A Culinary Trip Through Asia

A Culinary Trip Through Asia

the goddess Quan Linthe Fortune Cookie dessert

Don’t complain that you haven’t been warned, because I’m telling you upfront to leave room for the giant fortune cookie dessert when you’re having dinner at Tao Chicago. The other desserts (molten chocolate cake, banana pudding et al) are excellent, but you really have to experience the over-the-top fortune cookie, complete with chocolate-dipped edges and cavities filled with dark chocolate mousse on one side and light chocolate mousse on the other.

Of course, fortune cookies aren’t really Chinese. But when it comes to cooking, creativity regularly trumps authenticity. Food evolves; cuisines cross-pollinate.

Consider, for example, the menu at Tao Chicago. It meanders through Asia, mingling dishes from China, Japan and Thailand with ingredients and concepts that are, on occasion, plucked from elsewhere. The yellowtail poke tacos, for example, are finished with a soy vinaigrette and spicy sour cream, while the aged bone-in ribeye sports a maple soy glaze. But don’t be confused, the food at Tao Chicago is emphatically Asian, as is the dramatic decor dominated by a towering statue of Quan Yin, a benevolent deity venerated as the Goddess of Mercy by Chinese Buddhists.

The best way to sample Tao’s menu is to order as a group. There are, of course, a few musts, such as the satay of Chilean sea bass glazed with miso and the lobster wontons in a rich shiitake ginger broth that’s laced with butter. Executive chef Laura Sendik says the broth is so good that diners rarely leave more than a drop or two.

Promoted to executive chef at the beginning of June, Sendik has been on staff at Tao Chicago since the restaurant opened in 2018 in a vintage greystone that was once home to the Chicago Historical Society. The building’s carefully crafted interior, which also includes a separately housed nightclub, exudes an intimacy enhanced by both the attentive service and the generous spacing of the tables in the dining room.

“Dining at Tao is meant to be a transcendent experience,” Chef Sendik observes. “Walk through the door, and you’re in a different world, a place where you can craft a meal that will take you on a culinary journey through Asia, no passport required.”

Tao Chicago, 632 N. Dearborn Chicago 224.888.0388

the lobster wontonsthe Sea Bass sataythe Tuna Pringles

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CAROLE KUHRT BREWER

Carole is an arts, entertainment and food journalist. She writes “Show Me Chicago” and “Chicago Eats” for ChicagoNow and covers Chicago places and events for Choose Chicago (City of Chicago) as well as freelancing for a variety of publications.

BARBARA REVSINE

I started writing when I was in grade school. And when I wasn’t writing or thinking about writing, I was reading what someone else had written. So it wasn’t a stretch for me to think about writing as a career. Neither was it a stretch to think about writing about food, a subject I’d always found interesting, more in terms of history, cooking, restaurants and culture than eating and critiquing. Decades after selling my first story, my interest in writing about food continues, and “A Bite of Chicago” gives me another opportunity to pursue my passion with people who share it.

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