The Peasantry Restaurant Is A Delight | Chicago

Fried chicken and waffles are common in this town, especially on brunch menus.

But we hadn't seen fried chicken on a pancake–at dinner, no less–until a recent trip to The Peasantry.

The new Lakeview restaurant is run by the team behind Lincoln Park's Franks 'N' Dawgs, and The Peasantry is suffused with the same playful culinary sentiment. Here it is applied to more than encased meats, and features table service, beer and wine, too.

That chicken-and-pancake combination is a loose, entertaining interpretation of a gryo: Boneless fried chicken, apple slaw and a drizzle of maple-sweetened yogurt rest on a golden-brown, diner-style pancake studded with corn kernels ($10).

Duck wings are another fried delight, with buttermilk dressing and fiercely sour cherry mostarda for double-dipping ($9). Pickled lamb tongue evoked a gyro too, seasoned as it was with Middle Eastern spices and served on grill-marked flatbread ($13).

The menu is loaded with fodder for avid carnivores but, as at Franks 'N' Dawgs, vegetables are also honored. A side dish of cannellini beans with raisin-date chutney, asparagus and mint ($5) was a recent highlight.

As was the appropriately playful dessert: a Twix bar-inspired glass of caramel and chocolate mousse, with a cookie on the side.

The Peasantry, 2723 N. Clark St.; 773-868-4888 or thepeasantry.com