Duck Archives - Chicago Reader

Garlic toast mounted with thick coils of pickled herring, pickled onions, and julienned apples

‘Modern’ Polish food at Mount Prospect’s Qulinarnia

by Mike Sula August 22, 2014August 18, 2021

Mount Prospect’s Qulinaria tries to spiff up meat and potatoes.

A server pours turmeric-infused curry over king, oyster, and enoki mushrooms; hearts of palm; and sunchokes.

Edgewater’s Herb wants to ‘redefine’ Thai

by Mike Sula July 25, 2014August 18, 2021

Edgewater’s Herb wants to “redefine” Thai

Best of Chicago

Best Tame Game

by Mike Sula June 25, 2014August 18, 2021

The burgeoning grocer offers a frozen-meat section that includes alligator, pheasant, ostrich, duck, quail, and buffalo.

Flaky cups of pastry cradling warm sweet custard, capped with liquefied foie gras

Trendy and traditional don’t mix at downtown dim sum parlor Yum Cha

by Mike Sula May 16, 2014August 18, 2021

Downtown dim sum parlor Yum Cha is a house divided.

The charcuterie board proves a better value than a la carte options, the only hitch being that the selection itself is at the whim of the kitchen.

Take your meatings at Tête Charcuterie . . . but save room for salad

by Mike Sula May 9, 2014August 18, 2021

Tête Charcuterie is a lot more than just a temple to our culture’s insatiable flesh lust.

Some of the finest, freshest sashimi in the city

Japonais by Morimoto: At the top of the sushi food chain

by Mike Sula March 21, 2014August 18, 2021

Japonais by Morimoto: At the top of the sushi food chain

Whole roasted branzino needs nothing but a shaved-fennel salad to showcase its beauty and deliciousness.

Baffo tries to bring a bit of Mario Batali’s Babbo to the midwest

by Mike Sula March 7, 2014August 18, 2021

Eataly’s fine-dining restaurant would benefit from a higher dose of simplicity.

You can make a satisfying night out by picking over some of the nearly two dozen small-plate options.

Azzurra EnoTavola is the season’s Italian sleeper

by Mike Sula December 13, 2013August 19, 2021

Azzura EnoTavola offers simple, soulful Italian food from the folks behind Anteprima and Bar Ombra.

One-stop Chop Shop offers hot and cold sandwiches, deli items, and lovely cuts of meat during retail hours, and a streamlined steak house menu in the dining room upstairs.

The Chop Shop keeps it simple

by Mike Sula November 22, 2013August 19, 2021

The Chop Shop’s multidisciplinary butcher/bar/restaurant/performance space does a lot—and does a lot with a little.

Top, right: Dusek's meticulously restored dining room; bottom: fillet of flaky hake is half-submerged in a powerfully rich, buttery chowder.

Bohemian rhapsody at Dusek’s

by Mike Sula November 15, 2013August 19, 2021

Dusek’s borrows a few tricks from Longman & Eagle—but it’s its own thing, too.

Sweetly glazed and grilled tangles of octopus tentacles

The audacity of long-awaited southeast Asian restaurant Oon

by Mike Sula August 16, 2013August 19, 2021

Oon, Matt Eversman’s follow-up to Saigon Sisters, is ballsy but restrained.

The "seafood aquarium" is Shin Thompson's answer to the ever-popular steak house showstopper known as the seafood tower.

Eastern promises at Kabocha

by Mike Sula June 6, 2013August 19, 2021

Kabocha, Shin Thompson’s “Japanese brasserie,” delivers half the time.

The "seafood aquarium" is Shin Thompson's answer to the ever-popular steak house showstopper known as the seafood tower.

Eastern promises at Kabocha

by Mike Sula June 3, 2013August 19, 2021

Kabocha, Shin Thompson’s “Japanese brasserie,” delivers half the time.

Blogs

Gussied-up tom yam with duck breast and cracklings

by Mike Sula February 25, 2013August 19, 2021

A fog cutter, gussied up with duck breast and cracklings

Blogs

A yokel walks into Chicago

by Michael Miner April 4, 2012August 19, 2021

Nails and grapes aren’t easy to come by in the middle of the night