The new Indian Chinese transformation of Vermilion (@vermilionchicago) brings it back from the brink of everything, everywhere, all at once, via Kolkata, the childhood hometown of Rohini Dey (@deyrohini), a woman whose flavors are as fiery as her convictions.โ
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โI started this (restaurant) 20 years ago with a melding of Indian and Latin,โ said Dey, activist and owner of the River North neighborhood restaurant. โBut more than anything else, I want our food to be provocative. Interesting.โโ
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It was also substantive, writes Tribune critic Louisa Chu (@louisachu1): โThe original Indian and Latin menu tried to cover centuries of colonization and migration, but it sometimes felt fractured to me,โ Chu says. โThe new Indian Chinese incarnation is concise and much more personal.โโ
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โThe Kolkata Streets chaat, one of her (Dey) favorite dishes, and definitely mine,โ Chu says, โwhisks us both back to girlhoods on opposite sides of the world. Itโs a joyous jumble of crunchy noodles and jhal muri (a puffed rice snack laced with mustard oil), bejeweled with sweet mango, sharp onion and aromatic cilantro, held together with sticky chile sauce, finished by a whisper of tart lime,โ Chu writes.โ
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Click on the link in our bio to read the full three-star review. ? Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune
The new Indian Chinese transformation of Vermilion (@vermilionchicago) brings it back from the brink of everything, everywhere, all at once, via Kolkata, the childhood hometown of Rohini Dey (@deyrohini), a woman whose flavors are as fiery as her convictions.โ
โ
โI started this (restaurant) 20 years ago with a melding of Indian and Latin,โ said Dey, activist and owner of the River North neighborhood restaurant. โBut more than anything else, I want our food to be provocative. Interesting.โโ
โ
It was also substantive, writes Tribune critic Louisa Chu (@louisachu1): โThe original Indian and Latin menu tried to cover centuries of colonization and migration, but it sometimes felt fractured to me,โ Chu says. โThe new Indian Chinese incarnation is concise and much more personal.โโ
โ
โThe Kolkata Streets chaat, one of her (Dey) favorite dishes, and definitely mine,โ Chu says, โwhisks us both back to girlhoods on opposite sides of the world. Itโs a joyous jumble of crunchy noodles and jhal muri (a puffed rice snack laced with mustard oil), bejeweled with sweet mango, sharp onion and aromatic cilantro, held together with sticky chile sauce, finished by a whisper of tart lime,โ Chu writes.โ
โ
Click on the link in our bio to read the full three-star review. ? Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune