Chef Kristine Subido has commissioned a wooden street cart. It will have prep space, burners, and room for spices and everything else she needs to fire off street food.
But Chicago's precooked-food-only vendor laws mean Subido's cart will have to stay indoors--right in the middle of Wave, her restaurant at the Lakeside W Hotel.
Starting tomorrow, every Wednesday will be street-food night at Wave, with a menu of three-bite dishes (served on wooden plates) inspired by street-side favorites. The country will change each month, and Vietnam is up first.
Choose three plates plus a matching cocktail or beer (Tiger, in this case) for $10; each additional dish is $3 to $4. Standouts include a better-than-on-Argyle chicken banh mi topped with pickled vegetables and a pile of fresh herbs (pictured), and charred lemongrass beef summer rolls topped with hoisin and peanuts.
Batter-fried tilapia drizzled with caramel sauce and wrapped in lettuce is classic Vietnamese clay-pot fish turned into finger-friendly food--made even better with the addition of mayonnaise spiked with sambal oelek chili sauce.
December's menu visits Thailand (and fish cakes, satay and grilled Thai sausage); then it's on to Morocco in January and Israel in February. For now, dishes come from the kitchen, but the cart should be up and running next week.
Wave at W Chicago Lakeshore, 644 N. Lakeshore Dr.; 312-255-4460 or waverestaurant.com
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