In the Magazine

Adam Platt on Brushstroke; Where to Dine in Chicago

Brushstroke.
Brushstroke. Photo: Danny Kim

In the magazine this week, Adam Platt reviews Brushstroke, David Bouley’s kaiseki-style Japanese restaurant. He finds the space itself, in the former home of Secession and Danube before that, redone “in the spare, woodsy style of a Shinto shrine.” While this is pleasant, there are some “unexpected, vaguely annoying wrinkles to the proceedings,” chief among them a rule forbidding the ordering of sushi in the main dining room. That section of the menu must be consumed while “crouched in the bar,” yet our critic’s skepticism is eased when he tastes the “impeccably made maki rolls,” “milky, rose-colored o-toro tuna belly,” and other delectable morsels. The “excellent cooking” carries over to the main dining room, where Platt consumes a ten-course, “stately, slightly archaic prix fixe meal” including dishes like a “smoky bowl of clam broth filled with crunchy tips of white asparagus” and “cool, faintly candied strips of duck breast smoked in sencha tea”; in all, the restaurant receives two stars.

Meanwhile, Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld have been busy keeping up with the city’s openings. There’s Salinas, a Spanish place in Chelsea; gelato shop Amorino, an Italian import that specializes in flower-shaped scoops; and Victory Garden, also dishing frozen creamy scoops, in this case with the tang of goat’s milk. The Robs also have the story on Rhubarb, currently in season, and ready to be simmered with spices like cardamom and nutmeg and served over yogurt. Lastly, this issue travels to Chicago, so if you go, here’s where to eat.

Adam Platt on Brushstroke; Where to Dine in Chicago