BYOB: Think
The spot: Not invited to any holiday parties this year? That’s OK. You can pretend you are by heading to
dinner at Bucktown’s Think, where the cozy, candlelit atmosphere will make you feel like you’re celebrating in the home of your hippest foodie friends. The menu is seafood- and meat-focused with several rich pasta options. The pistachio-encrusted pork tenderloin ($26), served flanking a coconut milk-infused wild mushroom timbale and surrounded by an amaretto-infused butter reduction and seasonal vegetables, is a good representation of chef Omar Rodriguez’s contemporary Italian-American fusion cuisine.While Think is more upscale than its Think! Café incarnation of a few years back, save your priciest wines for spring when Rodriguez and his co-owner and wife, Ryvkah Goodman Rodriguez, open a new upscale concept, Knew, upstairs. “We’re thinking of doing a prix-fixe (menu) with a little bit of selection,” Goodman Rodriguez says. “It’s going to be a really elegant dining room.”
The bottle: The closest liquor store is rarely the best option. But in this case, Danny’s Liquors, located just across the street, has some decent choices. Selections from around the world are presented in sections labeled by country. For a great value, check out Plantagenet 2005 Hazard Hill Semillon-Sauvignon Blanc from Western Australia ($10.99). Its clear-cut citrus notes make it the perfect white to stand up to the complex, eclectic dishes at Think. Danny’s is cash-only, but there’s anATM in the store. --Emily Hiser Lobdell is a Metromix special contributor. metromix@tribune.com