UR Chicago
May 2008
By Ari Bendersky

 It’s no secret winter stakes its claim on Chicago and holds tight for a long time. OTOM, sister restaurant to famed chef Homaro Cantu’s moto, just rolled out its spring menu—and it seems to reflect the elongated grip of the city’s winter, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
 While Chicagoans are desperate for fresh fruit and vegetables after a long, harsh winter, we have to hold off for just a little longer, and the menu at OTOM (pronounced “autumn”) shows that. Rich with hearty dishes like short rib ravioli, braised lamb shank, seared quail and spicy crawfish jambalaya, the restaurant’s “spring menu” takes its time packing up for another year.
 OTOM, tucked away on Fulton Market among the city’s congested meatpacking factories, is a breath of fresh air despite its grimy surroundings. Walking into the warm space, you are embraced by the bounding positive energy flowing throughout—feng shui was definitely a consideration in the design of the space, with clean lines, ambient light and a color scheme seemingly inspired by fashion designer Paul Smith. Another nice tough? Bright orange chairs set against with linen-clothed tables for a nice pop of color.
 Attention to detail isn’t lacking at OTOM. Nor is attention to service. Our meal started with an amuse of peanut butter and jelly sandwich: peanut butter cookie topped with banana crème and carbonated grape. This led to the butter-poached shrimp ($12): amazing flavors of black beans, chili, puffed rice and jalapeño noodle combined to create in essence, a delicious classic chili, only deconstructed and inventive. The shrimp exemplifies the level of creativity that combines Chef Daryl Nash’s classic American training in Kansas City with what he learned under molecular gastronomist Cantu.
And it was shown throughout the meal—no more so than in the “bacon egg” served with the Lyonnaise breakfast salad ($12). The plate displayed two sides—one hosting a perfectly poached egg, the yellow yolk atop its white shavings, the other a bed of curly escarole adjacent to what looks like an ice cream egg, which it basically is. The smoky, garlicky-flavored ice added an odd texture but a welcome taste explosion that left us scratching our heads as to how Nash came up with the concept. But because it was so good, we quickly realized the conception didn’t matter so long as it was on our plate.
The entrees were hardly forgettable, especially the BBQ pork belly ($26) and the short rib ravioli ($25). The former had a delicious smoky, tangy sauce reflective of Nash’s Kansas City background and was so tender it fell apart. The dish’s pièce de résistance was the “white bread,” a crispy, seasoned crouton of sorts that created the illusion of eating a barbecue pulled-pork sandwich. The short rib ravioli introduced a surprising gush of bitter chèvre that complimented the short rib along with a parsnip vanilla purée.
By the time our seared rib eye ($29) arrived, we were near capacity, and it didn’t help that the item’s traditional marbling left us a little put off. However, the accompanying fried potato (that Nash jokingly says is a rip-off of a McDonald’s hash brown) and kielbasa spaetzle (which was surprisingly light) saved the dish.
Perfectly paired wine recommended by Sommelier Matthew Gundlach throughout the meal capped off an already stellar dinner, but dessert really left us with a lingering happiness. The festive and playful coconut-pineapple paradise and crisp milk ‘n cookies with caramel bananas (both $9) were refreshing and just-filling enough to allow us to leave feeling sated and not overly full. Just enough to give us a little extra padding until the spring thaw.