Two Chicago eateries have been named among the best new restaurants in the country this year.
Bon Appetit magazine released the top 50 nominees for its annual list of America's best new restaurants Tuesday, and Chicago's own Parachute and Dove's Luncheonette made the cut. The 50 nominees will eventually be narrowed down to a "Hot 10" list.
Two editors from the magazine, Andrew Knowlton and Julia Kramer, traveled the country looking for new restaurants with "truly original, innovative and unexpected cooking." They claimed the thing that all 50 restaurants had one characteristic in common: "flat-out deliciousness."
Dove's Luncheonette was highlighted for its flour tortilla taco, which Knowlton and Kramer described as a "'taco' the size of a Frisbee, layered with smoked brisket and drizzled with a habanero-lime vinaigrette."
The Wicker Park restaurant, located at 1545 N. Damen Ave., is decorated to the theme of 1960s and '70s Chicago soul and blues, and the restaurant offers counter service all times of the day. The food is inspired by Southern and Mexican flavors.
Knowlton and Kramer recommend ordering the "Back to Life Cocktail," which is actually ceviche, with a side of Texas toast; pepper and potato hash; and red chili enchiladas with a fried egg.
Parachute, a Korean-American restaurant in the Avondale neighborhood, was commended both for its food and its intimate atmosphere, which Knowlton and Kramer described as "always-crowded" and "communal."
Local
The North Side restaurant, which is located at 3500 N. Elston Ave., is perhaps most known for its mouth-watering bing bread, which is stuffed with bacon and scallions and served with sour-cream butter.
In addition to the bing bread, Knowlton and Kramer recommend ordering mandu and dolsot bibimbap.
The "Hot 10" list from Bon Appetit will be revealed Aug. 18.
