Rob and Allie Levitt's cozy Wicker Park restaurant, Mado, is known for using local ingredients, in-house butchering and head-to-tail cooking.
This week, they're doing all three--and they're doing it with mutton.
Lamb is standard fare, but mutton (older sheep) has never had a place on modern American menus. Mado hadn't given it much thought until Louis Slagel, who raises the restaurant's pork, called about a sheep. He aged it for a week to deepen the flavor before delivering it (whole) to the restaurant on Wednesday.
Rob (pictured) likes mutton for its stronger flavor. "It has more character and is going to taste more like the grass it's been eating," he says. "It's like lamb, but more aggressive."
For the next week, Mado's menu will be mutton-rich, with grilled loins, braised neck terrine and rotisserie-roasted legs. The liver is destined for pâté--and maybe a turn on the grill--and the shoulders are going to be braised and turned into sausage.
The heart and kidneys will be saved for VIPs; in the past, the Levitts have cooked kidneys in brown butter and cream and served them with toast and mustard. So if the chefs owe you a favor, now may be the time to cash in.
Mado, 1647 N Milwaukee Ave.; 773-342-2340 or madorestaurantchicago.com
