Aug. 04--John Asbaty, the chef behind the much buzzed-about White Oak Tavern in Lincoln Park, is leaving his position after eight months at the helm. This will be his last week at the restaurant he helped launch.
Asbaty will be heading a new project in Chicago that he can't yet disclose, but he did mention that it's not a freestanding restaurant in the traditional sense. Expect to see him resurface sometime in the fall.
"It was a tough move. We started this restaurant (White Oak Tavern) and worked on it for a year before it opened. I feel like this place is on the tipping point of something really special," Asbaty said. "But it was more about the opportunity that fell in my lap and it was tough to pass up. I've got a wife and two kids. I have to think about the three other people in my life."
Taking over will be 29-year-old Scott Weisner, who spent time at Senza, Nico Osteria and Custom House Tavern before landing at White Oak Tavern as Asbaty's sous-chef. Asbaty called Weisner: "Super talented, one of those guys who lives and breathes food. When he's not reading about food, he's thinking about food." Expect the menu to stay the same for the near future, until Weisner begins incorporating his own dishes.
I've been a fan of Asbaty's since his days at Panozzo's, the late lamented Italian delicatessen in the South Loop. Unlike delis along Taylor Street, Panozzo's didn't adhere to Old World taste memories. There were meatballs, yes, but his were studded with capers, currants and Calabrian chilies. I remember this one extraordinary dish Asbaty made with sliced porchetta sandwiched between the crunchiest flatbread. Asbaty's pedigree was legit -- he cooked alongside Grant Achatz at Trio and Alinea.
So I was excited to see what Asbaty could do in a proper sit-down restaurant setting, and I was in the midst of writing a restaurant review. It was going to be a fairly enthusiastic endorsement, and I already had the first sentence in mind: "White Oak Tavern is the new Nightwood."
But now he's leaving, so here is a truncated review, valid for the next few days: The grilled pork collar chop (a luscious and marbled cut) with black garlic, charred spring onions and bok choy is a killer mashup of Midwest meaty sensibilities and Japanese yakitori. So is the grilled half chicken, its skin plump and slick with smoked chili garlic paste. It's one of the top three bone-in/nonfried chickens I've sampled in Chicago. For starters, we loved the cornstarch-fried wild abalone mushrooms with herbed-lemon aioli, and the cookies and milk jam dessert is a super moist chocolate cookie verging on brownie. Order those four dishes, and you'll leave happy.
Looking forward to seeing where Asbaty lands next, and to checking out Weisner's interpretation after he's settled down.
White Oak Tavern Inn
1200 W. Webster Ave.
773-248-0200
whiteoakchicago.com
kpang@tribpub.com
Twitter @pang
