Gadabout - Chicago
“Elevated, non-traditional street food” is how the husband-wife team of Rolf (Girl and the Goat, Boka, Pacific Standard Time) and Meagan Pedersen (Hopleaf) describe the food they prepare at Gadabout.
A “gadabout” is someone who travels the world for pleasure, and the menu at Gadabout celebrates the worldliness and diversity of the city of Chicago, reflecting international instincts and downhome comfort food.
“Elevated, non-traditional street food” is how the husband-wife team of Rolf (Girl and the Goat, Boka, Pacific Standard Time) and Meagan Pedersen (Hopleaf) describe the food they prepare at Gadabout.
A “gadabout” is someone who travels the world for pleasure, and the menu at Gadabout celebrates the worldliness and diversity of the city of Chicago, reflecting international instincts and downhome comfort food.
Gadabout’s kitchen does not turn out the “tweezer” food you find at many of Chicago’s illustrious (and much more expensive) fine-dining restaurants. Rather, the food here is presented as a playful, colorful, flavorful mélange of many tastes and textures, all balanced and each intriguing. Here are some examples:
• Ahi tuna tostada has the popular fish mounted on a platform of refried beans, gochujang (the popular Korean spicy sauce), sesame stick, nori and jicama, a blend of flavors from several continents that come together beautifully.
• Shishito peppers have complex flavors provided by a roasted garlic and miso vinaigrette, brown butter walnuts, tahini and…chicken skin (!). Shishito peppers are hot right now, you see them everywhere, but you’d be hard pressed to find them in a more interesting mix of flavors.
• Grilled mackerel comes in a ginger-scallion vinaigrette, with apple, arugula, fried chickpeas and five spice. The apple, arugula and fried chickpeas are all unexpected components with this fish, and they work well together.
As you can see, the Pedersens are not constrained by traditional combinations of ingredients: they bring together flavors from all over the world to compose creative plates (and many times bowls) that are comforting while at the same time adventurous.
The overriding feeling you get from Gadabout is that the chefs are having fun and that they want you to have fun, too. You will.
