Takashi Restaurant has gotten a lot of good buzz around the neighborhood. Celebrated chef, Takashi Yagihashi, noted by Food & Wine as one of the best new chefs of 2005, opened Okada in the Wynn Las Vegas to rave reviews before joining the culinary board of Macys with Rick Bayless. And now he has brought his skills to Bucktown/Wicker Park in the form of a signature restaurant combining Japanese and French traditions with American ingredients.
The first thing you’ll notice about Takashi is that it’s housed in the old Scylla space on Damen and Armitage, a location notorious for being the place where good restaurants go to die. The formidable Scylla whose Mediteranian inspired menu employed ordinary pantry items like shallots to create delectable’s like savory, oniony creme brulee custard, bowed to the pressure by lowering prices, and then collapsed altogether. Preceding Scylla, the well regarded Glory dished up New England inspired fare until it too succumbed. Now Takashi is going to give it a go.
Why the location is such a killer seems a mystery at first. It’s at the busy corner of Damen and Armitage right next to Le Bouchon, which has been doing a booming business in French bistro fare for more than a decade. The building is a charming old row house set back from the street with a peaked roof and curved windows. Inside, however, the room is small… and this is the problem.
Each successive restaurant has been at pains to invest the space with cool elegance but it’s impossible to erase the sense that you’re in a relatively cramped former residence and a part of every conversation here is devoted to marvelling at how they’ve arranged things to wedge a bar, a kitchen and the maximum number of tables into the tiny space. In this case, the maximum number of tables is ten.
Chef Takashi brought out the big guns to take on the challenge of this space, hiring Francois Geneve who designed Green Zebra to give the space some zen ambiance but to my eye he only partly succeeded. While he painted the room the now requisite colors of sage and gray, the harsh lights from the kitchen are intrusive, making a table away from the glassed-in kitchen desirable, but not too far, since on a cold day the draft from the front door will get you. In summer, the front deck overlooking Damen relieves some of the cooped up feeling but in winter the choice tables are in the center of the room.
For all that, the food is remarkable and the service outstanding. Takashi is set up for grazing, the recommended approach is two small and one large plates per person, and then of course you share. We started with the Winter Roll of Prosciutta, Shrimp and Mizuna, which is a knock-out sushi roll resplendent with flavors and textures and embellished with two dipping sauces. The Thin-Sliced Marinated Fluke was nothing special. But the sauteed Maine scallops and Soba Gnocchi in a Celery Root Parmesan Foam was delicate and exquisite. The best and most unique of our small plate selections was the Soy Ginger Caramel Pork Belly which comes with a Pickled Daikon Salad that you combine on the steamed Bao buns provided and make a sandwich like you’ve never tasted before. Delicious!
For our large plates we selected Roasted Indiana Duck Breast, a dish whose kumquat marmalade and ginger-orange glaze was stickily sweet and overpowering, an unfitting companion to the more delicate flavors preceding it. But the Sauteed Maine Skate Wing and Lobster Sausage was perfectly prepared, moist and flaky.
As usual, we skipped dessert and sipped wine and talked. The final tally came to around $150 without drinks, a tad expensive perhaps for the amount of food placed in front of you, but if you accept it in the spirit of sampling the artistry of one of America’s most highly touted chefs, you will not be disappointed. I just wish it was in a room that made you totally comfortable regardless of where you sat.
Sadly, location may yet prove a handicap for Takashi, as it has done for it’s predecessors, so I urge you to get out and sample it’s remarkable fare as soon as you can. The shelf life for restaurants in this location has never exceeded two and a half years.
Takashi Restaurant
1952 N. Damen
773-772-6170 / Reservations Recommended
Hours: T-Th 5:30pm-10:00pm; F-Sa 5:30pm-10:30pm; Su 5:30pm-9:30pm
Features: Outdoor Dining
Avg Price of a Meal for Two Including Drinks and Tax $155.00
Chef: Takashi Yagihashi
Website: www.takashichicago.com
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