It’s possible that the food writers of Chicago are running out of ways to heckle Billy Dec, who serves as carnival barker and C.E.Bro of Rockit Ranch Productions. That won’t stop us from trying, but with Bottlefork, the new restaurant that rose from the ashes of Dragon Ranch, he’s bought himself some credibility. That would come in the form of chef Kevin Hickey, who previously took the stuffy fine-dining restaurant at the Four Seasons and transformed it into Allium, a very good, casual, creative, and personal restaurant that was just a bit hamstrung by its institutional environment. At the end of my 2012 review I wished that I could see Hickey “unleashed in a less inherently restrictive environment.” I guess I should be careful what I wish for.
As for the food, I had such radically different experiences on each visit that I’m not sure I ate in the same place twice. On both occasions Hickey was expediting from the open kitchen (no sign of the Dec), a chef in his element, signing off on each dish that came off the line. And yet, on my first visit most things that came from it suffered from overcooking or an overabundance of salt. Tiny bites like the chicken meatballs in a bowl of ruddy cavatelli pasta carried an atomic level of sodium, as did the chalky, overcooked scotch quail eggs jacketed in bratwurst. Sometimes the salt levels were set in stark contrast to unaccountable mildness, like a mouth-parching rabbit leg hidden in a thick armor of batter, its saltiness in polar opposition to the bland cornmeal mush it rested on.
The last dish we tried at Bottlefork—almost by accident—said a lot about the place’s potential. In lieu of a rotisserie chicken that wasn’t quite ready, we were offered a plate that had yet to make it onto the menu: an octopus and potato salad, tossed with chunks of pan-seared house-made “Spam” (quotes appropriate here), sweet crunchy beans, and spicy pickled brussels sprouts. It was a dish with such an impressive range of textures and bright, popping flavors it left a lasting impression that went a long way in dispelling the unhappy memories of the first visit.
441 N. Clark 312-955-1900bottlefork.com
