The Other Critics

Sepia Still Rocks; Grocery Bistro Gets Better; La Tache is Sloppy

• Given the lack of Indonesian restaurants in Chicago, Heather Shouse finds Angin Mamiri to be a welcome point of reference — though most dishes need a squirt of sriracha. [TOC]

• Pat Bruno finds Sepia’s new chef, Andrew Zimmerman, to be well up to par, keeping the restaurant’s place in his personal top 10 list and delivering food that “fits like a glove into the contemporary American genre.” [Sun-Times]

• Now that Noah Sandoval’s left Between Boutique Cafe & Lounge, new consulting chef Jose Victorio is putting a Peruvian-Asian spin on the menu, which Kate Schmidt finds to show “real promise.” [Reader, first item]

• Julia Thiel is impressed by the new Grocery Bistro chef, Monica Walters, who’s revamped the menu to focus more on seafood, with nary a miss. [Reader, second item]

• Kevin Pang visits Chi Cafe, and decides that this Hong Kong-style diner “just might be my favorite,” with its flavorful comfort foods and snazzy decor. [Tribune]

• The renovated La Tache is lovely, atmosphere-wise, but Martha Bayne finds the kitchen to be almost unforgivably sloppy, and the service pretty weak as well. [Reader, third item]

Sepia Still Rocks; Grocery Bistro Gets Better; La Tache is Sloppy