Opening a restaurant is hard enough. But opening one with a unique perspective can be even harder.
A new neighborhood restaurant in West Town is taking that path, fearlessly cooking dishes that may not have mass appeal, but are certainly delicious.
If you’re a new restaurant in Chicago, typically over the last year or so, you’re offering pasta or some version of Italian. Why? Because it’s a crowd pleaser and the margins are better. But there are exceptions.
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Warlord is probably the best example, and now, a two-month-old all day restaurant and market on Chicago Avenue, where Midwestern ingredients are given the star treatment.
The homemade focaccia – chewy and dense – is one sign the kitchen takes great care with everything at Nettare, a new restaurant and market near the corner of Chicago and Damen in West Town. From the highly curated list of spirits in their market up front, to the dishes they serve in the airy, spacious dining room in the back, the focus is regional.
“The game plan is to showcase and highlight really cool things from the Midwest and the Great Lakes region,” said John Dahlstrom, the chef of Nettare.
The Food Guy
And few things are as Midwest as Lake Superior whitefish, which Dahlstrom turns into a spreadable rillete along with some grilled focaccia.
“We brine it and then smoke it. Made into rillette using crème fraiche that we make in-house, dill, chives. We dehydrate the skin then we fry it to puff it to make chicharrons to garnish the dish with,” Dahlstrom said.
Porchetta is made in-house, sliced thin, then drizzled with a verdant chimichurri, as well as dollops of orange marmalade all covered with pea shoots.
Walleye is cooked skin-side down so it gets crispy, but the star of the dish is what rests below it: a brodo, or Parmesan-seasoned dark chicken stock that takes two days to make.
“Cook off some onions and garlic in brown butter, add your collards, deglaze that with your brodo; finish with some lemon, some butter, chives,” he said.
Echoing those chives, a final flourish of chive oil.
The surprise hit of the menu is the beef cheek. They’re going through 75 pounds a week. Cheeks are cured in salt overnight, then covered in beef fat and cooked slowly on day two.
“The next day they’re cold and we just put ‘em on the grill to get ‘em nice and crispy so they’re soft on the inside, nice and kind of grilled and crispy with a little bit of char on the outside. Plate it up with a white barbecue sauce – it’s a soubise sauce that’s seasoned like Alabama white barbecue – and then we garnish them with a chili-lemon-olio saccharum, it’s kind of our play on hot honey, and chive oil,” explained Dahlstrom.
Dahlstrom sayid the kitchen also produces some ingredients for their exceptional cocktail program, and he’s hoping the neighborhood embraces their all-day ethos, even if it’s just for happy hour.
“We’re just trying to highlight the cool stuff the Midwest has to offer,” he said.
Everything on the dinner menu is under $30, with one exception called the “Big Animal Dish for Two.” There’s also a tight daytime menu with an incredible lineup of tea options from local tea guru Rare Tea Cellar.
1953 W. Chicago Ave.
