Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Cutting-Edge Kitchens
133
Schwa
Molecular Gastronomy in Chicago #3
Chicago, Illinois
If Alinea is the overachieving oldest
brother and Moto the smart-alecky middle
kid, then Schwa is the lovable baby of Chi-
cago's new wave trio. Opened in 2006,
this tiny storefront restaurant out in boho
Wicker Park only seats 26 diners at a time.
Pale green walls and simple black furniture
is about it for decor—that and a window in
the back wall that lets you look into the
cramped kitchen. Sommelier? Wine pair-
ings? Nope, this joint is strictly BYOB. And
with a staff of only four, your server tonight
will also be the guy who's cooking your
meal. But hey, who better to explain what
the heck it is you're eating?
Chef-owner Michael Carlson, who car-
ries on a running conversation with diners
in between flurries of cooking, makes no
secret of his admiration for Grant Achatz,
with whom he worked a few years ago at
Trio. Though he doesn't have the same
state-of-the-art kitchen as Achatz, Carlson
employs a lot of the same innovative tech-
niques—emulsifying gels, liquid nitrogen,
cryovac, sous-vide. And while he doesn't
have Alinea's dizzying assortment of spe-
cial custom-designed plates, his menu
items still look like miniature works of art,
stunningly composed on their simple
white plates.
The thing that really matters, of course,
is that Carlson's food just plain tastes
good. For a starter, you might have a tea-
cup of vividly salty consommé made from
prosciutto, with a tiny ball of melon bob-
bing in the bottom; or perhaps you'll get a
rich soup of Belgian Chimay cheese,
topped with a “head” of Chimay ale emul-
sion and a warm pretzel knot (there's even
a dried sheet of solid mustard to add tang
to the pretzel). A salad of divinely flavorful
heirloom tomatoes comes topped not
only with the tried-and-true tastes of bal-
samic vinegar and olive oil, but also with a
scoop of perky tomato sorbet.
Carlson's sensory imagination some-
times rises to the level of sheer poetry. Cut
into a delicate ravioli with your fork and
the yolk of a lightly poached quail egg
streams out, made even creamier by a
touch of ricotta and Parmesan. Briny
chunks of quick-pickled Jonah crab comes
with alternating bites of earthy celery-root
puree. Rare slices of antelope meat, with
their juicy gaminess, are dusted with curry
powder and then swirled through white
chocolate pudding. A cube of toasted bri-
oche oozes the essence of hot, concen-
trated banana puree.
Schwa (the name comes from a pho-
netic symbol for an unstressed vowel) has
a three-course tasting menu and a nine-
course tasting menu; even the nine-course
one only costs about half of Alinea's grand
tour. And you'll want the nine-course, not
only to sample more of Carlson's creative
dishes, but also to prolong your stay in this
mellow, upbeat spot. Dinner is served
Tuesday through Saturday; call for reser-
vations. Just hope one of the guys in the
kitchen picks up the phone.
1466 N. Ashland St. (
&
773/252-1466;
http://schwarestaurant.com).
(
O'Hare International (15 miles/24km).
L
$$
Homewood Suites,
40 E. Grand
St., Chicago (
&
800/CALL-HOME
[800/
225-4663] or 312/644-2222; www.home
woodsuiteschicago.com). $$
Hotel Alle-
gro Chicago,
171 N. Randolph St., Chicago
(
&
800/643-1500
or 312/236-0123; www.
allegrochicago.com).
