The Rice Table
With close to 250 million people, Indonesia is the world’s fourth-largest country and its cuisine is one of the tastiest on the planet, so why doesn’t Chicago have a single freestanding Indonesian eatery? Chris Reed, owner/chef of The Rice Table catering company, attributes the absence to greater Chicago’s relatively tiny Indonesian expat community and American unfamiliarity with the rich, spicy fare of the archipelago nation. Fortunately, if you want to sample classic dishes like rendang (beef in coconut curry) and gado gado (salad with vegetables, hard-boiled eggs and tempeh in peanut sauce) Reed serves a monthly rijsttafel, a lavish Dutch-Indonesian buffet, at Andersonville’s Vincent. Here’s hoping he opens his own brick-and-mortar soon. Rijsttafel on the first Sunday of every month, 5:30pm-9pm.

The Rice Table at Vincent, 1475 West Balmoral, (773)334-7168, thericetable.com

Best of Chicago 2012

Calo Ristorante
This family-run restaurant in Andersonville has served classic Italian favorites from Linguini Frutti di Mare (linguini with shrimp, scallops, clams, calamari and black mussels) to Bucatini Pomodoro (tomatoes, asparagus and fresh mozzarella in garlic-white wine sauce) since 1963. And a mid-twentieth-century mahogany bar still exudes “Mad Men”-era supper club warmth. But there’s a problem at Calo: The mains are so good here, but it’s almost impossible to lay off the generous helpings of warm, fluffy, lightly crusted, fresh tomato-topped focaccia bread before dinner reaches the table.

Calo Ristorante, 5343 North Clark, (773)271-7782, calorestaurant.com

Best of Chicago 2012

Edith Hart
Not since Sofia has chic been so… well, chic. Edith Hart stocks cutting-edge brands from foreign locales such as Australia (Bec & Bridge, One Teaspoon, Paper Crown, Wildfox) that you certainly won’t find on Michigan Avenue. Young and trendy with a pulse on the world of fashion, owner Morgan Gutterman stocks her newly renovated store with everything you’ll need to become an overnight fashionista. Best of all? The store’s recently launched web store, ensuring you won’t even need to leave your nest this winter to stock up on blouses, jeans, belts and bags.

Edith Hart, 1917 North Damen, (773)252-3350, edithhart.com

Audience choice: Milk Handmade, 5137 North Clark, (847)833-6309, milkhandmade.com

Best of Chicago 2012

Lady Gregory’s Irish Bar & Restaurant
We’re so glad Lady Gregory’s started a brunch service in October. If it’s half as good as her Irish classic, sticky toffee pudding, we’ll be in Emerald Isle fantasy land. Like the menu reads here, the pudding (a cake, really) is an “indulgence”—topped with toffee sauce and whipped cream. This Andersonville eatery, a nod to the Irish dramatist and folklorist Lady Augusta Gregory, is a sister restaurant to Wilde (an homage in East Lakeview to English author Oscar Wilde) and Beckett’s (a tip of the hat in West Lakeview to Irish playwright Samuel Beckett).

Lady Gregory’s, 5260 North Clark, (773)271-5050, ladygregorys.com

Best of Chicago 2012

In the West Andersonville Gardens, a woodchip trail carves its way through a block of mini-forestry. A collection of sunflowers may brush your arm as you walk by. A feather juts out from one, foreshadowing something ahead. An old wooden wheel leans against a fence, waiting patiently for its wagon. It gathers vines and weeds in its rickety curves. A patch of purple flowers alerts you to an opportunity—stop and smell them. Why not? After all, you’ve just discovered the best secret flower patch in Chicago.

Best of Chicago 2012

The Haymaker Shop

While most of the home décor shops on Andersonville’s Clark Street hawk high-end salvage, Haymaker, which opened in June, features a curated selection of objects from local designers and artists. Proprietor Arrin Williams pairs contemporary, handcrafted furniture with dazzling posters designed by Sonnenzimmer and Legendre & Rutter.

The Haymaker Shop
5507 North Clark
(773)681-0798
haymakershop.com

Best of Chicago 2011

One Sister

She’s the experimental cuisine disciple of Chicago’s underground restaurant movement. Iliana Regan (Trio, Alinea, Schwa) operates her underground supper club, One Sister, from her home in Andersonville. But there’s nothing Sunday-night supper-like about her sensory-stimulating (chicken thighs, liver and truffle ragu with hay sage aroma) plates and thoughtfully themed courses. Regan works overtime—seasonally foraging mushrooms and growing greens like the arugula she uses to make “arugula sponge.” It’s an element of one of her “salad sponges,” her interpretation of a salad course. The sponges are a vehicle for decorative salad elements. They are topped with dollops of homemade goat milk sorbet, sunflower sorbet and tiny, methodically arranged leaves from her Swiss chard, sunflower and pea-shoot plants. Regan pairs music with courses when appropriate: To the tunes of Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit,” she riffs on the mock turtle soup referred to in the “Alice in Wonderland” story—serving pecan ice cream between two maitake mushroom cookies and chamomile pâte de fruit. On the plate, she has penned “eat me” using porcini mushroom caramel. This dessert is served while guests sip maitake mushroom tea from vintage tea cups. The tea is poured over a gelatin capsule Regan has loaded with chamomile and cocoa nibs. The capsule dissolves in the hot tea, casting flavors from within throughout the tea cup. “The cocoa, pecan and caramel flavors in the course are elements of the mock turtle soup in ‘Alice in Wonderland.’ It has been everybody’s favorite for a really long time,” Regan says.

One Sister Inc.
(773)598-0602
onesisterinc.com

Best of Chicago 2011

Icosium Kafe

Step in out of the cold. Drink in the atmosphere of beautiful art and rugs that adorn the walls. Maybe have a cup of Algerian Kafe (sweetness and strength tailored to order) or mint tea. Choose from about twenty different kinds of crepes. Our favorite is the Cheka Chouka: roasted peppers, fresh basil, goat cheese, caramelized onion, fresh roma tomatoes, pine nuts, roasted garlic and baby spinach with a little Merguez (lamb sausage) added. Add a side of Za’atar toast, and a Crepe Icosium—raisins, pears, orange blossom and pistachio ice cream—for dessert. Come with me to ze Casbah…

Icosium Kafe
5200 North Clark
(773)271-5233
icosiumkafechicago.com

Best of Chicago 2011

Hamburger Mary’s 

When you say “check please,” at Hamburger Mary’s, you’ll get the check all right, but it will be delivered in sparkling stiletto. There’s something refreshing, classy and slightly kitschy about receiving a restaurant bill in a ruby slipper. Think glitz, glamour and a bit of Oz.

Hamburger Mary’s
5400 North Clark
(773)784-6969
hamburgermaryschicago.com

Best of Chicago 2011

Ann Sather
Are those cinnamon rolls leaving a bit of a metallic taste in your mouth? Don’t rush to the doctor—it could just be a remnant left from the Stanley Cup’s summer tour of the city. Yes, between bar visits to Underground and Market, the Cup got up early to enjoy brunch at this city favorite alongside team captain Jonathan Toews. Although it was certainly cool to see our Hawks don the trophy on Jay Leno’s show, nothing compares to eating the breakfast of champions next to some real-life champs.

5207 North Clark
(773)271-6677
909 West Belmont
(773)348-2378
3411 North Broadway
(773)404-4475
annsather.com

Audience choice:
Chicago Annual Pride Parade
chicagopridecalendar.org

Best of Chicago 2010