Chicago: Taxim

There are certain food trends that seem to skip right over Chicago. Until Taxim opened, Nuevo-Greek appeared to be one of them. I’d like to think this was because Chicago’s Greektown claims to have given America the gyro—and with that piece of ingenuity in our back pocket, why try again? Now, however, there’s another gyro in town, and with all due respect to those that came before it, this one—made with gorgeously roasted, pomegranate-glazed duck and slathered with a walnut-yogurt mousse—is intoxicating and unlike any other I’ve encountered. Taxim’s owner and chef, David Schneider, has also introduced Chicagoans to “rampopita,” a spanikopita of sorts. Flaky housemade phyllo is stuffed with ramps, braided, and sprinkled with sesame seeds. The menu also features simple yet addictive meze—cool roasted peppers served alongside creamy confit garlic—as well as a very fine, whole roasted dorade. But I probably won’t order the dorade again. We’ve been roasting whole fish in Greektown for decades now, and I’d rather stick to the Taxim dishes that are Greek to me.

Taxim 1558 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago (773-252-1558)