Castel Gandolfo spinach fig proscuitto pizza.

Another thin-crust pizzeria? I say bring it on. Chicago’s long-running reputation for deep-dish pizza is steadily being eroded by the proliferation of new pizzerias popping out thin-crust creations. When my friend Lisa and I were wondering where to have dinner on this Saturday night, we opted to try the latest newcomer to the Chicago pie scene, Castel Gandolfo. Inspired by a trip to Rome that included a private visit with the Pope (and named after the Pope’s summer residence), Jane Jasnak and family wanted to duplicate the light, Neapolitan-style pizza she experienced on their visit. And duplicate she did.

The pizza here is delicious. Jasnak spent months developing the dough and insists on using housemade mozzarella. The painstaking efforts show. The dough is chewy and lightly charred on the edges. Each pizza is topped with impeccably fresh ingredients. Every order is delivered bubbling hot out of a wood- and coal-burning brick oven that heats to more than 800 degrees Fahrenheit. We chose to order that evening’s special—a pizza with goat cheese, fresh spinach, fig, caramelized onion, pine nuts—that hit the mark with an pleasing palette of flavors and textures. Castel Gandolfo also offers a small selection of calzones, two salads, some antipasti, and a few desserts. We were told a selection of pasta dishes were to be added to the menu soon. The crisp, mixed greens house salad, enough for two or three people, is served with a mix of roasted sweet red peppers, big green olives, and salty Parmesan crisps.

The quality of the pizza is so good and satisfying that it made up for the multiple waits and service glitches by an inexperienced wait staff. Hopefully those issues are being worked out. I’m already thinking about which pizza I want to try next. The prosciutto and arugula? The veggie? The bianco? I’ll just have to come back soon, and often, to try each one.

Castel Gandolfo
800 North Dearborn Street
(Chicago Avenue & Dearborn)
Chicago 60610-3317
Tel 312.787.2211

The rooftop garden at Uncommon Ground restaurant.

Uncommon Ground in Edgewater is not your typical restaurant. You might go there to listen to live, local music nightly in the back room. Or to view the latest local art exhibition on the walls. Or maybe to shop at the organic farmers market in the parking lot on Friday evenings during the summer, and also to sample wines against a backdrop of live music from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm while chatting it up with others at the market. There’s even Chicago’s—and the country’s—“first certified rooftop farm” you can check out on top of the building. On a chilly day, you’ll want to settle by the two fireplaces in the bar. And, oh, by the way, breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served daily, and the food is alone is worth a visit.

On this cool, breezy Tuesday evening, Slow Food Chicago held a dinner featuring Seedling Farm fruits.

The evening started on the 2,500-square foot rooftop garden, where we sipped on summer mixed berry shooters dotted with goat cheese cream and fresh herbs and refreshing “Agua Fresco Local Koval,” a mix of cucumber agua fresco with tarragon from the garden, Koval Rye Chicago, Koval Ginger Liqueur, and maraschino-style ground cherry as we wandered about the cedar boxes of produce that are used for the restaurants two locations (also at 3800 N. Clark St. in Wrigleyville). While Natalie Pfister, Uncommon Ground rooftop farm coordinator, described the array of produce being harvested (including 17 varieties of tomatoes) this first full season, we nibbled on excellent appetizers of shredded smoked chicken and tart cherry BBQ sauce on crispy blue corn polenta cakes and lamb lollipops with ground cherry jam. A trio of musicians was playing off to one side. It was all quite heavenly.

When Helen and Micheal Cameron, Uncommon Ground owners bought the property in 2007, they saved the historic building dating from 1908 saved from demolition. They proceeded to have the building extensively rehabbed, including digging the basement an extra five feet and adding steel beams to support the extra weight of the planned rooftop garden that eventually included four tons of dry weight soil—six tons when wet. The effort was carefully executed with a local and environmental agenda. You can read more about the project and the farm on the Uncommon Ground fact sheet page.

Uncommon Ground summer salad.

Since the Camerons are serious promoters of local, seasonal, family-farmed, and organic food when possible as well as local products, providers and workers, their menus reflect those principles. As we moved downstairs and inside the building’s dark wood-paneled main room, we continued to enjoy the bounty of summer that highlighted fruits from Seedling Farm in South Haven, Michigan.

Apricot mustard glaze pork loin.

Chef Brian Millman and his crew prepared a first course of a flavorful summer salad of roasted beets, plums, toasted walnuts, and goat cheese with mixed greens and a champagne vinaigrette. This salad was followed by an apricot and mustard glazed pork loin accompanied by a crispy potato cake, sautéed swiss chard and a slather of plum apple sauce. The pork served was from Slagel Family Farm, where earlier in the week the entire kitchen staff visited to watch and learn how an entire pig is processed.    

Peach blueberry napoleon.

The dinner, finished off with a peach and blueberry napoleon with melon gelato, satisfied in hitting many summer notes. When Slow Food Chicago organizes a dinner with Uncommon Ground, I jump at the chance if I can. The menu always boasts a creative blending of seasonal ingredients that pleases the palate and the evening’s informal agenda includes some sort of educational aspects. You get to learn more about the food you eat and the people behind it, making your meal more interesting—and memorable. 

