Fear of beef, pork and salt kept me out of Fat Rice for years. Finally, curiosity got the best of dietary concerns and we were off to one of the city’s least pretentious neighborhoods. Just west of the Kennedy on Diversey, it’s the kind of area you feel at home in. People around here work regular jobs and live regular lives. Well outside the city center, this is the heartland cast in concrete.. Right on the corner at Sacramento, Fat Rice sits unobtrusively, slinging mean cuisine.
Happy that the interior wasn’t more ostentatious; you know immediately affectation is an outcast here. Even though it was quite comfortable, lovingly decorated and exuding clean, a refreshing rawness lingered that encouraged chill. And I don’t know when a greeting, as it happens from one of the owners, was more welcoming and generous; served with the slightest hint of curiosity.
It was lunch time. Lively. You can drop either a hundred bucks for two or easily skate on $15 alone. Are most people really concerned about the origin of recipes? In this case, Macau and Portugal. The only thing we are universally interested in is deliciousness. If that is achieved, we’ve scored. Fat Rice is a place to score.
The table to the right of us spoke solely Chinese. Turning to the left, a couple of local chefs were at the door stopping in for lunch as well. Our choice, and we were far from alone, was the big Kahuna; the paella like creation that prided itself on excess. Stacked on a bed of richly sofrito seasoned rice baked to near scorching on the bottom, were giant prawns, manila clams, curried chicken, charred pork, linguica sausage, Portuguese olives and tea eggs. Shredded duck and sweet and sour raisins were embedded in the flavored rice. It was a feast masquerading as peasant food. And it was meant to be eaten like peasants with food flying and spoons clashing as they dug for new treasures at the bottom of the cauldron.
Sated and surfacing for air, it’s reasonable to look dazed after such an experience. My hospitable greeter stopped by to ask impressions. A confession followed. The fear of beef, pork and salt succumbed to culinary exceptionalism. She thanked us for giving the restaurant a chance. My heart thanked her for bringing Chicago Fat Rice.
Fat Rice
2927 W. Diversey
$11 – 30