Mundano - Chicago
Eater described Lincoln Park’s Mundano as a “genre-defying international bistro,” and that means you can expect a varied menu with foods likely to appeal to everyone in your group. Mundano delivers on that expectation.
Mundano’s chef Ross Henke ( Jean Banchet Award nominee for Best Chef de Cuisine) has created an incredibly diverse menu, spanning the culinary range with simple street-food inspired favorites churros and tostadas as well as white-table cloth standards Slagel Dry-aged Sirloin and grilled Sturgeon.
A lot of finesse goes into the dishes presented at Mundano. The Slagel dry-aged Sirloin, for instance, goes stratospheric with soubise, panzanella of tomatoes, basil, celery, and Spanish chorizo; the Grilled Sturgeon gets four-star treatment with charred peaches, shishito peppers, burnt chile vinaigrette, and smoked eggplant purée; The Lady Edison Country Ham sounds downhome but goes big city with a variety of flavors from marinated plums, chanterelle conserva, Beemster xo aged gouda, and chives; and even household standards like Roast Chicken are bumped up a few levels with pimento cheese, sourdough, chicken jus, morita butter, peach-jalapeno jam, spigarello, and tomatillo escabeche.
Chef Henke is pushing the limits of a very reasonably priced menu with expertly prepared dishes for everyone, including the kids. Mundano has a children’s menu that’s simple enough for young palates but interesting enough to spark any child’s interest in fine dining. For the youngs, there’s a relatively simple fruit cup or quesadilla, but also Shrimp Pasta featuring rock shrimp amped up with broccoli rabe (so much more kid-pleasing than plain old broccoli) and pecorino.
Mundano offers an excellent selection of beer and wine, and some beautiful cocktails like the Mundano Old Fashioned (Peloton mezcal, bay leaf agave syrup, house bitters) and (attention DC fans) the Dr. Manhattan (banana-Infused Rittenhouse Rye, white Port, allspice syrup, and Angostura bitters).
Mundano presents a sleek and stylish space to enjoy a small plate, a large plate or just a drink…with snacks. The special snack menu has some tempting accompaniments to your beverage, like Chips & Roe (kettle chips, salsa macha, Valentina, trout roe, and crema) and a Mixed Bowl of marinated olives, Marcona almonds, and Spanish chorizo.
Suitable for solo dining, couples, or families, Mundano may defy genres but it will definitely please your palate.
