Dec. 09--From the tower of oysters, shrimp and lobster to the soft-boiled egg with shimmering trout roe, seafood is king (crab) at Cold Storage, the new mini-restaurant off the lobby of West Loop steakhouse Swift Sons.
"Mini," I should note, is a relative term. Cold Storage opened Dec. 3 with a spacious 54 seats, but compared with the 250 seats at the steakhouse, it's Alice in Wonderland after the Drink Me potion. The menu is riding the same boat -- small in comparison; still, more than 30 options face anyone who sits down to lunch. (Right now, Cold Storage is lunch only; dinner service begins Dec. 14.)
How to navigate a meal? I asked Chris Pandel, chef at both restaurants, what he would eat if he were going to lunch at Cold Storage today.
First course: 12 oysters
"Right now, I'd probably go with the Bras d'Or. They're a little salty, but delicious."
Second course: anchovies marinated with roasted peppers and olive oil; steamed clams in green chorizo broth
"The anchovies are my favorite. I'd ask for extra toast with the clams, because it's delicious, but the broth is the best part. We make green chorizo with serranos and pumpkin seeds, add it to a sofrito with garlic and sweet onions, and stew it down with olive oil and white wine. It mixes with the natural juice from the clams as they open. Super savory."
Third course: a sundae
"Because I'm a pig." (Sundaes, such as the Brown Cow with vanilla bean ice cream, chocolate root beer cake and root beer syrup, come from pastry chef Meg Galus, who also does the desserts at Boka, part of the same restaurant group.)
When dinner launches, it will be the same menu, and brunch isn't far behind. "We'll put the whitefish on a bagel, the lox into a sandwich; we'll do omelets with all the different smoked fishes," Pandel says. "A lot of the main menu items translate to breakfasty things."
If you're lingering, grab wine, beer or a cocktail. Pandel would choose the Centennial Explosion, with Death's Door Gin, aloe liqueur, celery, fennel and lime. Or: "If you're squeezed for time, a sandwich will get you in and out of here, and you'll be fully satiated," he says. Seven choices include a shrimp banh mi and a crispy chicken thigh sandwich with housemade Sriracha pickles. (The latter is one of the only nonseafood dishes on the menu, along with a skirt steak and a cheeseburger, almost required these days.)
"We make everything in house here except for the fish," Pandel says. "That's nature's creation."
mconrad@tribpub.com
Twitter @marissa_conrad
