Thyme
www.thymechicago.com
1540 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago
773.227.1400
ITLC’s Overall Rating: A-
Cuisine: A Ambiance: A+ Service: A
In the mood for a change from dining-as-theater? Want just good food and good value in a classy casual space? Thyme Café delivers the goods. Executive Chef-owner John Bubala created this sister café as an alternative to the more upscale Thyme Restaurant. Chef de Cuisine Armando Cabrera ably oversees the kitchen. Now the artists in this Wicker Park neighborhood don’t have to starve, and the rest of us can get a damn good three-course meal for twenty-five bucks, but more about that later. First, the dining room deserves mention. The café is located in a 120-year-old building. The wide-plank Swedish pine flooring complements the exposed brick walls here and there. Earth tones abound, with high-back, mocha-color banquettes, and light oak tables (sans linens) and chairs. Lighting is diffused and still permits the reading of the menu. A small, inviting bar anchors the back of the room. And in homage to the neighborhood, a large wall space is covered with paintings, sketches and watercolors by local artists. Service is cordial and unpretentious, rounding out a real American-French café ambiance.
The menu offers several starters, entrées and desserts, all of which are refreshingly recounted on a single page. The flip-side lists a good selection of approachable wines, white and red, all at $6 a glass or $25 a bottle. There’s an impressive choice of single malts ($8-25), top-drawer bourbons and whiskeys ($7-12), specialty martinis ($7), international beers ($5) and pints ($7), as well as after dinner drinks ($6-8).
When your favorite libation has taken the edge off of your urban warrior’s day, dig into the menu, with gusto. The pommes frites are piled high on the plate and drizzled with a Paris mustard sauce, made with a red wine reduction. Sound a little off the wall? Not! They’re so good you could make a meal of them. The roasted beet salad is a signature dish, and deservedly so, with cherries, pecans and goat cheese. The housemade ravioli we enjoyed were stuffed with apples and walnuts and served with roasted grapes and brown butter. Yum! Old-timers (including present company) will cheer to see Gordon Sinclair’s artichoke fritters on the menu.
Entreés cover the expected territory: fish, chicken, meat, pork and several pasta dishes. The chicken saltimbocca with prosciutto and mozzarella was flavorful and somewhat moist. The accompanying spinach was cooked just-so-tasty. The grilled ribeye, though chewier than most, was accompanied by that tasty Paris mustard sauce, red skin potatoes and sweated red onions. Also tempting were such items as the BBQ salmon with sweet corn and leeks, farm-raised tilapia with crimini mushrooms, and the grilled pork loin with caramelized fennel.
Desserts are ooh-la-la. The chocolate banana crepes with vanilla ice cream and chocolate run neck-and-neck with the Spanish peach and hazelnut crepes with peach ice cream. Apple crisp makes a nod to American home cooking. Chef Homer’s housemade ice creams are universal. And of course, what café’s menu would be complete without crème brûlée and crepes St. Germain?
While one can order à la carte, who would want to? For $25 you get your choice of any starter, entrée and dessert on the menu (up to a $35 value if ordered à la carte). “All U Can Eat!” Sunday buffet brunch ($18.95) is served with live Brazilian jazz. And for $25 you get “All U Can Eat!” and a bottomless glass of mimosas. In addition to the usual orange juice and sparkling wine, you can choose from peach mango, pomegranate or blueberry flavors! For the moment, Thyme Café is a bit of a guarded secret in Wicker Park, but not for long. It recently garnered a spot on the list of the top 20 new restaurants in Chicago’s preeminent magazine. Go, while you can still get in easily!
Tu-Sa 5:30-10; Su brunch 11-3; Su dinner 5-9; closed M |
