Last month panic spread among devotees of Chinatown’s Spring World when the Yunnanese restaurant abruptly closed its doors and its interior was ferociously gutted. But after the fastest remodeling in world history, James An has already reopened in his sparkling new room. In response to customer demand, he’s also offering an expanded Yunnanese menu that focuses largely on dishes made with dried wild mushrooms said to have medicinal properties—the southern Chinese province is famous for such fungi. For now the menu remains untranslated, which An promises to rectify soon, but a few outstanding dishes have emerged from it already, most notably a mushroom hot pot. A murky, delicately spicy broth roiling with nearly a dozen species of ‘shroom (including matsutake and Chinese black truffle) plus greens, herbs, tofu, and bits of lamb, it’s a party of textures and flavors that continues to develop in the leftovers stage. A fabulous dish of seven mushrooms and chicken cooked in a tube of green bamboo is the hot pot’s equal in complexity and nuance and is supposed to be good for a sore throat. Other new provincial specialties include a heaping plate of lamb riblets sprinkled with cumin and chile and a platter of similarly seasoned chicken chunks with chewy, pillowy rice cakes and red and green chiles. Both pack a smoky wallop.
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Rich Melman is usually ahead of the curve, but Pizzeria via Stato, his rehab of the former enoteca, seems a little behind it—how many more thin-crust Italian-style pizza joints do we need? There are three already within seven blocks of Via Stato’s River North compound. Years ago at Lawrence of Oregano (groan), Lettuce Entertain You spearheaded the wood-fired-oven trend; here Melman’s disavowed it, and his crackery “taverna pizzas” suffer by comparison to the chewy pies at Coalfire and Spacca Napoli. The toppings we tried were hit-or-miss: while truffle oil did wonders for a white pizza with artichokes, the pepperoni, described on the menu as fennel salami, tasted of nothing so much as salt and grease. Perhaps some of the six other options (including margherita, house-made sausage, and potato) would have been more satisfying, but it’s a bad sign when you have no interest in taking leftover pizza home, especially when your tab for two tops $70 (with wine and tip). I did like the crunch julienned celery gave to a Caesar salad, one of three salads on the concise menu, but a white anchovy or two would have been nice. And when I chose the sole red wine ($8) from an ultracondensed beverage list of house favorites, I didn’t expect it to be about on par with Yellow Tail. (My companion scored better with a $7 Barbera.) Nonetheless, crowds of what looked to be tourists and shoppers packed the small space, which is stuck between its big sister, Osteria Via Stato, and the bright, barren lobby of the Embassy Suites. Locals should know better: Quartino, right across the street, offers a more varied menu at much better value, and the pizzas at newbies La Madia (in the old Jazz Showcase space) and A Mano (in Marina City) leave these in the dust. —KateSchmidt
King Tut Restaurant and Hookah Bar
Pizzeria Via Stato
2109-A S. China Pl., 312-326-9966
3737 W. Lawrence, 773-478-1888
620 N. State, 312-642-8450
