Cravings

FrankAboutFood.com

A Restaurant with a Doubly Split Personality

Cravings

When you first enter Cravings you are confronted with a multi-choice condiment counter that is obviously designed to upgrade hot dogs or chili or both. It is in front of a bank of registers with cashiers ready to take your order. This may give you the idea that you are in a funky and simple fast food eatery seemingly furnished with second hand tables and chairs. Then you become aware that the chairs and tables actually have a bold, fresh and artistically coordinated look. You also notice that the counters are of stylish and expensive chiseled stone. Finally you see the fireman coming out of the ceiling. You then realize that what you thought you saw may not be what you are going to get.

It turns out that the restaurant does, in fact, offer both Hot Dogs and Chili. But beyond the typical American comfort food heritage, there are flavors from diverse parts of the United States and four or five continents. It is not just another phony “Kick It Up A Notch “ joint.

The second aspect of the split personality reveals itself when you look at the menu and the 3 day special sheet (my favorite, Ossobuco has occasionally appeared). There is the traditional Caesar Salad but the next eight salads have origins in perhaps four other continents. There are four unusual side dishes and four generally appealing “Specials”. 5 extremely tempting desserts along with a number of the other dishes make one wonder, however, about Cravings’ slogan –“Taste, Not Waist”

There were three of us and we decided to create a mini- tasting menu to test the diversity by ordering multi dishes and splitting each of them. We started with the special bowl of Cravings Saffron Scented and Root Vegetable Clam Chowder ($7.50) and some Freshly Baked Two-Cheese Cornbread ($1.95). The chowder was dense with clams and rich flavor..

This was followed by a generous portion of the other special , Grilled Turkey Tenderloin with Portobello Mushroom on Fuyu Persimmon Salad with a Ponzu Glaze ($9). It was attractively presented and tasted as good as it looked.

Grazing Special Turkey Tenderloin Salad

The variety of the Chilies was so great that we ordered 3 cups to again split to get a feel for the difference. There was a basic Cravings Sirloin Beef Chile ($5.95) laced with Cocoa, Espresso and Cinnamon. A classic seared and shredded Pork Chili Verde ($5.95) followed, with Fire-Kissed Tomatillos and Roasted Garlic and finally we had Great African Buffalo with Caramelized Yams and Fava Beans ($6.95). We did not add any condiments but you might want to do that.

I do not consider my self either an expert on or a lover of Chili so I can’t tell you whether they were great. But my two companions enjoyed all of them. They indicated that they would like to try some of the others, which had leanings toward Thailand, Hawaii and Brazil. The latter was a Chilled Brazilian Jungle Cherry, Scorched Scotch Bonnet Pepper Infused Chili ($6.95) with Fresh Red Snapper Ceviche. Are they kidding ?

At this point we were sated but felt we had to taste the unusual hot dogs. We each took a bite of a juicy Grilled German Bratwurst ($3.75) and a delicious and spicy Deep Fried Acadian Andouille Sausage ($3.95) from Louisiana. We “Bammed” both of them with a healthy choice of condiments. On display are, among others, Sauerkraut, Onions Red or Sweet, Hot Relish, Tomato Wedges, Dijon or Whole Grain Stadium Mustard, Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage, Slaw, Grated Cheddar Cheese, Queso Fresco and Cravings “Special Hot dog Chili “ upon request. That is a lot with which to “Bam”. It would seem to be Hot Dog Lovers Heaven.

We tasted a Homemade S’More Bread Pudding ($3.95) and the Special Spiced Pumpkin Crème Brulee ($7). Both were better than most of the desserts we had recently in The County. But $7 for the Crème Brulee seemed a bit steep for the type of restaurant Cravings represents.

There is a good selection of domestic and imported beers ( to go with the hot dogs and chili), and a fairly priced, well chosen but limited selection of wine by the bottle and by the glass.

Customers Can Place Order at Register or at Table

It takes some work to penetrate, understand and make selections from this very different menu. So unless you are a speed-reader and very quick and decisive or you want to stand aside and have a conference thus saving the tip, ask to forgo the fast food approach at the register and request service at the table. This option was not offered at first and turned off some customers.

Finally, all the food has the most important quality of taste and passion making it a different and fun place to visit. We interviewed the owner-executive-chef, Robert Grenner, who seems to always be on the job applying a lot of energy and goodwill. That explained it. Grenner is a seasoned and creative professional with years of experience at upscale restaurants such as Wolfgang Puck’s “Chinois”, rated by many food critics as the #1 restaurant in Southern California and the famous Malibu atmospheric spot Saddlepeak Lodge. His concept of basic comfort food combined with unusual and upgraded food in a sophisticated semi fast food environment appears to be a worthwhile idea, but still something of a work in progress. Cooking classes and Catering are available.

Cravings

686 Lindero Canyon Road Oak Park Plaza, Oak Park 818-707-9904
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