Taste Time

By Erin in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 30, 2006 6:29PM

This year, we're not going to rag on the Taste. We've decided to turn over a new leaf over the whole affair, and kick in the positive mental attitude.

Sure, it'd be easy to take jabs at the obvious - the crowds, the fact that it can be somewhat pricey if you're looking to sample anything worth your time and the fact that the bands usually playing are just a stone's throw away from making the Taste seem like a county fair. But the truth of the matter is that without the Taste, it just doesn't seem like summer in Chicago.

So without further ado, we bring you our favorites for this year's Taste. Feel free to add your suggestions for where best to put yourself into a food coma or get some musical accompaniment to go along with that pickle on a stick.

* The Hyde Park upscale soul food kitchen and catering business C'est Si Bon makes its Taste debut (booth number 16) with collard green egg rolls, catfish beignets, sweet potato biscuits, and Cajun sausage balls.

* Another Taste rookie, Englewood-based Lagniappe-Creole Cajun Joynt (booth number 59), will be serving up chicken wings and waffles, its own beignets, fried turkey wings, and a crawfish boil

* Even with its swanky new Wicker Park franchise Harold's Chicken Shack keeps it real this year, represented by Englewood-based store number 13 (booth # 31 on the map), its chicken wings, chicken nuggets, fries, and okra, and white bread.

* The Pride of Bridgeport, Polo Cafe & Catering (booth number 33), will be serving up rum-battered tilapia fillets, fried jumbo shrimp on a stick, and oven-baked crab cake nuggets.

*We'll level with you and tell you that we've been to Vermilion (Daily Special, July 7) on about three occassions and the only reason we keep going back is because we love the food. We've never been fans of their service. So, look at Taste as your chance to indulge without having to put up with the snoot. Go with the Malabar crab cake—coconut and spice flavored crab cake with panchpuran tomato salsa.

* Deleece (Daily Special, July 5) has a new chef these days, since its old one went and opened up the highly lauded sola, but we don't see that stopping Deleece. We're intrigued by the sweet potato chipotle salad.

* Arya Bhavan (booth number 52) is serving up samosa—crisp patties with potatoes, peas, coriander and spices) and Pav bhaji with bread—vegetarian stew with caulifower, peas, eggplant, tomatoes and spices.

*Perhaps not the best BBQ in town, but we've never complained. The Fireplace Inn (booth number 44) is featuring BBQ back ribs and fried onion rings.

*What is the 4th of July without a liitle sausage and sauerkraut? Polka Sausage & Deli's (booth number 13) got both in spades, not to mention those little pieces of heaven, Pierogies with sour cream.

*There isn't a person alive in Chicago who hasn't traversed up to the corner of Wilson and Ravenswood and hasn't had someone say to him or her, "Have you ever been to Zephyr? God that's good ice cream." In case you haven't yet, they're at Taste (booth number 62) and they're all about the sundaes—strawberry; Hot fudge; Pineapple; and Brownie fudge.

Now, about the music. In past years, the musical side of Taste of Chicago has, in past years, been about as inessential as you can get. The acts usually trend toward the also-rans or has-beens. The Petrillo Music Shell isn’t even the coolest outdoor music venue downtown thanks to the additions of the Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park and the Charter One Pavillion on Northerly Island.

We usually say not to go to the Taste expressly for the musical acts, but since we're all about that new-leaf-turning, we're actually going to write against the grain here and recommend making the Taste a destination for a couple afternoons this year.

Tomorrow at 3 p.m., Glen Campbell will be performing with the Yonder Mountain String Band as part of the Chicago Country Music Festival. While not in ill health, we recommend seeing Campbell now rather than waiting until later. You never know when legends are going to call it a day.

The other night worth braving the crowds for is July 4th itself as XRT lined up Ray Davies, My Morning Jacket and Mike Doughty for a show starting at 3 p.m. Davies is a master showman at this point, sometimes to a fault. His recent shows at the Vic floored us and hearing "Waterloo Sunset" in the early evening in Grant Park sounds like heaven.

If you’re already at the Taste on certain days, there are other shows that would be worth a listen. WGCI sponsors the O-Jays and india.arie at separate 5:30 p.m. shows tonight and Wednesday the 5th. The acoustics of Petrillo will probably wreak havoc with their guitars-and-bars sound but Fountains of Wayne play on July 8th at 5 p.m. (Liz Phair is playing too but if you’ve managed to remain a fan for this long, we recommend skipping the tossed-off performances she gives in outdoor venues like this).

Other than that, you can check out DeRo's piece in the Sun-Times for the rest of the mainstage lineup or the city's site for the unfortunately anonymous bands acting as background fodder. Finally, if Dennis DeYoung is so sensitive to light, then why is he playing a 3 p.m. afternoon show on the 9th to close out the Taste? Just askin’.

Thanks, Scott and Chuck!