REVIEW
CHICAGO DIPLOMAT CAFE BY IAN RESNICK PHOTOS BY JERRY CAO
An attempted weekend lunch at Chicago Diplomat Cafe is a surprising experience. Less of a lunch and more of an early supper, as the restaurant opens at 3 on the weekends. You’ll likely find the place nearly empty at this hour, save for two parties of unknowing out-of-towners and a Georgian woman at the corner table who gnaws on bread and stares. The restaurant is long and lean with wood floors, brick walls, a bar in the left corner, wooden fans dangling from the ceiling, brown leather chairs with brass fasteners, a door in the back cloaked in curtains that must lead to nowhere. A large fish tank hugs the right wall, almost as desolate as the restaurant, filled with five moderately sized goldfish. Georgian Pop music plays through two hulking speakers across from the bar–an eerie mix of polka and techno that makes this place feel like a carnival with dwindling ticket sales. The single waiter at this hour has a thick beard and long black hair, with bushy eyebrows that rival my own. He is thin, with a nervous energy that is somehow disarming, encouraging you to order more food than needed. Chicago Diplomat Cafe is the sole ambassador of Georgian food in the city, a cuisine that has long gone overlooked. Yet, we are in the midst of a Georgian cuisine awakening. Last year, it was named “Cuisine of the Year” by the trend forecaster af&co, and for good reason. Georgian food is warm and comforting, made rich and flavorful with parsley, garlic, tarragon, dill, and coriander. It is a quiet walk up into the cloud-covered caucuses, and no dish better manifests this feeling than Khachapuri, a large oval piece of bread filled with cheese, butter, and topped with an egg yolk. The yolk, cheese, and butter is mixed at the table and torn chunks of the bread are then dipped into the yellow mess. The dish warms your bones on a cold day, burns the roof of your mouth just enough, and makes this life and the stares of the woman in the corner all the more bearable. Another mandatory dish is the Ojakhuri: thick, seasoned chunks of potato, lamb, and onions served in a gray clay bowl, releasing a fragrant steam that demands your attention. The trout is another favorite, served whole with a small, white ramekin of pomegranate sauce and flanked by slices of lemon, but its texture and bone content is tempermental on off days. Chicago Diplomat Cafe is the perfect introduction to Georgian cuisine. Going for a late lunch leaves you in the awkward silence of an empty restaurant, permitting an intimate relationship with the dishes placed before you. A dinner will bring a different sort of experience, the neon backlighting turned on and the long tables packed with boisterous families. It is a slice of a distant life that is hard to find, but well worth uncovering. >> NEIGHBORHOOD ROSCOE VILLAGE >> PRICES $$ >> DISHES TO TRY KHACHAPURI OJAKHURI
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bite | winter 2020