Chicago Kitchen Notebook
An in-depth look at some of our favorite dishes and cocktails from our time on the ground in Chicago.
PROOF IN THE PUDDIN’
When Pastry Chef Becky Pendola planned the Virtue Restaurant dessert menu, Chef-owner Erick Williams brought in all kinds of banana pudding to taste test. Although Pendola never ate banana pudding as a child, a grandmother-like figure, Millie, used to feed her Nilla wafers as a snack, and Pendola’s mother topped desserts with frozen Cool Whip. Pendola tapped into both Williams’ and her own childhood memories to create Millie’s Puddin’ (full recipe here). “This is the quintessential Virtue dessert because it reflects my relationship with Chef Erick,” she says. Instead of starting with a vanilla pudding and adding bananas, she makes banana milk that forms the base, so the overripe banana flavor is infused throughout. Layers of Nilla wafers become soft with a crunchy sprinkle over top. To replicate frozen Cool Whip, Pendola invented a sort of marshmallow/whipped cream hybrid that gets aerated before frozen. The whipping gives it a texture like ice cream, but the lack of eggs helps maintain the glossy white of Cool Whip.
Paradise Found
Traveling to Mexico twice a year, Chef Rishi Manoj Kumar of Bar Sótano spent three years perfecting his carnes apache under the tutelage of Chef Rick Bayless. Manoj Kumar’s treatment of ribeye and tuna references Tenochtitlán (the capital of the Aztec Empire in modern-day central Mexico), where meat was cured with salt then cooked with the acidity of lemon juice and peppers. Immigrants to Veracruz and Baja California inspired the spice mixes, which Manoj Kumar makes into salsa macha. His additions of radish, crunchy kohlrabi, and red vein sorrel are a nod to Chicago. Lastly, he uses a flavor that’s plentiful in his home country of Singapore. Biting like cilantro with a black pepper finish, grains of paradise is incorporated into a crema and the salsa macha. Although the recipe is deeply rooted in Mexico, this international touch was logical to him: “My generation of chefs see the world as a global cuisine.”
RIDING THE TIGER
What do you get when you cross Thai iced tea with Swedish punsch? A Swedish Tiger (full recipe here), a creamy and refreshing drink by Briana Hestad, operations manager and co-owner of Ørkenoy. When the Thai iced tea craving hit, Hestad doubled-down on the herbaceousness of Pantai Norasingh tea and fortified the cocktail with astringency and complexity, while still allowing the signature velvety texture and sweetness to shine. For weight and a bit of funk, she looked to Batavia-Arrack van Oosten, a pre-Prohibition spirit of sugar cane and red rice. “It can be difficult to work with,” she says. “You gotta find things to complement or mask it, which is how we came up with this.” Paired with its cousin of sorts, Kronan Swedish punsch, the beverage takes on warm spice and notes of smoky caramel. To balance things out, Hestad adds Bonal and rose syrup for a delicate floral flavor and aromatics. All that’s left is to pour over a generous dose of half-and-half (or coconut milk for the dairy-averse) and watch the cream swirl.
SMASH HIT
When Chef-owner Tyler Nickson of Three House sat down to develop the perfect smash burger recipe, he quickly decided that bone marrow was a nonnegotiable ingredient. In his version, hundreds of pounds of beef bones soak for two days before he scrapes out the marrow, freezes it, then grinds it with brisket and chuck. The buttery fat makes for a melt-in-your-mouth patty with crispy edges—no oil needed. Nickson cuts through the bone marrow with smoked and pickled white onions and sharp, funky Hook’s three-year cheddar. The cheese is shredded to “get the good cheesy bits and not some big, melty piece of cheese,” Nickson says. With its sweet caramelized onions, garlic aïoli, and sesame-studded potato roll, the burger was an instant hit—Three House sold hundreds in its first month open. “This is our thing,” Nickson says. “I learned in the first month that we are a smash burger place.”
