Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
Have you ever had one of those weeks when you just had too much to do but not enough time to get everything done? It was for just such times that the owners of Scatchell’s designed their strip mall in Cicero, which includes a pizzeria, car wash and laundromat.
One afternoon, a friend and I were trolling for food after catching a matinee at the Music Box Theatre. Just a couple of blocks away from the cinema, we saw a quaint restaurant called the Banana Leaf Kitchen with a sign promising noodles, fried rice and curry.
You gotta wonder about a restaurant named after an illegal drink. So it was with curiosity that I ventured to the oh-so-hip Cafe Absinthe.
I don’t necessarily love her semi-autobiographical show “All-American Girl” yet, but I relate to Margaret Cho, the star of ABC’s new comedy. Cho is Korean-American. I am Korean-American. She is the antithesis of the ideal Asian woman (geisha girl). No one would mistake me for Suzy Wong. She snorts when she laughs. I snort when I laugh. She’s big (chubby). I’m big (tall). Once, a Korean friend’s father helpfully advised me to “stop growing” if I wanted to land a husband. She’s not a doctor, but a comedian. I’m not a doctor, but a journalist – kind of like a comedian. Cho dates losers. When I date, they’re usually losers. She’s 25. I’m . . . well, never mind.
Grrrrrrrumble!!!! The noise you hear is the collective hunger pangs of wannabe patrons waiting for a table at Shiroi Hana. The line outside the Japanese restaurant is long and winding. There is no band playing. And as far as I can tell, there are no celebrities inside to bother, either.
It’s 10 a.m. Saturday and there’s already a line at Leo’s Lunchroom. But no one seems cranky. Hungry, yes. Crabby, no.
I lost my headache at Jane’s. Let me explain. The first time I ate at the Bucktown restaurant, I reacted in typical American horror when the waitress seated my friend and me right next to the only other couple in the restaurant. But too embarrassed to ask to be moved farther away, we sat there and made the best of it and ended up having a fabulous time.
Earwax isn’t the most appetizing name for a cafe/record and video store. But it is a pretty darned catchy one.
Place: No Exit. Time: Just about anytime, but try Sunday afternoons around 4. Why: Because it’s a lot of fun, there’s free jazz music and the coffee is killer.
I’ll be the first to admit I had a bias about Lulu’s the first time I went there for dim sum, the traditional Chinese brunch where diners sample small portions of many dishes. First of all, there’s nothing traditional about Lulu’s. It’s in Evanston, which doesn’t have a large Chinese population. Second, I didn’t see any Asian chefs. And third, does a place named Lulu’s really sound like it would have good dim sum?