Eat Like an Egyptian?

My 5-year old is a budding Egyptologist. He is already an expert on Egyptian religion, architecture, writing, and mummification. To him, Egypt has become the pinnacle of civilization, which actually makes it hard to get him to partake of the rich panoply of cultures available in Chicago -- "Egypt does it better" has become an all-too convenient excuse to turn his nose up at art and food! Anyway, he keeps asking for an Egypt restaurant, and I would love to take him to one. Maybe he will eat things he wouldn't normally touch if he thinks they are Egyptian! I am acquainted with a few of the many Middle Eastern restaurants in the area, but I don't know if any are owned/operated by Egyptians with any items that are characteristically Egyptian. I figure there must be someone on LTH who can be of some assistance. Thanks!

The Nile on 55th street in Hyde Park has the right name to fit the bill, but they have pictures of Jerusalem up all over the place, so I'm not sure of the family's origins. Their lentil soup, mosakhan (with onion-sumac stuffed pita), and shawerma are excellent. You can easily make a day out of the excursion with a visit to the Oriental Institute, the best collection of Middle and Near Eastern artifacts in the city!

The Nile
1611 E. 55th Street

The Oriental Institute
1155 E. 58th Street
http://oi.uchicago.edu/

On Lawrence between Kedzie and Pulaski are (were) a number of Egyptian cafe's. Look up Nefertiti, Pharaoh's, and Luxor here. Go early. These are sort of smoky men's clubs and/or night clubs later. They do have Egyptian food, decor, staff and patrons. Nile in HP plus the Oriental Institute is a great call. Your kid should visit Indiana Jones' alma mater if he has not already. The point above about it having the best collection in Chicago is true, but something of an understatement. It's a great, world-class collection.

Here's something from Monica Eng about the Lawrence scene:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertain ... genews-utl

I know it's a bit off topic, but the area is a quite a vibrant place late, what with the Egyptian places, Balkan places, dive bars, Hourglass and whatnot.

JeffB wrote: Look up Nefertiti

Jeff,

Nefertiti is gone, replaced by also Egyptian King Tut. I walked in for a look-see, but have not eaten there, though it seems of the same mold, as much nightclub as restaurant.

Enjoy,
Gary

King Tut
3737 W Lawrence Ave
Chicago, IL
773-478-1888

rdb66 wrote:My 5-year old is a budding Egyptologist. He is already an expert on Egyptian religion, architecture, writing, and mummification. To him, Egypt has become the pinnacle of civilization, which actually makes it hard to get him to partake of the rich panoply of cultures available in Chicago -- "Egypt does it better" has become an all-too convenient excuse to turn his nose up at art and food!

Kids like this (and the parents who indulge them) are so terrific!

Santander wrote:The Nile on 55th street in Hyde Park has the right name to fit the bill, but they have pictures of Jerusalem up all over the place, so I'm not sure of the family's origins. Their lentil soup, mosakhan (with onion-sumac stuffed pita), and shawerma are excellent. You can easily make a day out of the excursion with a visit to the Oriental Institute, the best collection of Middle and Near Eastern artifacts in the city!

Already seconded by JeffB, but I must chime in that Santander's is the perfect recommendation.

rdb66, if your son is already an expert on Egypt, you've probably already taken him to the Oriental Institute, but I'm a firm believer that one can never go too many times. OI is one of my very, very, very favorite places in Chicago, and there are many places in this mighty city that I love. As a kid I wanted to be an architect and my father was always very interested in archaeology, so we spent many, many weekends together in Chicago indulging these interests. We'd go down to Hyde Park so that I could walk around the Robie House, and once I was sated, we'd walk over to OI so that my dad could have his fill of treasures from the Fertile Crescent. In retrospect, my visits to OI were much more formative than my time with the Robie House. OI's collections are staggering, even after what's probably 30 visits that I've now made. In fact, I've often imagined, if in the future Chicago were threatened by some great deluge or conflagration, I would save, assuming I wasn't limited by what I could carry (!), (and even if Chicago actually had significant Old [European] Masters) OI's collection and the Art Institute's Moche and Nazca ceramics. That's it.*

*OK, maybe I'd also save a Manet philosopher, but that's really it!

happy_stomach wrote:OI's collections are staggering, even after what's probably 30 visits that I've now made. In fact, I've often imagined, if in the future Chicago were threatened by some great deluge or conflagration, I would save, assuming I wasn't limited by what I could carry (!), (and even if Chicago actually had significant Old [European] Masters) OI's collection and the Art Institute's Moche and Nazca ceramics.

