at
Ohba
2049 W. Division, Chicago
Tuesday, April 22, 2003
6:30 pm Champagne Reception
7:00 pm Dinner
The recently-opened Ohba restaurant brings Sake, Wine and World Cuisine to the white-hot stretch of Wicker Park's Division Street. This sleek lounge-like restaurant of glass and silver offers an extensive selection of wines and sakes, as well as an eclectic menu developed by Chef Gene Kato. The creation of Miae Lim, who also owns Mirai Sushi, Ohba is a welcome addition to this city's burgeoning restaurant scene. For ChicaGourmets! Chef Kato has put together a special menu and will be pairing each course with a wine and sake to showcase how well the flavors marry.
Lim brought Chef Kato to Chicago from Tokyo by way of Charleston, South Carolina, where he was most recently Chef de Cuisine for the multi-unit concept Upstream. Kato offers a far-reaching menu at Ohba, drawing from Asian, French, Southern and contemporary American cuisines. New to Chicago, Kato is thrilled with the abundance of ethnic restaurants in the city, and, while grounded in Japanese technique, showcases many different flavors in his menu.
Ohba offers complete bar service, specializing in wines and sakes. The sake focus at Ohba is on chilled premium sakes from Japan, and they currently offer four different styles of sake (with over twenty labels to choose from), ranging from light to rich. Ohba's wine list is globally focused, with special attention paid to sparkling wines and Champagnes, Rieslings, Sauvignon Blancs, Pinot Noirs, Rhônes, as well as Italian and Australian reds — selections that pair particularly well with Chef Kato's menu.
CHEF GENE KATO'S MENU
RECEPTION
Ohba chips with Thai glaze dipping sauce
Montaudon Brut, Champagne, France
APPETIZERS
Japanese Bread Basket
(Sweet and sour eggplant-stuffed manju buns and
Japanese sweet potato fries)
"Yumeakari" Junmai Ginjyo Sake
(Refreshing citrus with a lightly sweet and dry finish)
Shaved Endive Salad
(Candied walnuts, Roquefort cheese and port dressing)
"Mizuno Shirabe" Ginjyo Kyoto Sake
(Slightly dry with a delicate round finish)
ENTRÉE
Choice of one:
Wakame Crusted Atlantic Salmon
Shimeji mushrooms, sweet peas, fingerling potatoes with wasabi butter
~OR~
Uni Crusted Filet Mignon
With roasted oyster mushroom, wasabi mashed potatoes
and mirin Marsala glaze
"Aoinikko" Sunmai Tochigi Sake
(Balanced combination of rich clove and dryness)
Choice of one:
Exotic White Blends or
Luscious Northern Italian Reds
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