The press release heralding the opening of the Shark Bar, apparently written by some white-bread tyro who’s never dined south of Chinatown, begins, “Soul food and southern hospitality have found their way to the City of Big Shoulders.” Really. Tell that to Leon or Gladys or Army and Lou–some of the classic soul restaurateurs who have been feeding Chicago for most of the century. Fortunately, the guys who cloned Manhattan’s Shark Bar, one of several upscale soul eateries that draw a cosmopolitan racial mix, are better cooks and restaurateurs than they are fact checkers–and they are genuinely hospitable.
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“This is definitely a destination spot. You just can’t get this kind of space in the Loop. It’s great overlooking the river and watching the lights of the Loop from the second floor or from the roof-deck bar,” Wilkinson says. “Pretty soon we’re going to have jazz and world-beat music, probably some blues, upstairs. There’s really nothing like it in town.”
“This isn’t your regular soul food,” he insists. “This is new-wave soul. It’s not the usual bland stuff. I’ve eaten in a lot of Chicago southern-style and soul restaurants, and I find it bland. This has got flavor. Not heat. Flavor. It comes from everywhere, like the Caribbean, not just the south. There’s no boundaries, no rules.” He’s so effusive it’s difficult to concentrate on the food and listen at the same time.
The fried chicken has a zippy crust ($12.95), but even more interesting is the jerked Cornish hen ($13.95), a mild but savory version of the Jamaican chicken barbecue paired with fresh pineapple salsa. An incendiary Jamaican jerk sauce comes on the side if you’re a fan of the authentic sensation–but be forewarned.
Apart from its many virtues as a restaurant and watering hole, this may be the first downtown restaurant to really crack Chicago’s subtle color line, both in ownership and clientele. “Chicago really doesn’t have a downtown restaurant where upscale blacks can feel at home and whites can enjoy comfortably as well–the way people can mix at a blues or music club,” says Gobourne. “At lunchtime I would say our crowd is 50-50, black and white. At dinner it’s about 65 percent black–about what the mix is in New York.”