My dad used to take me to the OI, too, and one of the things I dig most about it is that the building (despite recent internal renovations) has remained basically the same for a very long time (they haven't even changed the archaic name of the place). In case of deluge, I'd grab big-eyed Sumerian votive statues (Assyrian winged bullmen probably too large to carry) -- and then I'd grab a snack.*



PS. Loads of Moche and Nazca ceramics in the Field Museum, too (I worked on the video script for the presentation in the new Native American section, a very big addition to the exhibits).

*Obligatory food reference

David Hammond wrote:PS. Loads of Moche and Nazca ceramics in the Field Museum, too (I worked on the video script for the presentation in the new Native American section, a very big addition to the exhibits).

Yes, there is lots, but in quality, AIC's are far superior. At the world's end, I wouldn't save anything from the Field. (And, I'm not someone who by default favors the collections of art museums either, e.g. the Moche and Nazca ceramics at the Natural History Museum in NY are much, much better than what the Met has--only ceramics of course, we're not talking gold...) Granted, I do think Dick Townsend has let the entire Pre-Columbian collection at AIC languish a bit (but we forgive him because the Casas Grandes exhibit last year was amazing!), but as you pointed out, OI illustrates very clearly, that even if objects are left and not reorganized or re-labeled or seemingly not reconsidered in any way, if they are truly outstanding, they will continue to sing. That is what's great about OI, and why it's such a special place for me--the objects there can speak for themselves, without encyclopedic labels or audio explanations or holographic models or the other noise at places like the Field (I acknowledge that these education materials can be helpful to some, have logged a few years working in the education depts of art museums myself, but I prefer my own experience with museum objects to be as little mediated as possible).

Maybe rdb66 can introduce his/her (?) son to Pre-Columbian art...recs for Peruvian restaurants would be much easier to make than Egyptian!*

*Obligatory food reference (I know I owe LTH a lot more on-topic food references...I'm working on it!)

happy_stomach wrote:without encyclopedic labels or audio explanations or holographic models or the other noise at places like the Field (I acknowledge that these education materials can be helpful to some, have logged a few years working in the education depts of art museums myself, but I prefer my own experience with museum objects to be as little mediated as possible).

The map exhibit at the Field is a mind-blower, though somewhat noisy and mediated. There is a snazzy animated 4-minute map of the American Civil war that I sat through twice -- I now appreciate the impact of Sherman's March to the Sea, and how critical it was to the success of the War of Northern Aggression.

Then I had some chili at Corner Bakery (OFR), which you know, was not so bad.

David Hammond wrote:The map exhibit at the Field is a mind-blower, though somewhat noisy and mediated..

Yes, it was on the noisy end for me (but my tolerance for mediation with maps and architectural drawings in museums & libraries, for some reason, is higher than with other objects*), but the Field exhibit was fantastic!** I'm annoyed I only got to visit once. Afterwards, I ate a tuna sandwich on olive bread at the Corner Bakery, which is what I always get from their menu. It's a pretty reliable sandwich.


*Something that gets me really worked up are 16th-c woodcut maps of Italy; I love looking at the maps and reading the literature on wormholes (i.e. how worms have EATEN their way through these works on paper). Seriously, not just an OFR.
**For the record, I respect the Field and enjoy visiting--I wasn't dismissing it completely--I just wouldn't carry anything out of there if Chicago were to be wiped out.

Another vote in favor of the OI -- our own young Egyptologist loves going there. And their gift shop, the Suq, is currently having a sale... (they have some children's books, games, etc, along with more grown-up stuff.)

Thanks to all. We are in fact long time Hyde Parkers (technically, North Kenwood now), and are well acquainted with the OI. It is a gem, and has really gotten even more precious in the last few years as they have opened new, updated climate controlled galleries.

