Conscious Choice: Hospitality the key at Charlie’s on Leavitt

November 2004 | Conscious Dining

Hospitality the key at Charlie’s on Leavitt

by Janine MacLachlan

Zestful enthusiasm is the best way to describe the aura around Charlie’s on Leavitt, a contemporary American restaurant brought to us by chef/owner Charlie Socher, who also owns the French-themed Café Matou in Wicker Park.

The exuberance could be a result of the staff’s delight to have the restaurant open after months of waiting, but I suspect it’s because restaurant veteran Susan Socher, the chef’s sister and front-of-the-house guru here, knows how to hire and train dedicated people. And the food’s pretty good, too.

Located on Leavitt Street near the intersection of Montrose and Lincoln Avenues, Charlie’s will likely play on the success of the burgeoning Lincoln Square/North Center neighborhood. It offers food and drink suitable for a quick weeknight supper or a longer weekend date. The room is warm and sophisticated, with walls and banquet seating ranging in tones from butter to pale cocoa, punctuated with a bronze-colored wood-beamed ceiling. A hand mirror in the ladies room was a nice touch, and reinforced my opinion that Susan Socher is graciously guiding the ambiance with a woman’s touch. It’s evident the Sochers take time to educate their staff. Our spirited server had tasted everything, and, even better, had an opinion about what he liked best and why, giving us a basis for our decision, which was oftentimes tough.

Beverages Built for Exploring

The beverage list is a delight to meander through. I overheard diners complimenting the wine list, made up of mostly New World wines at a variety of price points and including a whopping 23 by-the-glass options. At my table, friends cooed over the cocktails, which include some elusive gin drinks like a genuine gimlet ($8.50), made with gin, lime juice and powdered sugar, and a raspberry royale ($7.50), champagne with cassis-soaked raspberries. And I found myself wanting to work through the beer list as well, including a Trappist ale and a Weiss, a wheat beer, both of which would go well with sandwiches, like roast poblano pepper ($8.75) with brie cheese and tomato, or grilled chicken with proscuitto ($9).

Eclectic American Cooking

Chef de cuisine Mariano Aguirre, formerly sous chef with Socher at Café Matou, is in charge of the stoves and is quite capable at melding the Latin and Asian influences that make up the eclectic menu. The small plates can serve as starters, or a tasting menu. My dining companions devoured the Prince Edward Island mussels ($8.25) steamed with roast garlic, bacon and cream. And the three-mushroom soup ($7.25) with portobello, oyster and button mushrooms signaled that fall is indeed upon us. The savoy cabbage and blue cheese salad ($6.00) was a medley of robust flavors matched by a bacon-dijon vinaigrette.

I loved the sautéed grouper special ($19) on a vibrant bed of tomatoes, capers and basil. Another popular dish is the “burnt chile” pork chop ($16.25), served with a puree of three chiles with sour cream, honey and lime. Vegetarians might feel a little challenged here — one of the few veggie selections is the five-part salad with garlic linguine ($12.25) with asparagus, red bell pepper, mushroom, endive and pickled onions. But our server offered to make items without meat to broaden our options.

The cheese plate ($7.25) is a nice transition into dessert and had an interesting international trio of cow, sheep and goat cheeses, with one pungent cheese not for the faint-hearted, but a delight for those who like cheeses nice and stinky. If you’re looking for a chocolate fix, look no further than the warm chocolate pudding cake ($7.25) topped with espresso ice cream.

The Final Word

My only disappointment was that Charlie’s did not offer any sustainably-produced meat or fish. That’s not so much a critique of the restaurant, but of the fact that Midwesterners still expect food to cost less than it should, making such fare cost prohibitive for many neighborhood restaurants.

However, Charlie Socher has a reputation for using ingredients from local growers and producers, and he doesn’t disappoint here. The peach ice cream ($7.25) is made from truly local peaches — they came from the city backyard of a business colleague. The raspberries, served with chantilly cream ($7.25), are hand picked at Blue Skies Berry Farm, a small three-acre operation in Wisconsin. And Socher is an educator too — he recently hosted a late-night tasting of HomeGrown Wisconsin heirloom tomatoes from Shooting Star Farm, not only for the staff, but also for 18 area restaurants.

Charlie’s on Leavitt, 4352 N. Leavitt St., Chicago, 773-279-1600. Tuesday through Sunday 5 p.m.10 p.m. Closed Monday.

Janine MacLachlan is a freelance writer, cooking school owner and food enthusiast whose search for well-raised food is a passion. She is contributing editor to the Slow Food Guide to Chicago.

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