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THE HIT LIST<br />
4Wise guy<br />
RESTAURANTS Chef Paul Kahan is to Chicago’s<br />
dining scene what mobster Al Capone<br />
was to the city’s infamous underworld: a<br />
figure who stays in the shadows but who is,<br />
slowly and inexorably, taking over the city,<br />
one neighborhood at a time.<br />
The New American cuisine at Blackbird<br />
in the newly hot West Loop district<br />
earned him a Michelin star. Right next door<br />
he opened an extremely simple wine bar,<br />
Avec, which could be described as, well, a<br />
place with tables, chairs, wine and a simple<br />
menu.<br />
Not far away, in Chicago’s even hotter<br />
Meat Packing District, Kahan runs the<br />
butcher shop and café Publican Quality<br />
Meats, as well as The Publican which<br />
resembles a central European beer hall. Pictures<br />
depicting every possible porcine motif<br />
cover the walls and pork makes up much<br />
of the menu. A brunch of pork belly carbonara<br />
or red wine poached eggs, la quercia<br />
prosciutto, sourdough bread and béarnaise<br />
sauce may be just what you need after a<br />
late night at another Kahan establishment,<br />
the Violet Hour.<br />
This esteemed Wicker Park cocktail bar<br />
is known for its hard-to-find entrance and<br />
house rules that range from “No Cosmopolitans”<br />
to “Please do not bring anyone<br />
to the Violet Hour that you wouldn’t bring<br />
to your mother’s house for Sunday dinner.”<br />
The cocktail list is extensive and feels like it<br />
could date from one of the original speakeasies<br />
back in Capone’s days. Try the Violet<br />
Hour Old Fashioned, made with Old Weller<br />
Antique 107-proof whiskey, demerara syrup<br />
and Angostura bitters.<br />
Across the street is Kahan’s taqueria, Big<br />
Star, where the jukebox is full of country<br />
music, the bar serves micro-brewed beer,<br />
and the fish tacos taste as though it is the<br />
Rio Grande and not the Chicago River that<br />
flows through the city.<br />
Star attractions: A quartet of tacos and a glass<br />
of lemonade from Big Star (left) and the dining<br />
room at The Publican<br />
Fact Sheet<br />
Blackbird<br />
619 West Randolph Street<br />
+1 312 715 0708<br />
www.blackbirdrestaurant.<br />
com<br />
Avec<br />
615 West Randolph Street<br />
+1 312 377 2002<br />
www.avecrestaurant.com<br />
Publican Quality<br />
Meats<br />
825 West Fulton Market<br />
+1 312 445 8977<br />
www.publicanqualitymeats.com<br />
The Publican<br />
837 West Fulton Market<br />
+1 312 733 9555<br />
www.thepublicanrestaurant.com<br />
The Violet Hour<br />
1520 North Damen<br />
Avenue<br />
+1 773 252 1500<br />
www.theviolethour.com<br />
Big Star<br />
1531 North Damen<br />
Avenue<br />
+1 773 235 4039<br />
www.bigstarchicago.com<br />
MARCUS JOONS<br />
� GO TO CHICAGO SAS takes you to Chicago.<br />
Book your trip at www.flysas.com or use your<br />
BLÅVARG<br />
EuroBonus points. Round-trips to Chicago start at<br />
60,000 points from airports in Scandinavia and<br />
Finland. Taxes and fees apply, from €37. SUSANNA<br />
28 DECEMBER 2012/JANUARY 2013 SCANORAMA<br />
FREDRIK SKOGKVIST
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