Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/841201
s u m m e r 2 0 1 7 | 7 1 Parachute Two years ago when Parachute was vying for the title of best new restaurant in the country, the spot was crammed with chefs in town for the Beard awards, happily digging into Johnny Clark and Beverly Kim's eccentric riff on Korean food. (The husband and wife team were nominees for Best Chef Great Lakes this year.) Opened on a shoestring, the res- taurant is high-energy and fun. Bring at least four people to check out the crazy goodmandu (dumplings) filled with stinging nettles and pecorino. A bowl ofnoodles, maybe fat springy udon in a broth with squid and pork jowl, is soul-satisfying. So is the bibimbop, rice cooked in a smoking hot stone bowl with delicate maitake mushrooms and smoked onion. Be sure to scrape up the crunchy bits at the bottom of the bowl. And you can't leave without orderingthe signaturemung bean pancake laced with delicious fatty pork belly and served with a pineapple butter. There's much more for the hungry— skate wing, roasted duck and grilled pork at the very least, plus a wide-ranging list ofinteresting wines, spirits and dessert wines. For more on Chicago's vibrant food scene, follow The Feed podcast (thefeed- podcast.libsyn.com) from food journalist Steve Dolinsky and chef Rick Bayless, and Phil Vettel's astute restaurant reviews in The Chicago Tribune. Monteverde Chef Sarah Grueneberg, who came up under Tony Montana at Spiaggia,just won Best Chef Great Lakes. Her award couldn't be more deserved: Her food at Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio is earthy and soulful. The room is spacious and comfortable, the service spot-on and prices are unbelievably moderate for the quality. Start with a couple of snack-sized spiedini, or maybe ribbons of gloriously fatty Mangalitsa pork threaded onto a skewer or violet-tinged octopus strung with leek and Japanese sweet potato. Like me, you might not be able to resist the starter of skate wing schnitzel topped with a gentle kraut, roasted baby beets and bacon. And then there is, of course, pasta, which is really why you're here.The menu proposes a handful of choices, each terrific in its own way. Tortelli verdi are plump with ricotta and greens flavored with a little pancetta and balsamic. Grueneberg makes an arrabbiata with wok-fried spaghetti and sweet Gulf shrimp with charred garlic and hot pepper oil. And her cacio whey pepe is a game-changer, made with bucatini, pecorino Romano, a four-pepper- corn blend—and the whey from making ricotta. It's hard not to want to try every one of her pastas. To note: Cocktails are delicious, and the shrewd wine list offers little-known gems. Can I just move in? PHOTO COURTESY OF LEÑA BRAVA Chef Sarah Grueneberg of Monteverde won Best Chef Great Lakes at the James Beard Foundation Restaurant Awards. Housemade pastas at Monteverde include tortelli verdi with ricotta and greens, flavored with pancetta and balsamic. PHOTO: GALDONES PHOTOGRAPHY Husband and wife team Johnny Clark and Beverly Kim cook eccentric Korean food at Parachute. PHOTO: CORY DEWALD PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTO: CORY DEWALD PHOTOGRAPHY Even salad packs a punch at Parachute, with gem lettuce with herb dressing and green almonds. ■cr