Recent reviews
The menu price of a typical entree is indicated by dollar signs on the following scale: $ less than $10, $$ $10-$15, $$$ $15-$25, $$$$ $25-$30, $$$$$ more than $30
APPELLATION | ANDERSONVILLE $$$
Appellation is dedicated to the idea of incorporating coagulated milk into nearly every dish on the menu. The chef responsible for that commitment is Jesse Williams, formerly of the late Birchwood Kitchen, Lula, Floriole, and Uncommon Ground, and a former cheesemonger for Pastoral itself, experience well suited for, say, choosing the right chevre to bake in pumpkin-tomato sauce (Prairie Fruits Farm and Creamery) or what slice to lay on your patty melt (nutty Swiss Herrgard). Counterintuitively, the problem I found with much of the menu was that these intriguing cheeses are often so subdued in execution that little can be said about their own individual character or how they enhance or complement the whole dish. In some cases they’re hardly evident at all. Probably the best way to approach the menu at the moment is via the cheese plates, which make use of the formidable stock the restaurant has on hand. Set up one of those with a charcuterie plate and a couple bottles of the almost 200 wines—each marked up only $20 over the retail price in the store, and most made by small, sustainable vintners—and the little bar makes a nice place to recharge after a serious buying session at the best cheese shop in town. — MIKE SULA 5212 N. Clark, 773358-7181, pastoralartisan.com/appellation. Dinner: seven days; Bar hours: Monday-Thursday 4 PM-midnight, Friday & Saturday 11 AM-1 AM, Sunday 4-11 PM
BAR MARTA | HUMBOLDT PARK | $$$
This unassuming neighborhood joint was opened by Austin Baker, a former cook at Le Bernardin and a longtime operative for Brendan Sodikoff’s Hogsalt Hospitality. Inside it is squinting dim, a long dining room dominated by a marble bar, white glazed brick barely reflecting enough light to read the menu. It’s definitely Hogsalty in its Victorian gloom. The menu reads that way too: appetizer dominated, with a few entrees and fewer pastas and sides. Still, the predominance of most of these starters underscores the truth in Bar Marta’s name: this is good drinking food, truly communal, with the exception of a handful of salads. Salads here are something more than just a collection of greens to offset the less virtuous things you’re eating. Among larger entrees there are a few that shouldn’t go unnoticed: hearty meatballs, a simple roast chicken. My only real disappointments at Bar Marta were the pasta dishes. Among four desserts a hazelnut chocolate tart with Nutella ganache provided a dense, rich footnote to a relatively light meal of shared appetizers and drinks from the list of rigorously orthodox classic cocktails, while a lighter and more cheffy banana- rum cake draped in glassy caramel was an appropriate ending to a visit that consisted largely of entrees and bottles of dry cava. — MIKE SULA 2700 W. Chicago, 773-697-4489, barmarta.com. Dinner: Tuesday- Saturday. Open late: Thursday-Saturday till 12:30, other nights till 11:30