Many a weekend night finds hungry (though no longer thirsty) patrons packed tightly around the small bar at this Wicker Park draw. Most seem glad to wait past their reservation time, although the bartender’s generous hand may have something to do with it. (Or perhaps it’s the free hard-boiled eggs, something you don’t see at a bar much anymore.)
There aren’t too many places that look like MOD, either. Just walking in the door is an eye-opener (long sleek hallway ending in a brilliant floor-to-ceiling mirror; you realize you’re walking into yourself at the last possible moment). Orange, blues and white predominate, and the colors are echoed by the cranked-up tunes.
The curvy, butt-hugging chairs are from the Sleeper house. One wall’s banquette is multi-flecked industrial foam wrapped in see-through vinyl. You think you’re going to sit on cold granite and, instead, it go bounce.
From the looks of the joint, the menu’s supposed to be arugula everywhere, right? Or maybe small dead birds, or plates of high-stacked boy food with shooting chives, all the ur-progressive eating that made the 90s such, um, a memorable feast.
Nope, not in this particular temple of the contemporary.
This chow is Midwestern, with meat like pork chops and racket-sized beef steaks, and the sort of eats that are strong on plainspoken, straightforward flavors.
Sure, the food is tarted up a bit to justify the price, so, for example, the pork chop ($17.50) comes with ‘truffle-scented white corn,’ but overall, this isn’t cutting edge culinary. Thank God.
Some starters are terrific. ‘Ham and eggs’ ($7.50) is a whimsical name for a dish of olive oil-drenched and toasted crusty bread topped with peeled asparagus, Parma ham and shavings of Asiago or Parmigiano cheese. It’s breakfast at 9 p.m.
Tender, bulbous ‘fried Texas shrimp’ ($7) arrive aswim in a sweet-sour vinaigrette snappy with pepper flakes and that douses see-through slices of crisp English cucumber. The ‘iron skillet roasted mussels’ ($8) —a dish made famous in simple Paris bistros—bring a fantastic scent of toasty char. The mussels are each as tender as an ear lobe and just as delicious to nibble on.
Salads include the Tuscan standard, panzanella ($6)—although the menu is less pretentious than I am and merely calls it ‘Tuscan bread salad’—chock full of perfectly crusted bread cubes (each oozing fruity olive oil) that appear as if each was individually hand-grilled. There’s a delicious abundance of basil, but also those eensy, weensy capers when the fat, eraser-sized sort would do so much better.
Another salad of ‘wild greens, radishes and walnuts’ ($6) comes scantily dressed in a terrific mustard vinaigrette, but the highlight of this mélange are the onion-skin thin slices of radish, each as large as a silver dollar. Radishes like these don’t come around anymore. They’re peppery and sweet at once, and, in the midst of this mix, are like eating exclamation points.
Main dishes comb the sea, farm and ranch, although MOD seems to excel with protein from inland sources. A ‘sautéed shellfish medley’ ($17) didn’t skimp on the fish, but it advertised ‘Provencal style vegetables’ when they were anything but. Provence is all about full-on flavors, and these were just watery and dreary.
A special one evening of duck confit ($19) was as good as it gets: terrifically crispy, with meltaway, feathering-off-the-bone meat and an enormous bed of green lentils (de Puy, I’d guess), perfectly cooked and the best foil for so sweet a section of meat.
As for that 30-ounce rib eye steak ($28), it arrives as black as the devil’s heart, crusted in balsamic vinegar and from an expert’s hand at the grill; The kitchen rings it in a moat of Stilton cheese ‘fondue,’ so decadent that it becomes heady after, oh, eight or nine bites.
Wines are stars at MOD and the list is long, with offerings from the $30s on up. I like the way moscato d’Asti comes bubbly in frozen glasses, little pipes without stems and just the right size.
MOD
1520 N. Damen
(773) 252-1500
Fresh-ingredient modern American
Entrees $12-$26
Dinner daily
Noise: Cacophonous when full
Full wheelchair access
Smoking in bar area