Daily Herald

Surfer-girl chef infuses sola with the spirit of the islands

By Melissa Allen | Daily Herald Columnist

Chef Carol Wallack takes care to envelop her life, food and restaurant with the spirit of "aloha."

As owner of Chicago's sola restaurant, the part-time Maui and Lincoln Park resident infuses American cuisine with Asian and Hawaiian flavors. Born in Los Angeles, Wallack is a surfer girl in the heart of the city and considers herself very lucky to be doing what she does as it allows her to sneak back to the ocean now and then.

What started you in restaurant work? Growing up near the ocean, I liked competitive surfing, and the advantage of restaurant work was that I could work later on in the day and head to the water in the mornings. Both restaurants I worked at actually had showers out back so we could rinse our boards off before going to work.

Where did you learn to cook? Though I applied and was accepted, I did not attend culinary school but instead picked up everything on the job as I went along. Part of the reason I did not get my degree is that I wanted an income without asking my parents, though I know they would have helped me! I believe that having a later start in cooking actually made me more driven and directed toward my goals.

I had a good friend who was an executive chef, and I was fascinated with her job. I always asked her tons of questions. After awhile I finally talked her into letting me have a job at her restaurant.

What do you like best about your job? I have always loved cooking and particularly enjoy the creativity and artistic abilities it brings out in me. I also enjoy the instant gratification it gives me. Surfing and cooking both give me a strong sense of accomplishment.

What did you want to be when you grew up? Growing up near the ocean, I was set on becoming a professional surfer. It is just something I grew up with and that I have always loved. I love the smell of the saltwater, the sounds, the freedom and, of course, the lifestyle.

Do you still find time to enjoy surfing? I actually own a home in Maui and get there as often as I can. I save up all my personal and sick time and take it all at once so I can enjoy it as much as possible!

How does the island lifestyle influence your cooking? I serve food with a lot of Asian, Hawaiian and Indonesian twists. I also serve a lot of pineapple, mango, bananas, papaya and, of course, fish from those areas. I have it flown in three times a week!

Is there anything on your menu that you wish customers would try more? My favorite dessert at sola is braised pineapple with coconut sorbet, and for some reason people often pass over it. I often send it out to tables anyway, and when customers taste it, they love it. It speaks of Aloha and is very light and delicious.

Top Chef's Dale Levitiski has cited you as his mentor. Any thoughts? I gave Dale his first cooking job, and he's a great guy. I am very proud of him and proud that he got as far as he did.

Do you cook at home? When I am in Hawaii I cook all the time, but it's not something I get to do often in Chicago. My neighbors in Maui are sort of my guinea pigs -- I try new things on them all the time.

Tell us about this recipe. sola short ribs. I have won many awards with this recipe, and I am always amazed at how many ribs we go through in a night at sola. Feel free to experiment with it -- it's just food after all!

Try this at home or at sola. 3868 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. (773) 327-3868 or www.solarestaurant.com.

Sola Short Ribs
1 cup soy sauce
2 cloves garlic
1 lemongrass stalk, chopped, white part only
1 inch ginger, peeled and chopped
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup green onions, chopped
1 sweet Maui onion, chopped
1 teaspoon sambal oelek (see note)
¼ cup orange juice, fresh squeezed
½ cup hoisin
2 tablespoons lime juice
3-4 pounds boneless short ribs carved into 2½-by-8-inch portions
Salt and pepper
Vegetable oil, for frying
½ cup sake
Garnish
¼ cup whole mint leaves
¼ cup whole cilantro leaves
Lime sections
Heat oven to 300 degrees.

In a bowl, combine soy sauce, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, brown sugar, green onions, sweet onion, sambal oelek, orange juice, hoisin and lime juice. Mix well. Set aside.

Roll each short rib section up lengthwise into a ball and tie with butcher's twine. Lightly flour and season with salt and pepper. Use very little, if any, salt when seasoning since there is soy in the braising liquid.

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat. When it's hot, add vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, add the short ribs and brown on all sides. Remove and keep warm.

