Last month I turned in a long-overdue review of Knife & Tine, a six-month-old Lincoln Park restaurant where the chef, Nate Park, a veteran of Moto and Ing, was doing some interesting, if problematic, things in the kitchen. Hours after I filed the copy it was announced that Park was out the door and replaced, and the review, naturally, was 86’d.
All were served in short pours—three-, five-, and two-ounce wines, beers, and cocktails, respectively—which, if you were sharing food, would leave most folks a bit dry if they tried to share the pairings too. Servers were prepared to explain the rationale for choosing particular pairings, but diners but weren’t beholden to them.
It’s a likable showing of audacity that Barnes never quite repeats. Instead, executional flaws mar dishes that should be quite good, like a slab of crispy but inexplicably dry pork belly garnished with an otherwise appealing toss of finely shredded mustard greens, fat runner beans, and pureed squash. Two fish dishes, otherwise compellingly accented, arrived far overcooked: a flap of leathery skate wing with some lovely, light and fluffy sunchoke croquettes and intensely pickled cippolini onions, and monkfish that adorned a thick, emerald-hued fennel puree with orange sections (taken with a sweet but nicely bodied old-fashioned made with butter-washed bourbon). A plump, snappy, dense, and tasty rabbit bratwurst is overwhelmed by its bulging potato roll, the very opposite of the accompanying light and crispy herbed potato chips (the recommended beer pairing for this dish is a PBR).
1962 N. Halsted 773-935-1000coppervinechicago.com
