Culinary tour of Chicago's hot new restaurants

A behind-the-scenes menu sampling at some of Chicago’s recently opened eateries provided more than 100 foodservice directors with ideas to bring back to their operations. The dine-around, hosted by Basic American Foods and FoodService Director magazine, provided new perspectives on customization, sharables, upgrading comfort foods and more. Below are a few of the highlights from this year’s Taste the Trends tour. 

At Latin-inspired Bar Takito, Executive Chef David Dworshak served halibut ceviche in shot glasses. The “shooters” are a different way to present a sharable dish for the table or a passed appetizer at a catered event. 

Retro ’70s-inspired food updated with chef-driven techniques and ingredients is the shtick at The Brass Monkey, an American brasserie. Cooks plate its version of a Fig Newton—foie gras, fig jam, spiced pecans and balsamic—as a first course.

Chefs showed how to stretch a more expensive product—here, smoked salmon—by placing a small amount atop a cost-effective potato blini. Trendy spot The Kitchen set these out on a help-yourself-communal table with other brunch-style tapas.

Ramen is a canvas for customization, as attendees discovered at Ramen-san. On the table are dishes of kimchi and a variety of authentic Asian seasonings for guests to ramp up the flavor and heat of steaming pork broth to their taste. 

At RPM Steak, a modern steakhouse concept, Chef-Partner Doug Psaltis melts fat trimmings from beef to brush on steaks during cooking, caramelizing the surface. “It’s more distinctive and sustainable than the usual melted butter,” he said.