Your first challenge is to find Schwa. It hides in plain site on a grungy stretch of Ashland between Milwaukee and North Avenues, hunkered down in a shabby little house with chainlink grates over the windows. Even though the awning says its name, you can’t quite believe this is the place. The awning is dirty, the sidewalk is empty, there are no exterior lights and no sign of a valet. What’s more, it’s hard to believe a top shelf restaurant is operating in such a tiny little house.
When you enter, your misgivings are confirmed. You step directly into the dining room, no vestibule, no waiting area, no coatroom. The small box of a room has 12 tables crowded into it. In the back a pass-through opens into a smoky and bustling kitchen.
The décor is drab. A more charitable observer might call it minimalist: off-white and sherbert green walls with two framed pictures that look like they were picked up at Bed, Bath and Beyond on clearance. In the window bays the dreary venetian blinds are offset by cheap looking chandeliers like those found in the foyers of middle class suburban homes. This place looks like it was thrown together by a handful of twenty-something roommates with other things on their minds, and it was.
The chefs who run Schwa are all about the food. The attitude is Anthony-Bourdain-like in-your-face. Sure this place is grimy on the outside, uninspired on the inside, there is no booze, no valet, and the chefs double as the waitstaff, but we defy you not to like the food. And having thrown down the gauntlet, Schwa absolutely delivers. The food is the best in Wicker Park/Bucktown.
This is food as art. The chefs are dedicated to the highest degree of excellence in cooking and preparation, and then take it a step further by assembling the most exquisite combinations of flavors, often with ingredients you never even heard of. Ever sampled galangal? It’s a ginger-like plant stem that has a soapy, earthy aroma and a pine-like flavor. Combined with Cobia (otherwise known as black kingfish or lemonfish) it’s to die for. Throw in some lime and maple and you are transported to another culinary plane.
Head chef Michael Carlson was Food and Wine’s Best New Chef of 2006 and deservedly so. His adventurous spirit is in the best tradition of the neighborhood in which he operates and is a bellwether for it. Other WP/BT chefs should be required to eat at Schwa, just for inspiration.
The beer cheese soup made with Chimay is complex with a smooth, creamy finish. It’s hard to stop eating it. The white anchovy with banana, celery and coriander starts with a crispy crunchiness, proceeds through a soft, sweet ripeness and winds up with nutty, spicy aftertaste. An entire culinary journey in a single bite.
The quail egg ravioli is rich and savory. The pork with rhubarb, leeks and queso de valedon is an inspired combination of flavors that is far greater than the sum of its parts. And the dessert of parsnip custard, passion fruit syrup, candied sweetbreads and lavender bubbles is off the grid! What kind of mad culinary genius even thinks of parsnip custard and candied sweetbreads, much less combines them to make an exquisite dish? This is inventive cooking of the first order.
And the chefs are right there with you, delivering the dishes to your table and patiently explaining them like proud parents enumerating the accomplishments of their offspring. And yet they’re so relaxed and down-to-earth, not a hint of pretension. These guys are like the guys who fix your computer or align your ball joints. You could easily strike up a conversation with them at the bus stop.
And that’s part of the appeal of Schwa. It’s as if you stumbled into these guys’ apartment and they just happened to be some of the finest chefs in the country, ready to offer you dinner. But in a neighborhood chock full of restaurants that are all about surface appeal, there is no concession to appearance. Schwa is all about the food, and that by itself makes Schwa terrific.
Schwa
1466 N. Ashland Ave.
773-252-1466 / Reservations Required
Hours: Tu-Sa 5:30pm-10:30pm, Closed Sunday and Monday
Features: BYOB, Reservations Required
Avg price of a meal for two including drinks and tax $155
Chef: Michael Carlson
Website: www.schwarestaurant.com
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