Fiddlehead Cafe

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You can’t say Fiddlehead Cafe doesn’t do its darndest to please. This casual, warm, wine-centric cafe from two Bin 36 alums opened last month in the corner storefront formerly occupied by Square Kitchen. The name, after the fern, is meant to reflect both the restaurant’s commitment to a seasonal menu and its proximity to the Old Town School of Folk Music, just up the street. Under chef Robert Leavitt (Del Toro, North Pond) the kitchen offers a range of “global” appetizers (grilled flatbread, seared scallops, garlic sausage with cornichons) and spiffed-up bistro standards like the signature three-way steak frites: marinated skirt steak served with russet, sweet potato, and polenta fries. A pork shank entree was one monster hunk of fork-tender meat, served over bacon-braised lentils with a chunky pear mostarda, an Italian condiment made from mustard powder and candied fruit. Unfortunately, while both it and a guinea hen special (a cabbage roll of braised leg meat, cranberries, and chestnuts with a roasted breast-and-wing combo) looked and smelled great, they tasted oddly bland, as if underseasoned. The wine list suffers from a different problem: with a dozen reds and a dozen whites and bubblies all available by the glass or in flights of three, it’s hard to go wrong. But to get to a knockout like a 2004 cab-merlot-Syrah blend from Washington State’s Hedges winery, you have to first figure out how to interpret the overly cutesy little icons that indicate traits like “dry”, “complex,” “berries,” or “oaky.” Still, to a person the staff at a recent visit was unflaggingly friendly, down to the chorus of “thanks for coming!” as we slipped out into the night. A few days later I even got an e-mail: during dinner I’d asked an idle question about the excellent French cheese flight, and the waiter who’d taken down my (nonidentifying, non-Reader) address actually kept his promise to find the answer. –Martha Bayne

Taos

1034 W. Belmont

Yolk, 1120 S. Michigan, 312-789-9655