A phoenix stirring in the local(ish) ashes is the aforementioned 1415 (
https://1415.life/ ), also rendered One Four One Five. I'll split this into a / the separate thread if more interest or discussion emerge but wanted the North Side cravers to see this.
I had particularly enjoyed lamb with cumin, sesame dried beef, and cold steamed chicken on initial lunch visits. This week in a large dinner group I was able to sample many things, and all was above average:
- house hot and sour with seafood: lots of chili oil and cilantro
- cashew chicken and beef with broccoli: crispy vegetables, highly competent
- salt and pepper shrimp: delicious though somewhat sodden, but they tried to warn us against shelling the shrimp and we asked for it anyway
- scallion pancake: great lamination, oily in the right way, very light scallion presence
- vegetable potstickers and pork potstickers: seemed homemade, very tasty, thin-skinned, more steamed than fried
- Mongolian beef: real flank steak, not over-tenderized, leeks and onions
- twice-cooked pork: excellent, with reconstituted dried mushrooms, fermented black bean, Szechuan peppercorns
- sauteed string beans: stellar. These seemed to have a ma la salt coating; the texture and mouthfeel was more like shishito peppers with fleur de sel than your usual Szechuan prep. Distinctive and addicting.
There are lots of off-beaten-path chicken, pork, vegetable, and dessert items I have yet to sample. I'm somewhat fearful since I've sat in the same booth for the last four restaurants at this address, around the corner from a place I gig often. Service was wonderfully accommodating and interested in feedback. They brew fresh pots of tea by the order and have large pitchers of citrus water at the ready. Would love to learn more about the owners / chef / special dishes, and I hope they persist.
1415 [One Four One Five]
Fullerton west of Southport
Menu:
https://qmenu.us/#/one-four-one-five/menu/1528444559504