Add sake to the pan, breaking up the brown bit on the bottom. Add the soy mixture to the pot, then add ribs back. Cover and braise 3 to 4 hours. Ribs are done when they feel tender to the touch. Remove from the oven and let ribs rest in braising liquid for 30 minutes. Remove ribs to a plate, remove strings and keep warm.

Ladle (and discard) the fat off the top of the braising liquid; cook over medium heat, reducing liquid by about half. Serve sauce over the ribs. Serve with stir-fried vegetables.

Serves two to four.

Chef's note: Sambal oelek is an Asian chili sauce. Look for it at specialty supermarkets such as Whole Foods Market or at Asian grocers.

Chicago Tribune

Where to pull up a chair, or 25

By Phil Vettel | Tribune restaurant critic

As the story about big tables on this page shows, arranging dinner for a large party -- even in a private room -- can be no more trouble than picking up a phone, once you know how much you want to spend.

But where do you want to spend it?

The truth is, most good Chicago restaurants can accommodate large parties -- very few restaurants these days are designed without taking large groups into account -- but some do a better job than others, whether by virtue of their yoga-like flexibility or their particularly impressive private-function spaces.

Here are a few examples:

Bank Lane Bistro, 670 Bank Lane, Lake Forest; 847-234-8802. The glassed-in Balcony, which overlooks the town's Market Square, holds up to 22, and has ceiling-mounted heat lamps to keep the space cozy in cold weather.

Buca di Beppo, various city and suburban locations, bucadibeppo.com. No one will ever accuse this Minneapolis-based chain of taking itself too seriously, and that goes double for the concept's Pope Table. Every Buca outpost has one of these semi-private spaces, which features a circular table that seats 12 to 18, surrounded by framed prints of past popes, vaguely Vatican-themed bric-a-brac and the like. The focal point, of course, is a full-color bust of Pope Benedict XVI, which sits serenely atop the lazy susan that tops the dining table.

Riva, 700 E. Grand Ave.; 312-644-7482. People crowd into this Navy Pier seafood palace for the fresh fish and the second-floor views of Lake Michigan and the city skyline. But the best view belongs to Riva's 50-seat Chicago Room, on the restaurant's west end, with gorgeous city and water views. On the east end is the Lighthouse room, which holds up to 80 and offers view of the water and nearby lighthouse, and is especially nice for viewing Navy Pier's summertime fireworks shows.

Sam & Harry's, 1551 Thoreau Drive, Schaumburg; 847-303-4115. This modern steakhouse sits in a glass-enclosed space within the lobby of the sleekly contemporary Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center. And within that glass-walled restaurant is the glass-enclosed private dining room, which is flanked on two sides by tall wine-bottle displays, has its own sound system and seats 24 in sound-proofed comfort (you won't hear the dining-room patrons and they won't hear you.)

Smith & Wollensky, 318 N. State St.; 312-670-9900. This riverfront steakhouse offers a handful of themed private rooms, from the 13-seat Kitchen (set inside the master kitchen) to the river-view Humidor (complete with fireplace and humidor and, ironically, a non-smoking space). And downstairs there's Wollensky's Grill, a casual, river-view cafe that can seat 70 and host 110.

Sola, 3868 N. Lincoln Ave.; 773-327-3868. One of the best new restaurants of 2006, Sola continues to impress diners with chef/owner Carol Wallack's Asian- and Hawaiian-inflected American cuisine. The handsome dining room has a semi-private area that can be curtained off for as many as 40 guests.

Tavern at the Park, 130 E. Randolph St.; 312-552-0070. The second-floor dining room of this contemporary American tavern overlooks Millennium Park, but the Skybox, a 24-seat space on the restaurant's west corner, offers views of the park, Michigan Avenue and the Chicago Cultural Center. Small group? Try to get the Pub Room, which has a round table that holds eight diners.

ABC 7 News Hungry Hound

CBS 2 Chicago News

Incredible Pumpkin Creations For 'Falloween'

From Mousse To Martinis, Pumpkins Are Ever Popular
by Vince Gerasole

CHICAGO (CBS) ― It's hard to find anyone who doesn't think pumpkins are just great, but you may be surprised by all the different ways to enjoy them.

