Last week Gaztro-Wagon chef Matt Maroni announced that he’ll be moving into a second brick-and-mortar location with a new project, Morso, slated to open in the former Terragusto space on Armitage in early August. There, in addition to shared plates and brunch, he’ll feature game and craft beers and cocktails.
You can get a preview of Maroni’s non-naanwich cooking this Friday, July 15, at Logan Square Kitchen (2333 N. Milwaukee, 773-342-2333, logansquarekitchen.com), which is hosting a three-course “brewer’s BYO” with Gaztro-Wagon and Half Acre Beer Company from 7 to 10 PM. A three-beer tasting flight paired with courses served buffet-style is $30; on the menu are Half Acre’s Daisy Cutter, Gossamer, and Over Ale and beer-battered trout with fennel, stewed mussels with crawfish sausage, and smoked pork shoulder with maple-jalapeño corn bread and Swiss chard. A cash bar will feature Half Acre as well; attendees are also free to BYO. Tickets are on sale at brownpapertickets.com.
Stymied by the food-truck legislation still stalled in the Chicago City Council, former Gaztro-Wagon counterman Joe Brady and Linda Knibbs headed up to Milwaukee last month with their food truck, 4 Wheel Kitchen (4wheelkitchen.com; also Twitter and Facebook). But once there, Brady says, they initially had “nothing but troubles”—they had to replace the propane tank and get a new alternator, the cook quit (“which I was really happy about because he was terrible,” Brady adds). Now it’s up and rolling, with a new cook and a retooled menu that emphasizes fresh, healthy food as opposed to Milwaukee’s ubiquitous cured meats. Items—all made on board—include an Italian grilled sandwich with heirloom tomatoes, mozzarella, and pesto and the Getta Feta sandwich, with spinach, balsamic, feta, and other veggies. The sweet potato fries are hand-cut and fried to order; potato-cheese pierogi are made from scratch.
“Did you know that Chicago gave Milwaukee the idea for Summerfest?” says Knibbs. “Maybe we can bring real food trucks to Chicago.”
On Monday, July 18, from 6 to 10 AM Kevin Ashtari of Asado Coffee and Axel Erkenswick of Square Donutz are teaming up on a “pilot” of a pop-up restaurant, offering a half-dozen made-to-order beignet-style doughnuts and a cup of slow-drip coffee, hot or cold, for $6. It’s on the patio at T’s Bar, 5025 N. Clark. —Kate Schmidt