When you think of Italy, you probably think of Rome, Florence, Venice and Naples. You probably don’t think of Piedmont, a region in northwest Italy known for producing some of the best wines in the world. Osteria Langhe, a restaurant near Logan Square, is the perfect introduction to Piemontese food. Owner Aldo Zaninotto is the son of Italian parents who ran an Italian restaurant in Belgium, and it was his dream to open his own restaurant. In 2014, he opened Osteria Langhe to introduce Chicagoans to Piemontese cuisine. The menu changes often, but some classic dishes are always on the menu. Don’t miss the traditional Vitello Tonnato, showcasing poached beef served with a tuna, citrus and caper sauce. The poached beef is tender and juicy and the rich aioli is a fitting pairing. If available, order the Tagliata, pictured. This Piemontese New York strip steak with gorgonzola and Madeira glaze and crispy potatoes could rival any steak in the city. If you want to try Italian cuisine beyond the typical Italian red sauce so common in America, Osteria Langhe is the place to go. Zaninotto’s passion and Chef Cameron Grant’s culinary skills make the food taste even better.
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In a town crazy for chicken, Romados is simply the best. At this unassuming Portuguese pit stop in Montreal, the flame-broiled, well-seasoned Portuguese-style chicken is rotisserie grilled over an open fire, spatchcocked and served with Montreal “soft fries.” The kicker is the house-made spicy sauce, which is poured on with a paintbrush and is thoroughly addictive. This institution deserves its fame and should not be missed on any serious foodie tour.
The 1st crispy tacos (a la Taco Bell) were invented in San Bernadino California at Mitlas (founded in 1937). The Denver fried taco is credited to the family that owns the Mexico City Lounge in Denver and the ingredients are the same: crispy shell, spiced ground beef, iceberg lettuce, grated yellow cheese and salsa. In Denver,however, the tacos are fried on one side until the cheese melts out the edges and crisps and for this reason they are simply better. The fried steak taco at Mexico City Lounge is one of the great contributions by Americans to Mexican cuisine. Do not leave Denver without trying a tray of 4-5 of these addictive beauties.
In the central and south region, bún bo is as famous as pho in North Vietnam. Comprised of rice vermicelli, a special broth and beef or other ingredients, the broth is pungent with lemongrass and is cooked for many hours with beef bones to make it lightly sweet. In the central region, especially in Hue City, bún can be very hot and spicy. Ba Dieu is locally agreed to be the best place for bún bo. At this place, bún is accompanied with many kinds of beef, including tendon and flank, and pig leg. To make it easy, order a “thập cẩm,” which means one bowl with all of them. This shop is on a small street and only operates for a few hours a day. It might be tricky to catch them in action, but it is well worth the try.
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In central Vietnam, this dish of cold vermicelli with grilled pork, papaya pickle, cucumber, greens and roasted peanut includes a special sauce made of pork liver and peanuts. But in other regions, local people use sweet and sour fish sauce instead. Opened for decades, this small eatery is always crowded with visitors hungry for its pork wrapped in betel leaves and grilled on hot charcoal. The mild smoke from the charcoal adds a plus point to the dish. It’s definitely some of the best Bò lá lốt in Vietnam.
Banh canh is a distinctive dish of the central region of Vietnam because of its noodle. The noodle is made with tapioca flour or rice flour and tapioca flour. It has its own taste, depending on the flavor you choose: pork, fish ball, crab, snakehead fish or Vietnamese pork sausage. Squeeze a little lemon juice into the bowl, then add a tablespoon of chili sauce. The sweetness of the fish, crab or “chả cá” already tickles the tongue. Don’t forget to dip a stick of the hot yellow fried bread into the soup for maximum pleasure. This place used to be the only noodle shop in the area that was surrounded by a vast rice paddy long ago. The whole area was undeveloped until bridges and roads were built and local people were able to open their businesses. Despite the development and its spreading reputation, the flavor remains unchanged.
Nam O is a small village known for its long-standing fish sauce industry and extremely famous fish salad/fish rolls. To make this dish, the villagers pick the freshest herrings, remove the heads and tails and fillet them. Then they slightly press the fillets to extract some juice and marinade them with ginger, galingale, minced garlic, lemon and vinegar for about an hour until the fish meat becomes medium rare. The fillets are then coated with roasted corn and peanut powder. What’s different about eating rolls in Nam O? It is believed wild forest vegetables can help eliminate the smell of raw fish, and the greens and herbs served here are picked from the forests up on Hai Van pass. Many restaurants sell fish salad in Nam O, but Thanh Huong serves the best in the area. This spacious restaurant has a beautiful view overlooking the Cu De River. Besides fish salad, they also serve many other dishes, all reasonably priced.
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Danang is known as seafood heaven because the area’s ocean bounty is affordable, fresh and top quality. Most restaurants along the beach sell seafood freshly caught from the sea, so the decision about where to eat usually comes down to whether they can cook more complicated seafood properly, especially tamarind crab. This restaurant delivers, hands down, the best tamarind crab. Similar to Singapore’s chili crab, the sauce is heavily tamarind-based, much thicker and more flavorful. Order a hot Vietnamese baguette to dip into the last bit of that unbelievable sauce if you don’t want to use your fingers, because it is really finger-lickin' good!
These Vietnamese savory dumplings wrapped in banana leaves originally were served to kings, and the requirement of taste and wrapping technique were exacting. Banh loc is made with tapioca flour, then filled with shrimp and pork. Banh nam, shaped like a rectangle, is a combination of rice flour, minced mushrooms, shrimp, pork and onion. After being steamed inside banana leaves, banh loc becomes chewy and transparent, while banh nam stays moist and soft. Banh beo is made of rice flour, steamed in small bowls, filled with savory ingredients and topped with roasted peanuts. These dumplings make great afternoon snacks, thanks to their interesting textures. One of the first banh beo shops in Danang, Ba Be in the city center continues to draw crowds for its savory dumplings.
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One dish represents Danang the best. An icon of central Vietnamese cuisine, Mi Quang is half noodle soup and half salad. A small amount of concentrated, salty broth just covers the noodles, to which diners add lots of greens on top. While noodles are the main ingredient, various added meats range from chicken, pork and shrimp, snakehead fish and beef to even jelly fish or eel. The story of the dish’s origin says the region suffers from typhoons every year, making it hard for people to grow crops, and there is not enough food to get by. The broth is intentionally made salty and concentrated so diners can add more noodle to keep their stomach full. Don’t forget to add condiments such as lime, chili and rice crackers, because you will not taste all of the dish’s unique flavors without them.
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