anyone remember the seafood rest. TANGO

Tango was a ground breaking seafood rest. in the late 70's &80's that would be cutting edge , now. The only other contemporary seafood place at that time was La Mer , Jean Banchet's short lived seafood venture whose exec chef was Jackie Chen, now at Red Light.

If memory serves, I think it was in a space in the Belmont Hotel, a residential apartment/hotel (like the Belden Stratford) at the corner of Sheridan and Belmont.

For its day, it had a dramatic look and feel, and was on the expensive side, especially for a restaurant in Lakeview.

Others will no doubt remember another restaurant entry in the residential hotel world, this one at the Webster Hotel--the innovative (in a different way) Mel Markon's.

Bonus trivia question: name the restaurant in the Belden Stratford that preceded Ambria.

Triple bonus: name the restaurant in what had been a residential hotel (now the Pierre apartments) on Lincoln Park West at Dickens (across the park from the zoo).

Olde School wrote:Bonus trivia question: name the restaurant in the Belden Stratford that preceded Ambria.

It was Al Farber's Other Side, with Al Farbers being located across the hall in the Mon ami Gabi space.

I remember it well. I worked there. Really good food and several Warhols on the walls. Gus the bartender was great too.

If you have any particular questions, I would be happy to answer them for you.

stevez wrote:

Olde School wrote:Bonus trivia question: name the restaurant in the Belden Stratford that preceded Ambria.

It was Al Farber's Other Side, with Al Farbers being located across the hall in the Mon ami Gabi space.

Wasn't Al Farber's where Ambria was and The Other Side where Mon Ami Gabi now is?

Olde School wrote:If memory serves, I think it was in a space in the Belmont Hotel, a residential apartment/hotel (like the Belden Stratford) at the corner of Sheridan and Belmont.

I have fond memories of being thrown out of the Bel-Air Lounge. (That takes effort.) Truly one of those bars you only spend time in when your friend buys a condo around the corner from the place.

I remember Tango ... I went there several times, and it was definitely groundbreaking, and a very impressive space. Is there anything in there now?

Sadly, it's a parking garage now.

I spent quite a bit of time at Tango. My then girlfriend and eventual ex wife to be worked for George Badonsky at the time. The Dover Sole with sauce Albert was a favorite. The staff were pretty outragious and became friends of mine (Leigh and James, where are you?) and I worked worked with one of their executive chef's, Jimmy Rivas for quite a while as well at the East Bank Club where he mentored me around 85 so. He later moved to New Orleans and is still cooking there at Pierre Mospero's (sp?) by the old slave market. When George brought Jean Joho to town for le Aubrerge de I'lle for Maxim's, the opening was delayed and we played host in his first weeks here. We took him to Hapi Sushi, showed him a bit of Chicago etc...

George played a huge role in introducing Chicago to a newer form of Fine Dining with Tango among the top players in town at that time.

Great memories of a great restaurant.

I definitely remember Tango. I was working at an ad agency at the time and it was considered one of the hip places to go. The husband and I celebrated one of our anniversaries there.

The other place that just popped into my head was Lexander. It was on Clark next to Gordon (another outstanding place) and I think became more known for the decor than the food.

Good article from the 90s on Badonsky:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m ... i_10349685

One other memory of Tango. Bricktop. She was in her 70's and was an amazing expatriot singer he brought from Paris to play there. Like Billy Holiday meets Jimmy Scott. Caught some great shows there.

Olde School wrote:Triple bonus: name the restaurant in what had been a residential hotel (now the Pierre apartments) on Lincoln Park West at Dickens (across the park from the zoo).

Isn't that RJ Grunts?

Isn't that RJ Grunts?

Grunts is in the apartment building on LPW across Dickens from the Pierre, which was once known as the Parkway Apartments, where Bugs Moran lived in the 1920s. There was a Japanese restaurant on the street level in the 1950s and 1960s, long before the days of sushi.

Olde School wrote:Triple bonus: name the restaurant in what had been a residential hotel (now the Pierre apartments) on Lincoln Park West at Dickens (across the park from the zoo).

Are you thinking of Toulouse on the Park?

Olde School wrote:

Isn't that RJ Grunts?

Grunts is in the apartment building on LPW across Dickens from the Pierre, which was once known as the Parkway Apartments, where Bugs Moran lived in the 1920s. There was a Japanese restaurant on the street level in the 1950s and 1960s, long before the days of sushi.

So, no, the triple bonus is not RJ Grunts?

So, no, the triple bonus is not RJ Grunts?

No. Sorry.

Olde School wrote:There was a Japanese restaurant on the street level in the 1950s and 1960s, long before the days of sushi.

That's Naka-No-Ya Teahouse at 2100 Lincoln Park West (the picture is from a pre-1963 postcard of mine). I believe Chicago's first fancy Japanese restaurant was Wisteria Tea House at 212 E Ohio. It opened in the mid-1940s and had sashimi on the menu (not sure about sushi).

That's Naka-No-Ya Teahouse

Rene G: Bingo. I went there when I was around nine years old, and thought the private rooms with the tatami mats were about as cool a set-up as I had ever seen. I don't remember anything about the food, except that I must have ordered shrimp tempura if they had it, since my standard call whenever going out to any "fancy" restaurant at that age was always french fried shrimp.

Thanks for sharing the picture. Wonderful.

Rene G wrote:

Olde School wrote:There was a Japanese restaurant on the street level in the 1950s and 1960s, long before the days of sushi.

That's Naka-No-Ya Teahouse at 2100 Lincoln Park West (the picture is from a pre-1963 postcard of mine). I believe Chicago's first fancy Japanese restaurant was Wisteria Tea House at 212 E Ohio. It opened in the mid-1940s and had sashimi on the menu (not sure about sushi).

Olde School wrote:Rene G: Bingo. I went there when I was around nine years old, and thought the private rooms with the tatami mats were about as cool a set-up as I had ever seen. I don't remember anything about the food, except that I must have ordered shrimp tempura if they had it, since my standard call whenever going out to any "fancy" restaurant at that age was always french fried shrimp.

Thanks for sharing the picture. Wonderful.

Yes, indeed, Naka-No-Ya served shrimp tempura. Here's an excerpt from an early menu of theirs, showing the accompaniments you probably got with your tempura dinner (fortune cookies for dessert!).



The menu has a copyright date of 1959, not long after they opened in 1958. Interestingly, it lists sashimi but not sushi. Within five years, owner Mona (she used no surname) was serving sushi, prepared tableside. As discussed in another thread Naka-No-Ya might have been the first Chicago restaurant to serve sushi (at least to a mostly Western clientele) but Kamehachi probably introduced the sushi bar to Chicago in 1967. Naka-No-Ya closed in 1973.

Naka-No-Ya (closed)
2100 Lincoln Park West
Chicago 14, Illinois
LAkeview 5-4567