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Restaurant Fri Jan 10 2014
Cold-Weather Comfort Food
Now that we've collectively survived the coldest recording temperatures in Chicago history (the coldest!), heading out in 20 degree weather feels like a picnic on the beach. Maybe not literally. Either way, around mid-January everyone starts to get a bit cabin feverish, and those who choose to brave the cold will find themselves richly rewarded with an array of neighborhood comfort food options-- all the richness and familiarly of all of that holiday season fare, without the pushy relatives.
Sunshine Cafe, Andersonville
Quiet, cozy and unassuming, this family-run Japanese restaurant is working hard to push Japanese cuisine to the top of the "comfort food" directory. Indulge in seemingly bottomless bowls of steaming hot, deeply flavorful noodles, donburi (rice bowls), and traditional Japanese home-cooked snacks such as shrimp shumai and gyoza ("Japanese potstickers"). Wash it all down with a mug of grassy green tea and wonder what all the sushi hype is about, anyway.
Kasia's Polish Delicatessen, Ukrainian Village
Pierogi heaven -- if such a place exists, send me there when I die. For the living, there's Kasia's, the earthly equivalent. A bright, homey deli in the heart of Ukrainian Village, Kasia's attracts a diverse crowd with its endless display of both Eastern European and wholly American comfort foods: veal meatballs and stuffed cabbage next to mac 'n cheese and tuna salad. Not to mention the best pierogis ever in a variety of favors, including perhaps the most delightfully Chicagoan morsel I've ever eaten: the jalapeño-cheddar pierogi.
The Bluebird, Wicker Park
I'm such a huge fan of Hot Chocolate, chef Mindy Segal's flagship restaurant, that I used to overlook its somewhat unassuming neighbor-- a mistake I won't soon repeat. This beer-centric gastropub is famous in my mind for its $1 oyster happy hour alone (every day, 5-7 pm!), but the mussels here are essentially a winter cure-all. Chose from a rotating selection of three different preparations (the current menu boasts either Belgian, Portuguese, or Southern France-style) and you'll be hard-pressed to choose your favorite. They also come with a side of frites, as all mussels should be, if food justice is to be properly served.
