City of Big Flavors

>>The nightly car-park jostle of Bentleys and Mercedes outside Gene & Georgetti, one of our favorite old school Chicago eateries, is awe-inspiring. Like Dan Tana’s in LA and Rao’s in Manhattan, G&G is a step back into a world where Frank and the boys could walk in at any moment and everyone starts dinner with a stiff Manhattan. Almost sixty-five years old and still in family hands, this River North gem is an endearing cliché right down to the celebrity pictures on the wall. Skip the first courses and go straight to the broiled lamb chops, bone-in rib eye or veal chop, and just because the aged prime steaks and chops come with cottage fried potatoes doesn’t mean you shouldn’t order pasta to share. The sides are all you would want in a dance partner if you were a steak—creamed spinach and Lyonaise potatoes being the studs. G&G also serves lunch, which is a godsend since a table at dinner can be hard to come by and regulars enjoy every advantage you can imagine.

>>Family-owned and -operated for 107 years, The Berghoff is one of the oldest restaurants in Chicago. Located in the heart of the Loop, this century-old building and its throwback ambience are a testament to the city’s vivid history—a cult classic of German schnitzels and sauerbraten. The fare is competent, the best choices being the sausage trio with kraut, schnitzel with a fried egg on top Holstein–style, and other mittel European staples. Sides of red cabbage and creamed spinach can be great, but avoid the potato pancakes and spaetzle. The real gem is lunch in the 100-year-old bar with its magnificent seventy-foot wooden bar, ebony with age, surrounded by hand-painted murals. Grab a homemade draft root beer and a hand-carved sandwich on house rye, and, if you squint hard enough, it’s 1939.

>>At Arun’s, be prepared to sit for a few hours. The twelve-course Thai tasting menus begin with a half-dozen small courses delivered one at a time. I had a small beggar’s purse of kaffir lime and lobster, a delicate and preciously sized bean-thread soup, and small skewers of satay (that’s the benchmark for all satay) with cucumber salad. Entrées are served family-style and include ridiculously explosive chili-laden curries, braised pork with fish sauce caramel, whole fried fish, and other Thai classics. Every table gets a menu customized for tastes and favorites. Finish dinner with the signature lemon grass tonic. At Arun’s, on the city’s northwest side, Thai dining is about as good as it gets in America.