If Split-Rail opened for breakfast and lunch I could see hanging out there all day talking to myself about chicken McNuggets. This bright, airy, open, industrial space in Humboldt Park, bedecked with fox-hunt-themed banquettes and vintage cheesecake from legendary pinup artist Gil Elvgren, is the home of a new restaurant from former Ada Street chef Zoe Schor, who offers, on a oddly constructed menu, a bowl of five bronzed chicken nuggets at almost twice what you’d pay for a ten-piece under the Golden Arches.
Residing among the “Classics” is a cheffy reinterpretation of fajitas: masa approaching a Cream of Wheat texture forms a canvas for dollops of pureed onion, avocado, and red pepper and a fan of seared sirloin slices draped with pickled jalapeño. It’s difficult to detect the prized uni butter among a heavy pile of linguine and clams in the same group, a dish missing its inherent brininess and lightness. But then we come to the fourth entry in this peculiar category: chips and sour-cream-and-onion dip. I recently noted that Daisies chef Joe Frillman is putting actual potato chips and onion dip on his menu as if he’s hosting a rec-room spin-the-bottle party. Schor had the same idea but instead serves her bronzed spuds with a side of orangescent trout roe, hiking the cost to $18. Overall the menu is attractively priced, but in the case of the chips and dip it’s good enough to lower your head and ignore the offense.
It’s tricky to pay homage to home-style midwestern culinary values without inadvertently sneering with condescension or veering toward kitsch. Schor avoids these traps by just being a damn good chef. v
2500 W. Chicago 773-697-4413 splitrailchicago.comsplitrailchicago.com
