Carnivore is "the best thing to happen to Oak Park in a long time" (David Hammond), "incredible" (Vitesse98), with fish "stunning in its gorgeousness (Vital Information); "they are always doing cool things there" (teatpuller) and "their homemade sausage lunch with fresh giardiniera and caramelized seasonal vegetables makes me weep openly that there is beauty yet in the world" (me).
Also, "they salve the throbbing open wound left when
The Local in New Buffalo was torn from us last year." I can't think of many culinary
Wunderkammern, and The Local was one - a perfect cabin on a hill under a tree with a steep side drive for farm deliveries, filled with gemlike tomatoes and crates of mushrooms and apples, bedecked with sausages and bouquets, hung with origin equations for every parcel of produce, stacked with local ciders and preserves, perfumed by applewood smoke, focused on the slow cure of smoked meats and crystal jars of bacon jam. It was like a diorama - a Thorne Miniature Room - of the best and most curious of the fields brought in for examination and illumination in the village.
While it's missing the hill, Carnivore is in a magical little property just off of Marion Street, a deep tiled space with that same hardwood perfume and earthy trestles of produce, the meat and seafood cases like museum displays, the vegetables laid out confidently and casually, each with a story to tell. If the scientist-hosts were invisible, one might simply admire the quality of everything, leave a dear amount on the counter, and depart quietly. However, they are here, and they are hilarious, and they are Brad.
viewtopic.php?p=528510Brad's team are tinkerers in the best sense, making new sausages and cured meats regularly - I had their first cayenne-laced capocollo, and it sang - and mixing and tasting condiments, and optimizing grill preps for whatever vegetable has just arrived, and they are gifted chefs. Working laterally in and beyond town, they are selling sandwich supplies to spots on Lake Street and catering luaus at
Hala Kahiki ("we were Tiki long before Tiki was cool.") They have made Oak Park a better place.
Carnivore may seem more like a Resource than a Restaurant but you would be missing something essential by passing up a bacon/beef patty burger on the block, or merguez with charred veg, or oyster happy hour in season. Some of the most memorable bites of the past two years for me have been at Carnivore. I find it worth the bespoke, smoke-scented pricetag every time, and this being my own neighborhood, I'm honored to use my nomination(s) on these guys in the best spirit of the program, hoping you'll check them out.
Matt / Santander
http://www.carnivoreoakpark.com/1042 Pleasant St., Oak Park
708.660.1100
carnivoreop@gmail.com