May 29--People of a certain age yearn for "simpler times," when music was two verses and a chorus, television was three channels, and a cheeseburger didn't come gilded with Perigord truffles and a glazed doughnut.
As a working food writer, I like "bigger-better-more" as much as the next gourmand, but there's something to be said -- and respected -- about those serving simple food in its unadorned state. Like a sushi chef offering a pristine slice of raw tuna belly -- don't even think about touching the soy sauce. Or Gene Georgetti's, who won't bother seasoning their steaks with salt and pepper; they just throw the naked meat under a hot broiler then slap it on a plate.
Now I look at a place like Luke's Lobster, the several weeks-old Loop shop transplanted from New York City, and think: cool.
The restaurant (a handful of tables, mostly takeout business) trafficks in lobster rolls, the sanctioned sandwich of Maine and the cost equivalent of three Italian beefs. No matter. Luke's prides itself on telling you where their lobster is sourced -- on this day mine came from the waters off Milbridge, Maine -- so the perception is of a restaurant that cares deeply about product, prices be damned.
What's noteworthy about their $15 sandwich is the purity in its spareness. The split-top buns (Country Kitchen Frankfurt Rolls) are toasted, just barely, with the sole accoutrement a swipe of mayonnaise. They are then stuffed with chunks of lobster meat and arrive with a glossy sheen of lemon butter, again, a light touch. Many versions of lobster rolls elsewhere are laden with mayo and fillers, or chopped to indecipherable shreds. But here, you get the springy texture of solid chunks, and taste the sweetness of cool crustacean flesh. It's a small sandwich, almost disappointingly so, but it's still less pricey than what you might find at a Shaw's or Joe's Stone Crab.
The lobster roll isn't even my favorite of the three sandwiches offered. Tops would be the crab roll, $2 less than lobster, with its sweeter and more tender meat. The shrimp roll goes for $8, firmer fleshed but similarly light. (All three rolls are listed at 380 calories.) There's not a ketchup bottle or Old Bay tin to be found -- your only option to augment the sandwiches is Huy Fong-brand sriracha. What this signals is management saying, "Hey, trust us."
Elsewhere on this austere menu: chilled empress crab claws, a mayo-less cole slaw and a terrific clam chowder where potatoes are the preferred thickener over cream. There's an option to order a half roll of each sandwich, with two crab claws, soda, chips and a pickle for $23, which should feed one comfortably.
The prevailing theme is you walk away feeling lighter, in the sense of not heavy. Your wallet, also.
Luke's Lobster
134 N. LaSalle St.
312-982-2977
lukeslobster.com
Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Friday, noon-8 p.m. Saturday-Sunday
kpang@tribpub.com
Twitter @pang
