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Taxim, the new Greek restaurant from rookie restaurateur David Schneider, takes the concept of Greek cuisine as Chicagoans know it and turns it on its head. Gone are yard stick-sized kabobs, syrupy souvlaki and middle-aged waitresses with penciled eyebrows and hoarse throats from shouting "Opa!" while setting fire to some saganaki amidst stock posters of Greek landscapes. Instead, Schneider embraces the melting pot of other Mediterranean influences, particularly Turkish, that informed pre-20th Century Greek cuisine, and does it with the deft hand of a seasoned restaurant owner.
The MVP of Taxim's menu is the house-made, unstrained organic yogurt. As a standalone dessert with walnuts; served with fresh-shelled fava beans and lamb confit, or as a mousse with Taxim's popular duck gyros, we found ourselves wondering if Schneider and sous chef Jan Rickerl were holding back on just what they could do with it. Those duck gyros we mentioned are one of the few concessions to traditional Greek cuisine. Even then, the gyros are served in tightly wrapped Pontian bread, the duck meat spit-roasted instead of sliced from a spindle.
If there's one dish to order at Taxim, it's the white wine-braised lamb shank served on a bed of fresh cracked, fire-roasted green wheat, toasted almonds and fennel salad. Like what Guan Chen is doing at the similarly lauded HAN 202, Schneider is looking to play for keeps at Taxim.
Taxim: 1558 N. Milwaukee, 773-252-1588
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If by "redefines", the author means "ignores", then Taxim indeed redefines the Greek cuisine.
Tahini in melitzanosalata? Please: it's baba-ganoush. Real melitzanosalata is without tahini. Lamb confit is kavourmas? Have the owners of the restaurant, or even Chuck Sudo, ever tried kavourmas? Kavourmas is fat-cured pork, for crying out loud.
It's amazing what people will buy in Chicago, in terms of ethnic cuisine. Slap the name of an Instanbul district over the restaurant door, add a few random Greek words in the menu, and the suckers will surely line up.
From one Greek to another, LGreco...
It's those kinds of strict definitions and myopia of what Greek cuisine is and, moreover, isn't, that Schneider is trying to debunk with Taxim. The Reader's Mike Sula has a must-read profile on Schneider, his family background (his mother was Greek, as I get my Hellenic heritage on my father's side. That's "not Greek enough" for many of the Greeks I encountered over the years and a rant for another time.), how he came to his conclusions about the influence of Greek cuisine on other cultures and the reciprocation of those other cuisines back to Greece, before Nicholas Tselementes came in and redefined it within the parameters we tend to think of Greek cuisine.
If that isn't enough to spark a healthy, respectful debate, LGreco, you can always hang with the other Greeks in Addison.
Apparently I'm not the only one...
1. Taxim? First off that's a Turkish word that should completely turn you off if you're looking for Greek food.
2. I'll give them credit for not yelling "opa". Saganaki should not be lit on fire, the only reason they do that is to mask the bad flavor of poor quality cheese with cheap brandy.
3. See LGreco's post, minus hostility.
Honestly, the only decent Greek place I've been to in this city is Mythos up on Montrose. Its quality Greek food thats pretty much as close as you'll come to going to a village. Try the loukaniko, its top notch.
The hostility from some on this board is very enlightening- ? is it the evil eye?
Why are people so threatened by expanding our palates and our minds? Culture is fluid and dynamic- food, as one of the central aspects of culture, is also fluid and dynamic. I have a hard time believing that Greek culture and food is as circumscribed and narrow as some on the board suggest. Furthermore, not every Greek meal has to taste like it came from a "village."
I would suggest that you try the food at Taxim before making any conclusions and stereotyping it.
There are some "village" type dishes and some modern renditions. I thought the food was fantastic, thoughtful, and not like anything I have eaten before. And the last time I checked, I am no sucker.
Chuck, please! Redefining the Greek kitchen doesn't mean to replace one dish with another. Replacing melitzanosalata with baba ganoush, while still calling it melitzanosalata, is just plain deception.
Would you go for spinach pizza, if it were really a spanakopita, or would you call out the restauranteur who tried to "redefine" italian cuisine?
I am all about fusion and experimentation. But I do not confuse these two with substitution. Fusion and experimentation come with creativity. Substitution is simply slopy.
And while I have nothing against Tselementes (which, btw, was the first westernized compilation of Greek recipes and not an systematic effort to record the traditions and styles of Greek cooking), my notion of redefining Greek cuisine is informed by the likes of Athiri, Varulko, Spondi, and other contemporary restaurants I visit in Athens whenever I can.