Taxim By: Steve

Steve lives in Highland Park and enjoys cooking, photography and even hitting the slopes skiing in the winter. He says because he enjoys cooking so much he truly appreciates going out to restaurants and experiencing the creations of a great chef. If you asked him what the best ingredients are for a perfect meal, he would say love and care.

We and another couple had dinner at Taxim last night, a restaurant in the vibrant Wicker Park area. The restaurant is a single storefront space with only a blackboard on the sidewalk and a small sign next to the door to announce its presence. You walk in by a small bar area, and the restaurant space itself is a series of copper topped tables with wooden benches on the wall sides decorated with a variety of throw pillows of different designs and colors. The ceilings are very high, giving the room a pleasant sense of openness.

Corey, our waiter, was very knowledgeable about the menu, which was very helpful since Taxim is not your average Greek restaurant, but shows influences from Cyprus, Turkey, and other parts of the eastern Mediterranean. We started with roasted red and yellow beets served with wilted Swiss chard, counterbalanced by a garlic walnut skordalia (a puree of the walnuts and garlic with Greek olive oil), and a nice feta triangle. Another small plate was a leek pie made with phyllo dough, goat feta, dill and lemon. Green lentils cooked in olive oil and water, served with a balsamic reduction and a triangle of sheep’s feta and semolina pita bites was delicious as well. Baby okra with fresh coriander, tossed with olive oil and thinly sliced pieces of sun-dried tomatoes was a hit with 3 out of the 4 of us, with my wife not so keen on the taste of the okra. There was no greasy or slimy feel to the baby okra, and although the sun-dried tomatoes were too salty by themselves, they countered the need for seasoning of the okra. The only miss on the appetizers was the average and uninspired roasted eggplant variation on baba ghanoush.

Main plates are a good sized portion, and we shared four entrées. We had two orders of the excellent duck gyro, roasted duck breast, and leg meat served wrapped in “Pontian” satz bread with a mint yogurt sauce, and duck fat french fries. The oven roasted whole sea bass was perfectly cooked, and deboned at tableside, served with nicely sautéed dandelion greens. I ordered the fish gyro, a roasted sea bream served in the same satz bread, but with a tahini sauce. I found the bream to be fishy smelling, and excessively salted, and could not recommend it.

We had no room to sample the desserts, but they did look interesting. The wine list is a very extensive introduction to Greek white, reds and a few roses. We had a very nice Santorini Assyritko, full of fruit with a good acid balance.

I would recommend Taxim to experience a more varied Greek culinary excursion.

Taxim 
1558 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 252-1558
http://taximchicago.com/

Most Memorable Experience at Al Bawadi: Jessica Johnson

Jessica is a writer living in Logan Square. She loves dining out and trying new restaurants to experience the culinary creativity in Chicago. Jessica says she's so dedicated to good food that she would be willing to drive all the way to the East Coast for one of her favorite foods, lobster. You can always count on Jessica to be watching Check, Please! as she proclaims that food belongs to ordinary people since everyone can enjoy it!

The other day, a friend and I went to eat at Al Bawadi, a Mediterranean restaurant in Bridgeview, IL. The restaurant is located along a busy road, lined by an endless stretch of strip malls. Despite initial impressions, the suburb is unique; Bridgeview boasts a growing Muslim population, a large community mosque, and many Arab-run businesses. 

I heard about Al Bawadi from a cab driver. A few weeks ago, my flight landed in Chicago at an hour in which I would normally be deep in REM sleep. Yet, I woke up enough to engage in a friendly argument about the best hummus in Chicago (I consider myself somewhat of a hummus aficionado). I said Salam was the best; he said Al-Bawadi. He was persistent. Ever since that late night discussion, the idea of a superior hummus has remained in my mind like a glowing garbanzo bean third eye.

We arrived early, on the second to last day of Ramadan. The restaurant was quiet, with mostly open tables from which to choose. We sat at a table that was reserved for women too shy to eat in public, or for women forbidden to eat in public. When a woman in a burqa comes to eat, the staff drapes a tapestry over the table, so the women can eat in their own private, dim light.

We asked for liquor, which was probably a tacky faux pas at best, and totally offensive at worst. To our credit, the menu proudly served “cocktails.” I just assumed that they might carry stronger cocktails than those fit for an eleven year old. We ended up ordering a mixed fruit drink sans liquor, served with a pistachio sprinkle and fluff of whip cream.

Without really looking at the menu, I ordered hummus, baba ganoush, and a broiled tilapia with saffron rice. Immediately, we were given warm pita, a platter of eggplant/ pepper/ tomato spread, spicy pickled veggies, and fried pita strips in za'atar (za'atar is a spice mix made of oregano, marjoram, thyme, salt, toasted sesame seeds, and sumac), a sort of a Middle-Eastern amuse-bouche. Everything was fantastic; prickling the senses and salivary glands; preparing the tongue and belly for the next stage of the meal.

I was so excited when the hummus and baba ganoush arrived. The hummus had so much tahini, it was dry as the desert. A food imagined in and necessitated by the desert. The baba ganoush was mixed heavily with yogurt, tahini, and sprinkled with sumac. The baba ganoush was light, white, and slightly sour. Both were covered with a generous amount of olive oil, and were absolute, unparalleled perfection.

We had to ask our server to wrap our fish to go. She said, “But you have hardly eaten anything!” Unfortunately, there was room for nothing else. I was in a state of peak satisfaction from the two appetizers.

I will return to this faraway restaurant again and again. Al Bawadi has truly the best hummus in the Chicago-land area. 

Al Bawadi

7216 W 87th Street

Bridgeview, IL 60455

(708)599-1999

http://albawadigrill.com/