The duck gyro at Taxim is a revelation. It’s a spilt-roasted marinated duck with pomegranate glaze, fresh mint and walnut mousse on Pontian pita bread. It reintroduces what we’ve come to think of as messy, garish carnival food, recasting it as something with grace and sophistication. This is the achievement of Taxim. Wicker Park’s first Greek restaurant doesn’t so much reinvent Greek cuisine as reels it back from the depths of clownishness to which its sunk in the American lexicon.
Are you looking for flaming poofs of greasy saganaki accompanied by shouts of “Opa!” You won’t find it here. Taxim dispenses with the theatrics-over-digestibility approach, a hallmark of tacky dinner theatre and, not surprisingly, a staple of Chicago’s Greektown, which is more about keeping drunken conventioneers amused than it is about serving quality Greek food. In fact, so far has Greek food fallen in the estimation of most Americans that it is rarely attempted at home, except by Greek ethnics, and not because its difficult, but more because it has all the style and sophistication of a corndog.
First time restaurateur David Schneider (Greek on his mother’s side) seeks to remedy that. He reintroduces Greek food to an American audience, highlighting the complexities and subtleties of a highly evolved two thousand year old cuisine that draws on influences from the Aegean, the Balkans, and the Middle East. Try the piperies, roasted seasonal peppers with capers and kefalograviera cheese swimming in a balsamic vinaigrette enhanced by garlic and basil. While more piquant and spicier than I’d expected, they were nevertheless quite good.
The faki, Greek green lentils with barrel fermented sheep feta, proves that lentils can have flavor and dash, but it’s the feta that gives this dish its character and there was too little of it here to make the dish stand up and sing. The fresh shelled fava beans in lamb confit with yogurt fared better, gracing the palate with subtle flavors, capturing perfectly the balance of influences that makes the cuisine of Asia Minor distinctive.
At the center of it all stands Taxim’s house made pita bread, warm, fresh and marvelously tasty. The dough is rolled with mahlepi, tiny kernels from the pits of black cherries that set it head and shoulders above other pita I’ve tasted. If you were shopping in the Six Corners area and wanted to stop for a snack and a drink, you could do a lot worse than dropping into Taxim for some pita and a glass of Greek wine.
The décor has interesting cultural trappings, a barrel vaulted ceiling and intricate oriental lamps, white marble floors, brass table tops and dark wooden chairs carved with Hellenistic patterns. By the front window fringed pillows and short wicker stools surround brass tea tables. It’s all very reminiscent of Asia Minor and a far cry from the light blue colors and clumsy wall paintings that adorn most Greek restaurants. One gets the sense that one could actually be at home in this culture, enjoy its amenities, savor its food.
And that’s Taxim’s mission. To let you know that Greek food derives from a proud tradition and can be performed with subtlety and grace. If it’s not yet (with the exception of the bread) in the realm of the sublime, at least it’s restrained, respectful and sincere, a labor of love for its owner, a character trait of many of the best restaurants in Wicker Park / Bucktown.
Taxim
1558 N. Milwaukee
773-252-1558 / Reservations Accepted
Hours: Su, Mo, W & Th 5pm-10pm; 5pm-11pm F and Sa
Features: Outdoor Dining, Carryout, Closed Tuesdays
Avg. Price of a Meal for Two Including Tax and Drinks: $80
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