Hearty
3819 N Broadway, btw Grace and Sheridan; Lakeview; 773.244.9866
You've always looked back at the foods of your youth with nostalgia, mostly because hot dammmnn did Gerber make some bomb ass plums! Giving you comfort classics you can actually self-feed, Hearty.
Opening Thursday, Hearty's the latest project from noted Chi TV personalities the Hearty Boys, who're doing a contemporary take on American classics in their converted studio space, which they've transformed into a full-fledged dining room with a deep mahogany bar, sea glass subway tiles, and lime-accented walls that go with the 99 bottles of Miller Chill on them. Good-old-day inspired starters include a rabbit sausage corn dog with spicy apple slaw and Honker's Ale syrup, a trio of deviled eggs with curry, pesto, and beet filling, and salt cod fritters in a tartar sauce spiked with Old Bay, because New Bay has crabs. The entrees also invoke the past with Chicken a la King in a sherry cream served over grilled dill onion bread, Bacon & Blue Meatloaf that's kicked with housemade tater tots and creamed spinach, and a weekly Campfire Fish special that's cooked over hot coals with herbed butter and veggies wrapped in foil, so the aliens can't read their thoughts.
Drinks also have a nostalgic edge, with signature cocktails like the Smokey Mountain Rickey, a cranberry-lime-club combo made with Catdaddy Moonshine, and the Phillips Head Screwdriver with Ketel One, Campari, fresh lime, and Orange Crush, which lasted for awhile, but could never beat Plum Love.
