Crawl and Discover

Approach matters when it comes to a restaurant crawl. Now in its eighth year, the Wicker Park-Bucktown Fall Dinner Crawl can consider itself a veteran of this kind of dining sport. With the neighborhoods’ dense restaurant proliferation and a broad spatial footprint, splitting the crawl into two routes made perfect sense. Held last Tuesday night, the Fork route ran along North Ave. with a few stops scattered on Damen, Milwaukee and Wabansia. Division St. functioned as the Knife route’s heart.

Both routes counted nine restaurants in their number; many of them well known and respected. Even under vigorous scrutiny, they seemed evenly matched which made choosing one uncomfortably difficult. Amaru, Urbanbelly, Knead Pizza and Café Robey helped carry the Fork’s flag while Ina Mae’s Tavern, and Packaged Goods, Antique Taco, Smoke Daddy and Pub Royale teamed up with five other eateries to do the same along Division.

A roll of the dice landed us on Knife but it took a couple of days for opinions to gel regarding the experience. The discovery of Tous les Jours helped nudge the needle more firmly in the direction of success.

West of Ashland, Division turns into a lively and sophisticated restaurant row. Many of dining spots like Boundary and MAK chose not to participate in this year’s event. That didn’t mean the one thing most people look for in crawl, variety, wasn’t met. Inspiration and imagination may have been lacking here and there, but range was not. An assortment of Persian, Indian, southern and French influenced food was woven into the trail as well as a clever take on tacos.

That’s one reason why Tous les Jours’ star still blazes so brilliantly in our minds. That a cafe specializing in pastries and sweets got tucked into the route wasn’t surprising. The soaring enthusiasm radiating from the manager, who greeted every wave of crawlers with the same ingratiating spirit, was. The café’s space may have been tight but so was its organization and planning. An assortment of small cakes neatly lined the east wall waiting for guest selection. A separate shelf held goody bags as parting gifts. Light, delicious and moist, both the tiramisu and the chocolate cake with strawberries had sensational texture and lightness; prompting a trip to the display cases in search of things to take home as eatable souvenirs. The quality of its desserts and the café’s unforgettable hospitality made Tous les Jour repeatable as well as memorable and set them apart in this year’s event.

When asked what the secret weapon was going to be at this year’s crawl, Pamela Maass, Executive Director of the Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of Commerce, didn’t hesitate and said, “the number of restaurant’s offering vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options”. They made an impression on the Knife route. Antique Taco’s potato and poblano taco was a splendid composition of flavors. Subtle, pleasing, fresh and intriguing, it provided that flash of creativity you always look for on an excursion like this.

Starting at 6 and even with quick stops, every minute counted in the three hours allotted for the stroll. Seeing in quick succession how starkly restaurants vary in their temperament as well as their appearance proved tremendously entertaining. Those character differences trickled down to the waitstaff where panic might be threatening to overwhelm one restaurant while Zen like calm reigned at another.

And what about tips? Often the food was served buffet or cafeteria style so tipping wasn’t an issue. But just as often waitstaff stuck to tradition and served. Even though every table may be getting the same thing, conscience dictates an acknowledgment gratuity.

At $35 plus service fees pre-order or $40 the day of the crawl, The Wicker Park Bucktown Fall Dinner Crawl amounts to a fire sale. That breaks out to less than $5 for each stop and makes restaurant participation look like an act of civic largesse.

On a beautiful night like the one gracing the Wicker Park Bucktown Fall Dinner Crawl with an easy ebullience permeating the entire evening, sliding from restaurant to restaurant felt like a gourmand’s version of trick or treating. That sense of adventure and finds like Tous les Jours make the dinner crawl an entertainment form worth seeking out.

The Wicker Park Bucktown Fall Dinner Crawl

Sept. 17, 2019