Results tagged “greek”

        

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.

     

We must’ve ordered this dish a hundred times at our favorite Greek restaurant, but we never thought to see if we could do it at home. This tart, garlicky spread is a great appetizer or snack; it keeps for at least a week and tastes great spread on bread, tortilla chips or vegetables. Our recipe come from the Parthenon Cookbook, which is a great buy - full of very basic recipes for Greek classics. It takes a little bit of time to drain the yogurt and marinate the flavors in the dip, but the actual work is pretty light and the result is worth the effort.

      

A wave of nostalgia takes over us whenever we find ourselves on the Northwest side of the city. Thirty years ago, the Belmont-Central retail area in the Cragin neighborhood was a bustling, thriving commercial area. Although it's a shadow of what it once was, to this day folks driving to shop in the area can park for free in the parking garage located just south of Belmont on Central Avenue.