They did a pre-halloween "Mummy Night" that was amazing! They have an actual practice mummy dummy (like a CPR dummy) that they use to demonstrate mummification technique, and the let the kids do it. You stick a hook into the nose to pull out the brains, you cut a slit in the side to remove the thoracic and abdominal organs, etc. To top it all off, the grad student leadind the demo was named something like Annelise Breugel. With a name like that, if she DOESN'T discover a lost civilization or two, it would be a disappointment.

I'm embarrassed to say I didn't think of just going to Nile! Their food is quite good, I agree. Has anyone eaten at the place(s) up on Lawrence? I would love to know if they are worth the trip for a meal (most of the press was focused on the nightlife). I'd really like the 5-year old to meet some actual Egyptians and have them talk to him about life, food, and so on.

I've had this link sitting around:
food of the ancient Egyptians
(I'm sure there are better, I just want it off the docket )

-ramon

I have been to what is now Tut's and also to Luxor for dinner, with kids. As I said somewhere earlier, it's cool to see dozens of guys who look like Omar Sharif playing parlor games in a smoky cafe in Chicago. The food is not significantly better than what you have down the street in HP. Nor did I find it better than other, better documented (but not Egyptian) places selling "Middle Eastern" food further east on Lawrence and on Kedzie. But the over the top decor at Tut's might make it worth the trip (in addition to the Egyptians).

Ramon wrote:I've had this link sitting around:
food of the ancient Egyptians
(I'm sure there are better, I just want it off the docket )

-ramon

. . . and if he wants to branch out to Mesopotamia, "the oldest cuisine in the world":

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/h ... /16219.ctl

jbw wrote:
. . . and if he wants to branch out to Mesopotamia, "the oldest cuisine in the world":

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/h ... /16219.ctl

That is a fascinating book, though sometimes challenging to find ingredients, like francolins, in Chicago:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t= ... esopotamia

I had a visitor from egypt here for a few months, and he loved king tut and ali baba, both on lawrence

I was just in Cairo (briefly) and am not sure if I could tell the food we had from anything that is labeled generically "Middle Eastern" here in the US. Lovely cold salads with chopped veggies and various beans, grilled lamb, grilled chicken, etc.

I've been to egypt a dozen times, at least, and, aside from a few very special places, the food isn't that great. the egyptians that I know consider Lebanese food to be the best in the region.

but, that said, it would be a cool expereince for a kid to see the lawrence street places.

I wanted to get back to everybody, thank you for all your help, and report on the progress with the 5-year old.

Over the holidays we dined 3 times at The Nile Restaurant on 55th Street. I was concerned, in advance, that it wouldn't be "Egyptian" enough for him. I needn't have worried. While on our first trip, he was a little confused that he didn't see posters and pictures of things Egyptian, that confusion when he began eating the food.

I should note that while this 5-year old has some good taste (he is very fond of Ikura salmon roe and all things caviar), his palate is otherwise very narrow and he is rarely adventurous in trying new food. He is very fond of chicken, will occasionally eat green beans and brocolli, will eat some rice and potatoes (only mashed or fries), and has only recently begun eating plain hamburgers. That's about it.

My first surprise came when we got the red lentil soup. I have always been fond of this soup when I got it at various U of C spots. It's even better at restaurant. Creamy, rich, deep in flavor, filling but not overwhelming. It's wonderful stuff. Amazingly, the 5-year old thought so too!

The second surprise was how delicious the shish taouk was. I figured this was the best bet for the boy, less spiced than the shawerma. Less spiced, maybe, but so flavorful from its marinating, and grilled perfectly. I was fighting the kid for the last scraps on his plate. I had the kifta, my usual favorite, and it had nice (not overpowering) seasoning and a very smooth texture.

I don't know why the Nile wasn't one of my favorite neighborhood spots before. It sure is now. And to the 5-year old Egyptologist, it is now officially "The Egypt Restaurant."

If I didn't have Szechuan string beans to make at home, I'd be stopping there on my way home, such has your post made my mouth water. It really is a good place, and I'm glad you enjoyed it!

A Dig in Israel Unearths Clues About Ancient Food and Drink

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/20/dini ... ion=dining®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=11&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0