Tag: tanta

Categories
Chicago Restaurant Week

Chicago Restaurant Week 2015: Dinner at Tanta

This is part of a series of posts about Chicago Restaurant Week 2015, held January 30–February 12. Check out recaps from 2014 and 2013, or browse all Restaurant Week coverage.

Tanta Dinner

Cebiche clasico, Tanta
Cebiche clasico with mahi mahi, red onions, cilantro, habenero, and natural leche de tigre

Best Bite: Between this meal and my previous visit, I’ve really fallen in love with Tanta’s take on Peruvian cuisine. An eclectic set of culinary influences – Japanese, Spanish, Chinese, French – make for an irresistible mix of flavors and ingredients. The classic mahi mahi cebiche was bright and balanced with additional unique texture from the hominy. The alfajor dessert also might have been the best I ate during Restaurant Week this year. I couldn’t get enough of the dulce de leche and hot chocolate sauce together.

Alfajor, Tanta
Alfajor with shortbread cookies, lucuma dulce de leche, hot chocolate sauce, and vanilla bean ice cream

Other notes: Many of Tanta’s cocktails involve pisco, the national spirit of Peru, and they are not to be missed. This pisco punch exploded with cinnamon and lime, and I was immediately transported to warmer climates. The basket of plantain chips was also a great bread basket substitute.

Pisco punch and plantain chips, Tanta
Pisco punch with porton mosto verde pisco, zucca,
lime, cinnamon, and cusquena beer, plus a basket of plantain chips

The details: Tanta, 118 W. Grand Ave., Chicago.

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Categories
Restaurant Week

Chicago Restaurant Week 2015: It’s here!

If it’s your first time visiting my blog, welcome! This is the first in a series of posts about Chicago Restaurant Week 2015, held January 30–February 12. Check out recaps from 2014 and 2013, or browse all Restaurant Week coverage.

Restaurant Week dessert, Homestead on the Roof
Towering dessert from Homestead on the Roof, Restaurant Week 2014

It’s hard for me to believe that this is already my fourth year celebrating Restaurant Week in Chicago (and my third year blogging about it). I’m going bigger than ever, eager to sample as much fantastic food as possible across nine total reservations. My picks span a range of cuisines, from upscale Peruvian to classic Louisiana Mardi Gras fare (I’m totally ordering the gator). And like last year, I’ll be checking out Ada Street’s themed menu: all the dishes are inspired by the “last meal” requests of famous criminals. Just read through the choices, and then tell me you aren’t intrigued.

As always, I’m also excited about my dining companions, which include two dozen different people this year. I’m kicking things off tomorrow morning with my first-ever Restaurant Week brunch at Lincoln Park’s Knife & Tine. Check back in the coming days to hear how my nine meals went!

2015 Reservations: Knife & Tine // Ada Street // Michael Jordan’s Steak House // Coppervine // The Bedford // Big Jones // Fig & Olive // Tanta // TWO

Categories
Best Bites Chicago

This week’s Best Bite: Octopus skewer and Lima Llama cocktail, Tanta

Pulpo (octopus) with chimichurri, fried garlic, and olive sauce
Pulpo (octopus) with chimichurri, fried garlic, and olive sauce

Why it’s this week’s Best Bite: Nearly three-month-old Tanta is carving a new place in the Chicago culinary landscape for its upscale take on Peruvian food, a type of cuisine that I consistently enjoy. I was immediately refreshed by the Lima Llama (think Moscow mule, but with Peruvian pisco and lots of lime), one of the two cocktails on draft. It was the perfect precursor to one of the best octopus dishes I’ve ever had, right up there with Taxim’s Greek version from earlier this year. Cooked in the style of street-food skewers, the plump tentacles were draped with roasted red pepper, which added its own complementary char and spice. The extra-garlicky chimichurri potatoes underneath were like a more exotic version of hashbrowns, brought together by a briny, brilliantly purple olive sauce. The bright colors were what really made the plate – which seems to be Tanta’s strategy across its vibrant menu.

Lima Llama draft cocktail with pisco, lime, and ginger beer
Lima Llama draft cocktail with pisco, lime, and ginger beer

The details: Tanta, 118 W. Grand Ave., Chicago.