In this edition of Table for 2, CBS 2's Vince Gerasole found a tantalizing array of perfect pumpkin treats.

They call this time of year "Falloween," and pumpkins are everywhere. But you can do a lot more than just carve one into a jack-o-lantern and put it on your porch, or make one into a pie. There are myriad recipes in which you can cook up a pumpkin.

Pumpkin also works in beautiful harmony at Sola (3868 N. Lincoln Ave., 773-327-3868).

At the Asian-influenced restaurant, you'll find a pumpkinseed-crusted mahi-mahi, which shares the plate with Japanese heirloom squash, red chili miso syrup and cilantro oil.

And make a toast with the Great Pumpkin Martini.

"What I love about this drink is that it's like having a pumpkin pie with a vodka chaser," said Carol Wallack of Sola. "(It's) pretty delicious."

But if you're a little less adventurous, try Sola's pumpkin waffle. It is served with caramelized apples and vanilla ice cream, and Wallack says the kids go crazy for it."

"Including you," Wallack says, "your inner kid."

ChicagoTribune.com

Sea Greens

Nutritious seaweed surfaces as the new veggie on American dinner plates
By Bill Daley | Tribune food and wine critic

The way Americans are going gaga for sushi rolls, seaweed may one day be as American as apple pie or corn on the cob. Nori is the seaweed star, derived from a marine algae called porphyra. Processed into paperlike sheets, nori may be too stylized for most people to think of it as seaweed. Certainly, nori doesn't look or smell like the stuff you steer clear of on the beach. But more and more Americans are eating the stuff, whether they know it's seaweed or not. And some more adventurous eaters are exploring other types of seaweeds, whose flavors range from bland to briny to smoky.

"People do get [seaweed]," said Shelley Young, founder of The Chopping Block Cooking Schools in Chicago, who uses seaweed in her cooking. "People are more open to those flavors."

Funny thing is, seaweed has always been there, hiding in plain sight. Commercially made ice creams often contain carrageenan, a thickener made from dried carrageen, or Irish moss seaweed. Agar agar, a dried tasteless seaweed, often is used instead of gelatin by vegetarians.

Seaweed can be found sprinkled on salads, floating in soups and even rolled in oats and fried in hot bacon fat.

Kombu, a dried seaweed, is an essential element of dashi, a stock used in most Japanese recipes. There are even regional favorites. In Hawaii, a signature dish is called poke and it's made with sushi-grade tuna and wakame, a seaweed colored a deep green. In Maine, there's dulse, a slightly chewy and pungent red seaweed often used in soups.

Larch Hanson of Maine Seaweed Co. of Steuben, Maine, has been hand-harvesting seaweed for 35 years. He has seen an uptick of orders as "more and more people are starting to feel the benefits of eating seaweed."

While Hanson does have some Chicago and Midwest customers, most of the orders come from people living along the coasts.

"It's more difficult to sell to someone from Wisconsin raised on Cheddar cheese," he quipped.

Hanson got into the business out of a love for the ocean and a desire to be physically active.

"It's a happy combination of fitness and play," he said of the harvesting, much of which takes place from mid-May to the end of June. He dries the wet seaweed by setting up lines at the high tide mark and hanging the harvest up like clothing.

Hanson harvests and sells all sorts of seaweed, from kelp to bladderwrack to alaria (also known as "winged kelp") to nori.

Across the nation, though, nori rules, thanks to the upsurge in sushi consumption. So commonplace has nori become that chef Cat Cora, the "Iron Chef America" celebrity, uses it as a tool for family solidarity. Her new book, "Cooking from the Hip" (Houghton Mifflin, $30), encourages families to throw a monthly roll-your-own sushi party.

"First off, praise the sushi rolls your kids make, no matter how lumpy," she writes. That the kids would willingly put down the Cheez Doodles and chips to pick up seaweed is naturally assumed -- a far cry from the days of yore when the warning, "eat your vegetables," was every mother's battle cry.

