Presidio is a new Bucktown cocktail barstaurant that’s supposed to remind you of San Francisco—kind of like the way Monti’s is supposed to place diners in a Philadelphia state of mind. Well, not really. Monti’s has cheesesteaks. But at Presidio there’s no sourdough or cioppino, no green goddess dressing, no hangtown fry, no Rice-A-Roni. There are a few nice, arty shots of the Golden Gate Bridge on the walls, and some classic cocktails that were first created in the City by the Bay. But San Francisco’s culinary influence on Presidio, according to the preopening hype, is supposed to come from the rigorous seasonality of the ingredients, which seems completely at odds with the slices of limp pink pluot—I initially mistook them for winter tomatoes—languoring on top of the rabbit confit salad. Those might be in season in July, but in early spring they spoil an otherwise delicious salad, with shreds of meaty leporid confit, as suprisingly fatty as carnitas, strewn among hearty greens and julienned sweet baby beets.
There are four dishes at Presidio that could be considered entrees. A pair of small bone-in pork chops—refreshingly at odds with the dino-size cuts so prevalent these days—get a Germanic touch mounted on a pile of sweet-and-sour cabbage and topped with chunky pear vinaigrette. Similarly, twin black bass fillets are stacked upon diced potato and chorizo, all situated in a shallow pool of vivid green fennel sofrito. Rosy red slices of lamb loin are fanned across a sea of thin curried yogurt, almost matched in their meatiness by accompanying smoked baby purple carrots. But the best thing on the menu at Presidio is what seems to be its most mundane: a simple thick, loosely packed prime beef burger with melted American cheese, served on brioche.
1749 N. Damen 773-697-3315presidiochicago.com
