get a
reservation. It's the kind ofplace where you think, Hmm, what
do I feel like eating tonight?
Well, this will work, and thenit will exceed your
expectations.
Amy Cavanaugh (12:21):
Yeah, I totally can see that. I've been twice
myself. I went once for lunchand once for dinner. I think I'd
be more inclined to go back fordinner. So for dinner, I really
had the fantastic schnitzel. Iabsolutely love that, super
crispy. I love the French Onionlabneh dip with malawach, which
is a flaky flatbread. And thenmy lunch was good. I had a
chicken shawarma wrap and trieda few pastries, and I was there
(12:44):
with a friend who's gluten free,and so she was kind of
struggling a little bit, andmidway through our meal, they
brought over just a gluten-freetea cake for her, which was just
like the most thoughtful thing,and it wound up being one of our
favorite things that we hadduring the meal. So I thought
the service was really great atboth my lunch and my dinner. And
(13:05):
definitely would look forward togoing back. I haven't done
breakfast yet, though. Was thereanything at breakfast that you
would recommend?
John Kessler (13:13):
I mean, for me, I really like the pastries from
the pastry case. There's thisShakshuka bun. They do. You
know, shakshukas that eggs, youknow, that are like baked in
tomato sauce, the North Africandip dish that you dip pita bread
in, and they take all thosecomponents, and they bake it
into this kind of crisp bottomchallah bun. And it's really,
(13:35):
really good. I tried one of thebreakfast sandwiches, and it was
just kind of like, a bunch ofcold things that didn't really
seem to like each other inside abun. So I don't think I got the
best version of it. I have afeeling like it was supposed to
be hot, and just wasn't, youknow, all there the day I went,
but I would definitely go backand, you know, pick up a coffee
and a pastry, for sure. Andalso, I don't think we
(13:57):
mentioned, but there's reallynice wine list there from Scott
Stroemer, who does the wines atGalit and it's just a good
variety of nice things to drinkby the glass, whether your taste
is more like skin contact ormore natural, or you want
something a little moreclassical, it's all there.
There's some interestingcocktails. I tried a few of
them. I am never, ever gonna beon Team tahini-washed vermouth,
(14:21):
but that's me.
Amy Cavanaugh (14:22):
Yeah, I did not try any cocktails, but I had
some very nice wines as well. Soreally enjoyed that wine
program. Yeah. And one otherthing that I really liked was a
great brownie. I feel like youdon't see good brownies around
town very often, and Iparticularly like this one,
really good and fudgy.
John Kessler (14:40):
So if you're gonna go to Cafe Yaya. Like, you know,
don't go out of your way to getthe 7 p.m. Saturday night
reservation. Go some like, go.
Go Wednesday, when you'rethinking, let's go out to
dinner. Get some of the dips andspreads. Get the pork schnitzel,
which is amazing. And the bakedleeks are really great. The
(15:01):
sweet breads are very fun. Andyou know, just go in, walk in,
you may have to wait a littlebit. It'll be worth it.
Amy Cavanaugh (15:20):
John, what's the best thing you ate lately?
John Kessler (15:23):
So I've been going to Green City Market every
Saturday, and I'm so happy thatthis new stall called Sidekick
is there. I love them. Do youknow them? They are so cool.
Yeah, it's this young couple,Alex and Jenny. They make a lot
of ferments, kimchi, pickles,all sorts of things. And they
(15:43):
make kimbap, you know, thoseKorean sushi rolls filled with
their own fermented pickles andspinach and egg omelet and beef.
And it's just like it's, youknow, when it's like 95 degrees
out on a summer day. I don'tknow what all y'all
Midwesterners do eating grilledcheese sandwiches, but the
kimbap is great. How about you—
Amy Cavanaugh (16:05):
I've had it. It is, yes, it's delicious. And
they're also at the Wednesdaymarket too. I go every Wednesday
morning, and I've had that forbreakfast. It's delightful.
John Kessler (16:15):
Kimbap for breakfast is one of the great
unsung you know, delights ineating. I think.
Amy Cavanaugh (16:21):
Yes, all right, well, and I just had dinner at
Aba recently when it was one ofthose, like, 92-degree days and
sitting out in the sun, and itwas just like unbearably hot. So
we had this beautiful tuna andwatermelon like poke with
radishes and cucumbers and ayuzu vinaigrette, and it was
just like the most refreshingsummery plate I could imagine.
(16:43):
And it was like, just perfectfor dinner.
John Kessler (16:45):
Oh, wow, that sounds great. Were you up there
on the rooftop?
Amy Cavanaugh (16:48):
I was on the roof. And also, if you go you
have to get the Thirst Trapcocktail. It is, they do a
really good job with frozendrinks there. And it's like
Aperol and fruity. And it wasreally, really great.
John Kessler (17:00):
Okay, can I take a selfie of myself with the Thirst
Trap cocktail making like poutyfish lips, you know, and put it
up on my Instagram?
Amy Cavanaugh (17:09):
Yes.
John Kessler (17:09):
Okay,
Amy Cavanaugh (17:09):
I was only slightly embarrassed by the name
of it, but I got over it.
Thanks for joining us for thisepisode of Dish From Chicago
Magazine. Your hosts are diningeditor Amy Cavanaugh and critic
John Kessler. editing by SarahSteimer and music by Bill
(17:31):
Harris. You can find us onlineat chicagomag.com. Please be
sure to follow, rate, and reviewus wherever you get your
podcasts. We'll see you nexttime.
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