Still, there are some obstacles to full acceptance. Take the word "seaweed." Many aficionados prefer "sea vegetable" or "sea greens."

Carol Wallack, chef-owner of Chicago's Sola restaurant, labeled her signature dish of water chestnuts, macadamia nuts, hoisin sauce and hijiki, a black Japanese seaweed, as a "sea greens" salad. She thought it would be hard to introduce seaweed onto the menu at first, even though the restaurant has pronounced Hawaiian and Asian accents, and felt that "sea greens" was a way to ease people in.

"You can't put too many foreign items on the menu that people won't understand," Wallack said.

While Young sees people "getting" seaweed, Wallack said that seaweed is still an acquired taste. "It has an ocean-y flavor and scent as well. It's that aroma, the smell of it, which tends to send people away," she said.

Not Wallack. She loves it.

Centerstage Chicago

Making Waves

Surfer-turned-chef Carol Wallack brightens up the city with sola's sunny fare.
By Michael Nagrant

A former surfer who grew up in sunny California and Hawaii, Carol Wallack, chef and owner of sola, has quickly learned how the razor chafe of Chicago winters or rainy summer squalls can dampen the spirit. She bucks up her patrons with tasty California- and Asian-accented cuisine that's clean, balanced and, next to the butter-drenched fare clogging our city's restaurants, relatively healthy. To her, cooking means caring for others by delivering the foods they want and need. Because Wallack didn't attend culinary school, she's willing to break rules, using Spanish manchego in place of mozzarella in an heirloom tomato salad or mixing a miso and mustard French bordelaise, a sauce traditionally flavored with red wine and shallots. "Just as going to school doesn't make you a good doctor, culinary school doesn't make you a great cook," she says. "It takes passion, love, creativity and a great palate."

What do you wish you could change or pickle and preserve about the Chicago restaurant/food scene?
We have such a family (of chefs) here, a close knit restaurant community. One night we ran out of knit linens and someone lent us some. Likewise, people who run out of tuna know we get great tuna, and they might call us. We always help someone in a bind. It's an honor to be part of something like this.

What would your last meal be?
How do you know when it's your last meal? I don't plan on being in jail or death row anytime soon, but it would be sushi. I have a favorite place in Maui called Sansei. No particular fish, I would eat them all. I also love seaweed.

What Chicago Chef would you most like to share a kitchen with?
I've actually shared a kitchen with him already at Deleece, but I love Dale Levitski (currently on Bravo's Top Chef). He's an old friend with a great work ethic and a wicked personality. Also, Erick Simmons of mk. He's got a great sense of humor, and his dishes are clean.

What's the can't-miss dish at sola?
Our braised hoisin-flavored short ribs. I don't really eat meat, and I love them.

What should we know about sola that we probably don't?
Our address is on Lincoln, but the front door is on Byron. Our sous chef, Aleksiy Shalev, is a very smart, creative young guy, who is definitely going places.

Five for Frying is a weekly Food Feature that asks one chef five fun questions.

Chicago Sun-Times

Portuguese version of 'fried dough' tempts at Sola

by Lisa Donovan

Ann Sather has the sweet rolls that need no introduction. Tweet, Michelle Fire's Uptown eatery, offers scrumptious petit fours- shaped coffee cakes as a breakfast starter.

And now, weekend-destination brunch spot Sola, 3868 N. Lincoln, offers malasadas. Portuguese doughnuts to the uninitiated, or for those who haven't had the luxury of hopping a flight to Hawaii where they are a favorite among the tourists and locals alike.

It's where Sola's owner and chef Carol Wallack, who owns a second home in Maui, discovered the "fried bread" and transported it back here.

Before sinking our teeth in to what these pastries are all about - - golf-ball sized and deep fried to deliver a crispy shell that disguises a just-sweet-enough yellow cake center -- let's consider the history.

Yes, malasadas are native to Portugal, but have earned their culinary spot in Hawaii after Portuguese crews were enlisted to help develop the islands in the late 1800s through the early 1900s. To this day, no one is sure how malasadas -- once spelled malassadas -- lost the third "s."

