Do you know what an amuse-bouche is? Don’t worry. Your server at Herb does, and whether you know or not, he’ll earnestly explain the concept at the start of your prix fixe meal at this new restaurant in Edgewater that alleges to have “redefined” Thai food. Right now that particular amuse-bouche is what’s commonly referred to in innumerable American Thai restaurants as a one-bite-salad, but properly in Thai as miang kham. Your server won’t mention either name when he ceremoniously appears tableside with the ingredients arranged on a tray and begins to assemble it with all the deliberation of a spinal surgeon, meticulously spooning toasted coconut and sticky-sweet sauce onto betel leaves, then tweezing individual peanuts and bits of lime rind, red onion, and chile on top.
Dill does in fact turn up in a mushroom soup in the second course. The herb garnishes a pretty arrangement of king, oyster, and enoki mushrooms along with hearts of palm and sunchokes in the bottom of a deep bowl. A server ceremoniously pours the broth on top, brandishing more needless formality. OK, it’s not so much a broth but a thick, rich, mild turmeric-infused curry, the clearest nod to the chef’s southern Thai roots, and also is the tastiest thing on the menu.
Right now Herb is cooking a summer menu, and the plan is to change with the seasons, though it’s an open question as to how Thai food can truly adapt to the capricious midwestern cycle. What’s clear is that the restaurant doesn’t know what it wants to be yet. Is it “home style” or “redefined?” Is it southern Thai or midwestern seasonal? And what exactly makes these well-known dishes uniquely “holistic” when they incorporate many of the same ingredients that are used everywhere else they’re served?
5424 N. Broadway 773-944-9050herbrestaurant.com
