Kinship/Next of Kin in Evanston

Stopped by Kinship in Evanston this week. It's a new spot by the owners of the Lyfe Kitchen that used to be at Davis and Orrington. Lots of oven-roasted comfort food in a well-designed MCM setting. The chicken-fried scallop is a one-bite "shooter" and I probably would have been happy with just a few of these. Lamb burger was fantastic and the roasted vegetable dishes we shared were all hits. They're starting brunch on the weekends and their adjacent Next of Kin spot will have take-out breakfast/lunch (salads, burgers and Manny's corned beef). They have a nice selection of house-made eclairs (try the lemon meringue). We will definitely go back in the next week because we barely scratched the surface of the menu but they made a great first impression.

http://www.kinship.restaurant/

Kinship
625 Davis St
Evanston, IL
847.563.8242.
Mon-Thu 4-9pm
Closed Tuesday
Fri 4-11pm
Sat 4-11pm
Sun 4-9pm

I picked up lunch at Next of Kin a few days ago. The set-up is a bit confusing: there's a salad bar, a steam table with prepared food, soups, a cold deli case, etc., but the prices and descriptions are scattered all over the place (and some items aren't labeled) so it's not necessarily clear what's available or where to get it. In addition to all those, there are also 2-3 sandwiches made to order. I picked the corned beef, proudly attributed to Manny's... "Since 1942".

I think I got one of the original batches. Bone-dry, sliced about 1/8" thick, with the grain, to ensure a rigorous mandibular workout... I've never eaten at Manny's, so perhaps the problem rests with the source, but this was by far the crunchiest corned beef I've ever tried. I tried to tough it out, but the beef won, easily; I conceded by hurling about 3/4 of that misbegotten concoction into the garbage. And felt like an idiot: across the street is Soulwich, where you can get a tasty sandwich with fresh ingredients at a lower price point; across the other street, Boltwood even has a corned beef! (A good one.)

Anyway, my message for Next of Kin: DNR.

Any recent reports?

We had brunch there on July 4, and absolutely LOVED it. Not only was everything wonderfully delicious, but it was also super creative, very different from the same old standards that so many places are doing for brunch. It made us want to return to try it for dinner. (I've previously been there for lunch when it was also very good.)

They had seating both outside and inside. (There were even a couple of dogs outside to whom they brought dishes of water.) The space is lovely:

What did we have?

Spicy ji dan bing - cage-free eggs, crispy wontons, romaine, scallions, house made chili paste, baked into a street-style crepe, served with fresh greens (LOVED this, the standout dish of a very good brunch)

Lobster roll (daily special)

Nueske's bacon (side dish)

Black & blueberry pavlova - fresh blueberries, pistachio cream, blueberry compote, lemon ice