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26 | May 16, 2019 | The highland park landmark life & Arts hplandmark.com 22ND CENTURY MEDIA is looking for local FREELANCE REPORTERS and PHOTOGRAPHERS to cover events, meetings and sports in the area. Interested individuals should send an email with a resume and any clips to jobs@22ndcenturymedia.com www.22ndcenturymedia.com CHICAGO SOUTHWEST CHICAGO NORTHSHORE MALIBU Highland Park native looks for big break Erin Yarnall, Editor Performing isn’t just a hobby for Highland Park native Becky Raisman — it’s a passion, and it’s one that she hopes she can turn into a lucrative career. Until then, Raisman is searching for her big break in a variety of fields. She first tried her hand at singing, something she’s loved to do from a young age. “I just love to sing,” Raisman said. “I’ve had voice lessons on and off for many years, I started [them] when I was 15.” Raisman said her favorite thing about singing is the way it makes her feel. “It’s a lot of fun,” Raisman said. She performed at several festivals throughout the Chicago area before starting college at Columbia College in Chicago, where she also did “a lot of singing.” In addition to that, Raisman has also tried her luck with singing competitions on TV. “I’ve tried out for ‘America’s Got Talent’ in the past for singing,” Raisman said, “I’ve tried out for ‘American Idol,’ ‘The Voice.’” And while she hasn’t been picked up yet for her voice, the Highland Park native hopes she’ll find a break in the music scene. In the meantime, she has shifted some of her focus to comedy. “I studied improv over at the Improv Playhouse in Libertyville,” Raisman said. “I took a stand up comedy class there.” Since taking her class, Raisman has started regularly attending open mic nights for stand up comedy, first in the Chicago area, and then in Highland Park native Becky Raisman performs standup comedy at the Improv Playhouse. Photos submitted Raisman sings at an open mic night. Charleston, S.C., after she and her family moved there. “Chicago is a bigger city and they have more open mics, but Charleston has an awesome music scene,” Raisman said. “Their comedy scene is growing. It’s a very beautiful city and it’s got the southern hospitality.” Despite her move to a smaller city, Raisman isn’t giving up hope for being discovered for her talents. “A lot of people from Charleston have gotten their big break,” Raisman said.
hplandmark.com dining out the highland park landmark | May 16, 2019 | 27 Salt Creek Tacos offers new concept on the North Shore Alyssa Groh Contributing Editor John des Rosiers knows a thing or two about operating a successful restaurant on the North Shore. As the owner of two restaurants in Lake Bluff, Inovasi and The Otherdoor, des Rosiers decided to venture out into Highland Park and try his hand at a third restaurant, Salt Creek Tacos. Salt Creek Tacos, 431 Temple Ave., Highland Park, is considered the middle child of all of his restaurants. “I wanted to do something that slid in between The Otherdoor and Inovasi,” des Rosiers said. The Otherdoor is a fastcasual Mexican restaurant, while Inovasi, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, is an upscale American restaurant. “[Salt Creek Tacos] is a little bit higher end than The Otherdoor with an added focus on every single item being handmade,” des Rosiers said. “I also wanted to do a place that was focused on tequila, and I think we put together a hell of a good list.” Running three completely different restaurants can be challenging, but it’s something des Rosiers has thought about for years. “I had been thinking a lot in the last couple years about the places I want to build, and what the market needs,” he said. “I think something like this is exactly what a lot of people are looking for, and what a lot of people are going to discover is what they have been looking for. It’s a place where everything is high quality, but affordable for almost anyone to come The smoked pork taco ($3.50) is prepared Veracruz style with olive, caper, tomato, sunflower seeds and jalapeno. in and eat.” And in finding the middle ground between his other two restaurants, Salt Creek Tacos is considered a casual restaurant with a twist. “It’s not completely fast casual and it’s not full service dining, it’s kind of in the middle,” des Rosiers said. Salt Creek Tacos runs things slightly different than most restaurants. When guests arrive they are seated at a table and mark down their own orders on an order form and bring it up to the front counter. Then, the staff will prepare the food and drinks, and serve it to guests. The menu at Salt Creek Tacos is small — on purpose. “I didn’t want us to get distracted by doing too many things, I wanted to do a small number of things really well.” One thing Salt Creek Tacos prides itself on it making every single item by hand. Des Rosiers said every day he has three people come in just to make tortillas from scratch, which is difficult, time consuming and expensive. Not only do they take Salt Creek Tacos 431 Temple Ave., Highland Park (847) 780-8186 saltcreektacos.com 5-9 p.m. Sunday- Thursday 5-10 p.m. Friday- Saturday pride in offering handmade menu items, they place an added emphasis on consistency. “We want people to come in and have a taco 10 days in a row and have it exactly the same every time,” des Rosiers said. “We kept it so that the menu is easy and fast for customers to read and order, it’s easy and fast for us to make it, it’s consistent and it’s all done by hand and it’s high quality.” After hearing all about the hand-crafted menu, 22nd Century Media editors couldn’t wait to dive in and try some of the food from Salt Creek Tacos. We started out with a classic, house-made chips & guac ($7). The guacamole is freshly-made with a lot of flavor and the hand-made chips are extra crunchy and unlike typical tortilla chips. Next up, we tried three The grilled steak taco ($4) at Salt Creek Tacos features steak, cilantro, poblano salsa, pickled sweet onion in a warm tortilla made in-house. Photos by Eric DeGrechie/22nd Century Media The grilled chicken taco ($3.50) is made with chicken, avocado, salsa verde, cotija cheese and radish. of five of the taco offerings at Salt Creek Tacos. The smoked pork taco ($3.50), is made Veracruz style with olives, caper, tomato, sunflower seeds and jalapeños. The grilled chicken taco ($3.50) is made with avocado, salsa verde, cotija cheese and radish. Grilled steak taco ($4) is topped with cilantro, poblano salsa and pickled sweet onion. After trying each of the tacos it was hard to choose a favorite — but one thing was for sure, they all included big, bold flavors. Quesadillas, salads, esquite, chicharrones and an extensive tequila and mezcal list are among some of the items that round out the rest of the menu at Salt Creek Tacos. Salt Creek Tacos does not accept reservations, but offers an online wait list system where guests can put their name on the list and know how long they have to wait for a table, before they arrive at the restaurant. To view the Salt Creek Taco wait list prior to arrival, visit saltcreektacos.com.
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