Between strives to steer a middle course between a trendy nightclub and a cutting-edge restaurant and succeeds. The minute you walk through the door the soaring red brick walls, cockatoo-feathered bird comb lampshades and earnest house DJ masterfully mixing low key Chill tell you that you’re in a nightclub, but as soon as you’re seated in one of the intimate alcoves curtained off with floor-to-ceiling red fringe you are presented with more than just the predictable cocktail list. A menu of small plates lands in front of you that will rival anything in town for inventiveness.
We started with Yazuka Beef, paper thin slices of cold meat embellished with horseradish cream, plum wine, sesame and mint. The commingling of sweet and spicy was deftly executed. The Grilled Vegetable Ravioli was a flavorful mix of veggie pasta with chorizo and spinach butter emulsion. Say what you will, you have to like the derring-do of a chef who looks at vegetable ravioli and thinks chorizo and spinach butter emulsion. Chef Radhika Desail, formerly sous chef at Vermilion, is a real pathfinder. And she is not alone.
The mix master strives to be just as innovative, swirling up mad concoctions like the Betweeni, the house martini that combines Effen Black Cherry Vodka, Chambord Raspberry Liqueur and cranberry juice. Although it look pretty (the menu points out that “it matches the colors of the walls”) think Kool Aid with good quality vodka and you’ve pretty much got it. Nevertheless, the Wednesday night special enticed us with a cocktail at half price ($5) plus a plate of Spicy Mantou Bao Burgers gratis. We dived in.
I applaud Chef Desail for being so adventurous in her culinary mash ups. If pioneering chefs are not dreaming up new dishes we are all condemned to a life of Jalapeno poppers. Like other accomplished chefs in the neighborhood, she is steering her kitchen along the cutting edge, and we are all the beneficiaries.
I like Between. I like what they’re doing. The ambiance is edgy and sophisticated, the service is fine, the food is way above average and their attempt to straddle the line between restaurant and nightclub is well conceived and well managed.
Between is memorable.
Between Boutique Café & Lounge
1324 N. Milwaukee
773- 292-0585 / Reservations Accepted
Hours: Tu-F 6pm-2am / Sa 6pm-3am / Su 6pm-Midnight / Su Brunch 10am-2pm / Closed Monday
Vibe: Lounge
Features: Late Kitchen
Avg. price of a meal for two including drinks and tax $65
Chef: Radhika "Rad" Desai
Website: www.betweenchicago.com
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