Uncommon Ground (Wrigleyville)
3800 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL  60613
Monday – Thursday 9:00 am – 10:00 pm (kitchen); bar until 2:00 am 
Friday 9:00 am – 12:00 midnight (kitchen); bar until 2:00 am
Saturday 8:00 am – 12:00 midnight (kitchen); bar until 2:00 am
Sunday 8:00 am – 10 pm; bar until midnight
Tel 773.929.3680 

Uncommon Ground (Edgewater)
1401 West Devon Avenue
Chicago, IL  60660
Monday – Thursday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm (kitchen); bar until 2:00 am 
Friday 11:00 am – 12:00 midnight (kitchen); bar until 2:00 am
Saturday 9:00 am – 12:00 midnight (kitchen); bar until 2:00 am
Sunday 9:00 am – 10:00 pm (kitchen); bar until 12:00 midnight
Tel 773.465.9801
www.uncommonground.com

Dirk's tuna poke.

Although most people think of fish shops as places for mainly buying fish to cook at home, they can be a great stop for picking up some kind of seafood salad or soup. This brilliant, freshly made raw tuna poke at Dirk’s caught my eye on my visit this day. The cool, ultra-tender diced yellowfin tuna contrasted with a blend of a housemade “terry-aki” (a nod to his wife Terry) marinade, green onions, tobiko, chili oil, sesame seeds, and sriracha. A scoop made for a quick and easy summer lunch, which I paired with a prebought Asian pea salad. Although sushi-quality tuna is always pricey, I find a small portion satisfying. A heads up before you go: The tuna poke is only made from time to time. Call ahead or if you don’t see it, try the shrimp salad, which is offered daily. The shrimp salad is simply adorned, mixed with a touch of mayo, chopped celery, and lemon zest to let the flavor of the shrimp come through, and bound to satisfy as well.

2070 North Clybourn Avenue
Chicago 60614
Tel 773.404.3475
Fax 773.404.8619
www.dirksfish.com

Hours: Monday – Friday, 10:00 am – 7:00 pm
Saturdays, 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Sundays, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Parking: Foundry Shopping Center lot

Charcuterie at the Raspail Market in Paris.

Last night I saw the movie Julie & Julia. The film tells the real-life stories of Julia Child in post-World War II France and that of Julie Powell, a government worker in New York City by day and aspiring writer by night. In a discussion one night with her husband, Powell comes up with the idea to merge her love of writing with her interest in cooking by giving herself the challenge of blogging about cooking her way through 524 recipes from Child’s notable Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 365 days in one tiny apartment kitchen.  

The movie is worth watching for Meryl Streep’s superb portrayal of Julia Child’s character alone and for the stunning scenes of life in Paris where Julia and diplomat husband Paul Child are stationed in the post-war years. The trials and tribulations of Powell’s demanding culinary challenge in today’s world makes you at once exhausted and eager to make boeuf bourguignon.   

Perhaps most important, I found the movie inspiring in a number of ways.

For one, it was telling to watch Julia Child search to do something meaningful with her life. We watch her try her hand at hat making, attempting to learn French, and starting a basic-but-boring cooking class for women. It is only when she enrolls in the more challenging, all-male Cordon Bleu cooking school where she becomes engaged that we see her interest in cooking take off, igniting her curiosity, perfectionism, and delight in discovery. Like Julia, many of us, I think, struggle with finding our purpose in life.

Second, Julie Powell takes us on her journey of not only learning how to cook, but also on one where she realizes through the process and through her reflections on Julia Child’s life what joy and connection with others food can bring. Many years ago, I used to cook much more than I do now because I had more time. I still cook most every day, but much more simply. I long for finding space in my life where I can return to making delicious, soul-satisfying meals.

And lastly, it’s inspiring to see the transformation both women make at different stages in life, especially in the case of Julia Child. Although not simple, the soul searching both women go through shows that it is possible to change one’s life. It begins by being attuned to what intuitively interests you and what you lose yourself in doing. It sounds easy, and yet so many of us grapple with how to target that key passion we possess and then with how to make the shift to that passion with a full and demanding life.

Garnet Beauty peaches from Mick Klug Farm.

What a glorious morning: cool, dry, with some sun. Rare for Chicago in July, when it is usually beastly hot and humid. My half-hour walk to and from the Green City Market let me take in the crisp air, the flower gardens still holding droplets of water sparkling like jewels, and the quiet of a slow-awakening day.

The scene at the market, however, was bustling. So much is coming into season right now, it’s hard to pass much up. The blueberries. The raspberries. All kinds of cherries: the dark purple, red tart, and yellow. And then there are the first peaches, apricots, and even some plums. The peaches with their golden coats beckon. I have long given up on hard-as-rock supermarket peaches and wait all year instead for local peaches to come into season.

The peaches I bought were these Garnet Beauties from Mick Klug’s stand, whose farm is in St. Joseph, Michigan. The early peaches in the Midwest are clingstone, which means, as the name suggests, the fruit clings to the stone. For this reason, they are often used for jams and canning. But I’m so thrilled for the arrival of peaches, I’ll eat any variety fresh. “Just leave it on the countertop for about a day, and they’ll be ready,” Mick Klug says. The year-long hold-out worth the wait—sweet and juicy … and love at first bite.

Mick Klug Farm
St. Joseph, Michigan
Tel 269.208.9344