A friend I eat with a lot likes to press his nose up against every menu and scan for typos. When he finds one, it’s like a rancid amuse-bouche that he’s thrilled to alert his server to. But when a menu misspells prosciutto—and menus often do—it’s even worse, like he found a fly in his soup. The mistake colors his experience with a bilious yellow filter of lowered expectations.
The latter’s run by chef Austin Fausett, a newcomer late of Proof in Washington, D.C., and apart from the misspellings, his menu looks good. It’s seafood focused, at its core a choice of five different mussel preparations: classic, steamed with white wine and butter; tomato-saffron; beer; chorizo; and coconut curry, the rich broth of the last good enough to spoon up even without the provided grilled bread. Regardless of the presentation, they’re plump and fresh and everything you could ask for in an elemental bowl of shellfish.
Fisk & Co.’s commitment to seafood is admirable, especially for a hotel restaurant, which by definition must also offer a burger, here two thin patties, a blend of ground brisket, chuck, and short rib, blanketed in melted raclette and caramelized onion.
225 N. Wabash 312-236-9300fiskandcochicago.com