But Wallack says she was looking for the "hook" so many other restaurants, like Ann Sather, have and believes her sugar-coated, melt-in-your mouth malasadas will translate with diners.

"Every culture has their fried dough. We have a chef here, who is part Japanese and has spent time living in Hawaii and he remarked that in Hawaii they have malasadas and in Arkansas they have funnel cakes," she said.

An order of four malasadas, delivered piping hot to the table with two dipping sauces, raspberry puree and mango curd, are $7.

They're not on the printed menu -- yet -- but servers happily remind the Saturday and Sunday brunch set that it's a wonderful way to start the day.

Lumino Magazine

Get out of the cold and into Sola

Written by JESSICA LESHIN

Too often we are drawn into to the Loop, Gold Coast, River West and River East neighborhoods in search of fine dining and good eats. We often neglect our hunting and gathering skills for quick fixes at restaurants that are pretentious and leave us wondering if our bill really equaled the service and overall taste of the food. At Sola Restaurant, you are not only greeted by pleasant and attentive staff, but also by flavors that far surpass the average restaurant.

Located in Lincoln Square, just off of N. Lincoln Ave. at Byron, Sola is tucked in between businesses and residences. It’s hard to imagine that such a unique restaurant is located in an area where dozens of pizza and Chinese food restaurants line the street. Look for the brown awnings and a soothing glow emanating from the front windows.

ATMOSPHERE
Chef/owner Carol Wallack is a surfer chick at heart and her restaurant is a direct reflection of her sunshine personality and go with the flow attitude. She doesn’t use flashy colors, loud music or attempt to make any bold statements with her furniture. Instead, the décor of Sola is soothing; the gas fire place is calming, comfortable chairs promote relaxation and tables have plenty of elbow room. The entire restaurant coaxes conversation, relaxation and a hint of romance.

CROWD
On a Friday night around seven thirty, just about everyone is hungry and ready for a drink after a long work week. The crowd was a mix of twenty something’s up to fifty something’s. The bar area was packed with young, well dressed professionals. By the time our meal was finished, there was standing room only at the bar and several patrons were waiting to be seated at tables. This restaurant starts to come alive the later you arrive. I definitely felt the vibe pick up as I was leaving and almost hated to go.

SPIRITS
My waitress was more than happy to recommend what just might be my new favorite drink, Wallock’s own “Wicked Wahine”. This drink was just out of this world, or at least out of the Midwest. Wallock concocted this pineapple and star fruit blend in her own kitchen in Maui. Though she is not a mix-ologist, she definitely got it right, just the right proportions of alcohol, fruit and a bit of cracked pepper to top the drink off. The Wicked Wahine served in a martini glass would make an excellent drink for anyone coming from work, ready to share a few drinks and conversation.

I would also recommend the Peach Lambic Belgium Beer, it was unlike any other beer that I have ever had. The Peach Lambic was sparkling, very crisp to the taste and perfectly sweet. It arrived in what looked like a wine bottle and had to be uncorked; my kind of beer!

GRUB
Firstly, the food arrived piping hot and that’s always a plus on a busy Friday night, secondly,
not one word was uttered during the entire meal and the phrase, ‘this is so good,’ kept repeating in my head. Rarely am I ever rendered speechless, but both the salmon and the lamb chops were just amazing.

The rest of the menu is pretty mouth watering. There are plenty of fish, chicken and meat dishes that reflect a healthy portion size. I highly recommend getting the artichoke fritters and
pot stickers as appetizers and if you have room, don’t pass up the sorbet.

PRICES
This is definitely not a place to go if you are barely making rent, unless you are submitting an application. However, it’s definitely a place to go if you love great food, don’t mind paying for it and are tired of the same-old, same-old restaurants that much of the downtown area has to offer. This is a great place to have a girls night or go to impress a date.

WHY IT’S UNIQUE
Head Chef and owner Carol Wallack has worked hard to blend Asian and Hawaiian flavors that compliment the American style cuisine. You won’t be disappointed by the food, but your heart may sink when you get the bill.