Like many businesses running along or underneath the Chicago “L”, there’s a gentle rumble from the trains crossing overhead at Belly Shack, a new urban Korean-Latino “meld” (wouldn’t say fusion) from Chefs Bill Kim and his Puerto Rican wife Yvonne Cadiz-Kim. Gangster rap or authentic Latina tunes belt through the speakers while hipsters nosh over paper-lined trays. The bright autumn sun shines brightly, almost blindingly through large windows. Stark metal stools dot the graffiti’d room, where particle board accents and street art give the place legitimate street cred.
Chef Bill, who has the weathered visage of an ancient Korean nobleman (though he now dons a bandana), comes with years of experience in fine dining, capped by five years at the renown temple of gastronomy, Charlie Trotter’s, where he ultimately helmed the kitchen as chef de cuisine. In this industrial-ghetto-street-urban Belly Shack, an outgrowth of his noodles-dumpling oriented Urban Belly restaurant, Kim wanted to cook the food he likes to eat, using ingredients from his Korean heritage and inflecting flavors and techniques found on the “street” level of cuisine.
My Korean BBQ Kogi “sammich”, no doubt a nod to the well-known Kogi BBQ Truck with its similar spelling (Korean words have no standard spelling in English, so it could very well be gogi or gokee), comes with four dense quarters of pita bread with a generous helping of freshly grilled bulgogi, or thinly sliced marinated short rib meat. More so than your local Korean BBQ, this bulgogi comes more fragrant and more complex, with perhaps a bit more sweetness and citrus elements to cater to a younger, more hip palate. To my delight, the excellent meat comes paired with an intense, garlicky pile of kimchi. The national dish of Korea isn’t overly fermented, but it’s no slouch either. Both meat and kimchi packed into the pita break makes for a hearty meal.
What’s even better than this makeshift sandwich is the hot and sour soup, a superb pastiche of Asian and Latin flavors. At once it looks like a spicy tortilla soup, crunchy slivers of tortilla and specks of fresh cilantro lining the top. Dive deeper and you’ll see nice chunks of tender chicken and corn hominy. While this pozole could compete with some of the best that I’ve had, including caldos at Rick Bayless’s Xoco or L.A.’s own La Casita Mexicana, this one is my favorite. It’s my favorite because the heady spice and gentle tang in the soup counters a natural sweetness in the broth. I could have a bowl of this every morning for a year.
And what might be the perfect ending this meal, I’m keen on getting the huckleberry-lime soft serve. On the generous swirl of rich, thick ice cream comes a covering of bright-red dried huckleberries laced with thick syrup and a dusting of fresh, aromatic lime zest. What completes this dish is the vessel it comes in, the thin stainless steel bowls where one usually receives their serving of rice at a Korean restaurant. It’s a cheeky, but sweet gesture that makes me smile ear to ear.
Belly Shack
1912 N Western Ave
(between Cortland St & Winnebago Ave)
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 252-1414
www.bellyshack.com
3 comments:
Belly Shack looks good. Sign me up for a sammick and a big bowl of huckleberry soft serve.
There are certainly no shortages of Puerto Ricans and Koreans in Chicago and I find it very interesting that is what became of the two cultures. This is a great idea, great concept, I'd have to check out Belly shack when i go back to Chicago. THanks for sharing
makes me wanna go to Chicago... tempting... it's only like an hr away =)
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