november2011

November2011SanDiegoMagazine.com 87

Dine

Currently the most buzzed about

restaurant in America, Next is so hot,

visitors must enter a lottery for the

mere opportunity to make a reserva-

tion. The latest creation of lauded

gastronome Grant Achatz, Next is

relaxed and adventurous at once. Din-

ers enter a sparsely adorned columnar

dining room that’s a blank canvas for

Achatz’s themed dining experiences,

which change on a quarterly basis.

This summer marked a total Thai

takeover—house-fermented sausage,

whole braised wild catfi sh in caramel

sauce, braised beef cheeks in peanut

curry, rose-infused dragon fruit—an

octet of personal inspiration served

in phases. Rick Bayless—gringos’ gi

to Mexican cookery—has taken the

opposite approach, making his cuisine

more easily accessible to the masses

at XOCO. Just show up, get in line, and

follow the scent of fresh-fried churros,

slow-stewed soups, tortas stuff ed with

roasted suckling pig, and housemade

chorizo. Down the Kennedy Expressway,

Telegraph has joined an ever-expand-

ing list of Logan Square hot spots,

including Longman & Eagle and Lula,

with a menu section devoted entirely

to tartines. The Purple Pig continues

to thrive along The Magnifi cent Mile on

the back of its Top 10 Best New Res-

taurants in America nod by Bon Appétit.

Making a bid for future Best Resto con-

sideration will be Balena, a “polished

casual restaurant” in Lincoln Park from

the minds behind nose-to-tail, farm-to-

table star The Bristol. Defi nitely worth

scouting during your next visit.

dine in chicago

The country’s hottest food city

is afi re with new restaurants

Gulp

San Diegans with sudsy savoir-faire

should get a room. With a slew of

quality draught, bottled, and cask brews

selected by a certifi ed cicerone (that’s

a beer sommelier), plus educational

meet-the-brewer events, The Map

Room is like a slice of home. Then

there’s The Pump Room, the PUBLIC

Chicago hotel’s reinvented nod to the

early 1900s supper-club era. Showcas-

ing classics menu items (pâté on toast

points, tuna tartare) re-imagined by

world famous toque Jean-Georges

Vongerichten, due attention’s also

been paid to their beer list and a tipple

assemblage that includes beer-based

cocktails. Of course, there’s nothing as

simple and Chicagoan as beer and a

ballgame, especially when the beer’s

from the Wrigley-adjacent Goose

Island Brewpub. Stop in for the

acclaimed brewing company’s rare arti-

sanal numbers like Fleur, a Belgian pale

ale brewed with hibiscus and kombucha

tea, or Juliet, a blackberry-based sour

ale aged in Cabernet barrels.

Shop (While You

Also Eat)

Foodies who prefer to sample the best

of Chicago’s edibles straight from the

source will go gaga for Green City

Market. The city’s largest sustainable

farmers market, it’s open 7 a.m.-1 p.m.

every Wednesday and Saturday from

May-October. During the indoor season

(November-April), the market moves to

the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum.

Sleep

Hospitality industry impresario Ian

Schrager is well known for his innova-

tive hotel concepts. That includes his

transformation of Chicago’s iconic

Ambassador East Hotel into the PUB-

LIC Chicago. That makeover went far

beyond the sweeping treatments at

The Pump Room. Billed by Schrager

as “a new breed of hotel,” this luxury

lodging includes suites dressed with

utilitarian furniture and amenities, and

a white-based aesthetic chosen to

help make the upscale venue acces-

sible versus over-the-top. PUBLIC just

opened in October.

// BRANDON HERNÁNDEZ

KATRINA WITTCAMP, CLAYTON HAUCK, PAUL STRABBING PHOTOGRAPHY, CLAYTON HAUCK

Telegraph

Longman & Eagle

Green City

Market

Longman

& Eagle