Wine & Spirits - October 2017 - 14

WALLA WALLA, WA: PASSATEMPO

CHICAGO: DAISIES

Walla Walla's Passatempo
Taverna revives a Main Street
mainstay, the Pastime Café.
For three generations the
Fazzari family ran a classic
Italian eatery here, with a
menu of ravioli, spaghetti with
meatballs, steaks, plus fried
chicken on Sundays. After more
than a decade shuttered, the
space reopened in late 2016.
It still feels retro-booth-lined,
high-ceilinged, a bustling bar
as its hub, lit by an original
illuminated clock that reads
"Cocktails, Spaghetti &
Meatballs." Jim German,
whose Jimgermanbar revived
nearby town Waitsburg, has come on to oversee the place, while chef Aaron
Mooney runs the kitchen, turning out a number of updated Italian classics,
including Bologneses and Amatricianas, all served over handmade pastas.
Emily Riley oversees a wine menu evenly weighted between local Walla
Walla favorites and a selection of Italian wines that's by far the best in town.
-Patrick J. comiskey
215 W. Main St., Walla Walla, WA; 509-876-8822, passatempowallawalla.com

"Imagine if you plucked a chef out of Italy and made him cook using
the bounty of the US Midwest." That's how Joe Frillman, chef-owner
of Daisies in Chicago's Logan Square, describes his menu, focused on
tender, house-made pastas with local flavors, like beets and smoked
trout roe, or tajarin with chicken cracklins. It's as exciting and unexpected
as GM Keith Whitten's all-US wine list, an array of wines that go well
beyond the expected varietals to include bottles like Wind Gap Trousseau
Gris or McPherson Cellars' Les Copains, a Rhône blend out of Texas.
For a surprising, hyperlocal pairing, try Frillman's elegant take on fried
mushrooms and cheese curds with a glass of the Illinois Sparkling Wine
Co. Ombre Rosé. -John Lenart
2523 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago; 773-661-1671, daisieschicago.com

ONTARIO: BACKHOUSE

LA: KISMET
Kismet brings an end to the peregrinations of two Sara(h)s, Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson, Brooklyn
chefs who emigrated to Los Angeles in 2015 and have been holding Angelenos in thrall, one falafel
sandwich at a time, mostly at Madcapra, in DTLA's Grand Central Market. The two chefs crossed paths
at Glasserie in NYC, where they mastered Middle Eastern flavors; Kismet offers small plates like freekeh
fritters, and Persian cucumbers with nectarine and za'atar. Or "Go Big" with the rabbit for two, cooked
multiple ways, the platter festooned with labneh, tahini, pickled vegetables and flaky flatbread. Helen
Johannessen, who runs the wine programs at several LA institutions, including Trois Mec and Animal,
has the helm here, offering a lean collection of peripheral wines, like Vini Viti Vinci's Bréau Aligoté and
Martha Stoumen's Post-Flirtation, an old-vine carignan-zinfandel glou glou. -P.J.C.
4648 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles; 323-409-0404, kismetlosangeles.com

WINE & SPIRITS OCTOBER 2017

photo of Daisies by Neil Burger; Kismet by Oriana Koren

Located in an unsuspecting corner of a mini strip mall, Backhouse serves food and drinks that
offer a crash course on the Niagara region. Start with a cocktail: The bar is well stocked with
local spirits and bitters, as well as house-made simple syrups and shrubs that tune the drinks
to the seasons; this summer, the drink of the moment was the Basil Pluck, a bright blend of
herbs and limoncello from the local Dillon's Distillery. Then ask for the wine list, a compilation of
Ontario's best, selected by Bill Mochoruk and supplemented with a small array of bottles from
around the world. There's no need to look further than Ontario, however, when there are wines
like Pearl Morissette Cuvée Metis, Norman Hardy County Chardonnay or Tawse Cherry Avenue
Pinot Noir on the list. They're just what you'll want with chef Ryan Crawford's cool-climate
cuisine, whether it's black-walnut smoked trout served over fiddleheads in the summer, or a
winter preparation of pork belly. Also worth noting: Backhouse offers the most extensive array of
Ontario cheese in Canada. -aLLison Bart
242 Mary St., Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada; 289-272-1242, backhouse.xyz

http://www.daisieschicago.com http://www.passatempowallawalla.com http://backhouse.xys http://www.kismetlosangeles.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - October 2017