Vettel Thinks Temporis is a Star; Sula Exalts the Pies at Pizzeria Bebu; More

Sam Plotnick and Don Young are “putting on a show” at Temporis, Phil Vettel writes. Below the fine dining restaurant, a hydroponic garden supplies microgreens and other goodies for the pair to create “American contemporary” cuisine. To start, king crab meat dressed with aged soy, topped with mustard powder, and flanked by steelhead roe and freeze-dried satsuma is a “sort of salty-sweet interplay.” Heartier dishes are the “most impressive,” such as rabbit prepared three ways and a minimalist lamb loin with herbes de provence pudding, baby turnip, and fava beans. “Nifty desserts” include a deconstructed peach pie and foie gras ice cream topped with a sprinkle of guava salt. Overall, Vettel says the “rewards are considerable” for diners and hopes “more people will come to appreciate this restaurant.” [Tribune]

Chicago is filled to the brim with pizzerias but Pizzeria Bebu “rises above to join the thin ranks of the objectively good pizzas in town.” Mike Sula praises the unique crust that at its foundation is “just good bread.” It’s “uniformly crispy” and the outer rim has the “crumb structure of a great sourdough bread while remaining tender enough for one to tear off bite after bite.” The “distinctive menu of specialty toppings” include a “gleefully treif but breakfast appropriate” bagel smuggler pie as well as a veggie-laden ratatouille. A customized margherita topped with soppressata and Calabrian honey is also a “provocative and irresistibly scarfable pie” while “herbaceous meatballs wallow[ing] in a powerfully umamic red sauce” are a solid starter. For dessert, a “delicate, unorthodox cannolo” is filled with “barely a hint of sugar sweetening the ricotta and chocolate.” [Reader]

The Lunatic, The Lover & The Poet is an ambitious wine bar that mostly succeeds according to Graham Meyer. The roasted chicken sandwich confuses with ramp pesto and marinated mushrooms that “don’t make sense together,” but pillowy Yukon potato gnocchi in a “luscious, buttery pool” helps “inspire passion.” A “Platonic-ideal” grilled cheese sandwich made with pear compote, prosciutto, and brie is likewise favorable, as is a lyonnaise salad with duck confit and the “very good” fries. The food is complemented by more than 20 wines by the glass and a soon-to-open outdoor patio that should provide a perfect place to spend a midsummer’s night. [Crain’s]

Michael Nagrant recommends Sol’s on Sheridan for “great, fast and cheap Korean food.” Gimbap, Korea’s version of maki, features “silky slivers” of meat between pillars of custardy egg, yellow radish, kimchi, and spinach. Bibimbap is a “bowl of comfort that fuels you for hours,” an “artful arrangement” of carrots, zucchini, and radish over a bed of rice and topped with a sunny side up yolk. Korean fried chicken arrives in an “airy batter and juicy 24-hour marinated flesh” while “glorious” honey butter potato chips are an addictive snack. For those who “can’t make the commitment to a full sit-down experience, you’ll love Sol’s.” [RedEye]