Busy As Beavers!

Our pals over at Busy Beaver Button featured our Mermaid Shack heroine, the Bardot Mermaid, on their blog this week. Thanks, guys! We're looking forward to many more years of jean-jacket-decorating with you.

When John Manion of the now year-old La Sirena Clandestina approached us about making buttons last October, we had no idea just how familiar the restaurant’s mermaid image would become around the Busy Beaver office. Though the name translates as “the hidden mermaid,” the restaurant’s iconic siren is unmistakable now that it’s been emblazoned on more than 7000 buttons over the past year. 

As John, La Sirena’s chef and owner, described, “We started our Busy Beaver partnership with an image of mermaid-ed Brigitte Bardot that had become something of a figurehead for La Sirena Clandestina. Bardot visited Buzios, an obscure fishing village near Rio de Janeiro, with her Brazilian boyfriend in the 1960’s and her trip is a time stamp on a very cool scene, one we used as a template for the vibe of La Sirena Clandestina.”  

The mermaid image was wheat-pasted all over the neighborhood in anticipation of the restaurant’s opening and John said, “It was logical that we continued with the trend for our first run of buttons, which we started handing out immediately. We’ve switched up color palettes with the seasons, but we’ve stuck with our original Bardot Mermaid.”  

The mermaid was first printed on our fall paper special colors last fall– a trio of paper colors in bronze, gold and rusty orange. John also experimented with our metallic effect, utilizing a silver background as well as an inverted image with a photo-negative look and one batch with a metallic ocean-blue background. The mermaid has recently been featured on a fluorescent pink background, a fun play on the ultra-feminine imagery.  

As La Sirena Clandestina moves into its second year, their buttons will be updated to match the restaurant’s continuing evolution. Though John assured us that the Bardot mermaid isn’t gone completely (“We’ll do some limited edition runs at some point.”), the new buttons, designed by local firm Nitewerk, will feature an image that “stays true to our original inspiration for the restaurant, but is also reflective of how we’ve changed and grown.” We’ll be sure to share the new buttons that will, no doubt, be another iconic image for La Sirena.

Hot As Hell.

Photo by John Manion / @juanmanjuan

We’re going to keep this cozy beach shack warm through a Chicago winter, which is no small potatoes. We’re generating heat in the form of the mountain of hot sauces John’s been making and stockpiling over the past few weeks. 

You see, we work with a number of local farmers and vendors in order to keep our menu full of the freshest and tastiest products out there. One partnership we’ve come to rely on is with Peter Klein at Seedling Farm in Michigan. Once John learned that Peter planted heirloom pepper seeds in the Spring, he bought the lot. No, really. All of them. Seriously, don’t ever give this guy a blank check when he’s within earshot of a farmer.

The weather that brought this crop to fruition was, in scientific terms, “conducive to all his peppers ending up hot as hell.” (If you’d prefer a layman’s translation: the peppers are really hot!)

We’re about halfway through the space in one of our coolers and there’s no end in sight. John has plans for every variety of seed he bought, and there’s a bunch: serrano, red jalapeno, habanero, scotch bonnet, piri-piri, havasu, limo amarillo and verde, aji amarillo and rojo. If you are able to describe or recognize all of those varieties of pepper: Congratulations, you are officially a pepper savant!

Milanesa, Mermaid Shack Style

If we were to think of one word to describe John Manion, our ship’s captain, it certainly wouldn’t be grandmotherly. Except, that is exactly what John was aiming for when he created La Sirena Clandestina’s Milanesa, now residing quite happily on our lunch menu in sandwich form, though we dress it up a little for the dinner version when it’s accompanied by a wild mushroom ragu and fried egg.

So why does John want to cook like a grandma? Because, as he says, "everyone's grandma made me a Milanesa in Argentina...And of course everyone's grandmas was the best."

Milanesa is a time-honored Argentine tradition, dating back more than a hundred years when the Italian diaspora made their way down to South America. In the vein of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,’ we stick to the traditional Milanesa preparation. Starting with the freshest pork loin available, we dip that bad boy in an egg wash, dredge in flour and seasoned bread crumbs and fry it to crisp perfection. Just like grandma used to make!

Proper Black Beans

Back in La Sirena Clandestina’s early days, black beans — a Brazilian staple — were on the opening menu in the form of a vegan black bean dish. And it was tasty enough to pass John’s lofty standards, so on the menu it stayed. Then John collaborated on a dinner with Rob Levitt of The Butcher & Larder and made his OG, pre-LSC black beans: he started with pork (in the form of renderings), made a pork stock (by adding onions, garlic, melegueta peppers and such), then emulsified the pork into the beans. He took a little taste and guess what? They were perfect.

Remembering the vegan black beans on La Sirena Clandestina’s menu, John shook his head. He looked in the mirror and didn’t recognize the man he’d become — a man that would serve vegan black beans. Because [insert higher power of your choice] made pork and beans to go together. Forever. It’s pure coincidence that we say ‘like peanut butter and jelly’ instead of ‘like pork and beans’.

The vegan black bean dish was immediately stricken from the menu, and John began drafting an apology letter to his staff. La Sirena Clandestina is not a restaurant with a bacon agenda, but John insists that porkless black beans is simply “counterintuitive” and he was ashamed that he’d gone so far off course as to forget that.

So that’s what you get at the Mermaid Shack these days: proper black beans. And Feijoda Black Beans & Rice is one of the best dishes on the menu, though “only” a side dish.  And our solemn promise to you (from that fateful collaborative dinner and beyond): you’ll never see a porkless black bean dish on our menu again.

Manifesto, Sort Of

Back when La Sirena Clandestina was just slightly more than a twinkle in our eye, we did a pop up at what was then Dodo and soon to be this mermaid shack. Our patron saint Frank Orrall (a.k.a. "the dandy bitch"), whom we’ve certainly mentioned before, composed the following ode as an announcement of our pop up plans.

That weekend has come and gone, but the lines remain as close to a manifesto as we’ll ever have, because it speaks to what we strive to provide for each and every customer that walks through our doors. And we hope it encapsulates why you all just keep coming back for more. Read on for entertainment, inspiration and sublime phrasing:

Expect to be in the company of

Dames / Proper Broads with good taste,

& reasonably honorable Gentleman Scoundrels...

All in the trusted hands of our beloved and noble sea captain,

who's true helm is the kitchen...

plotting a culinary course for Brazil, Argentina and uncharted waters beyond...

There will be sit down dinner, music, drinks and loud conversation.

The night will most likely be filled with rough

and tumble restaurant folks...

So you know it will be lusty / gutsy and good.

There will be bold flavors and

peoples teeth will be wine stained.

It will be delicious but it may not end pretty for those

with a weak constitution and a flabby liver :):)

if things go right... some unlucky guests

will go home missing a shoe... or a belt loop or two...

but their dreams will be rich and adventuresome.

        - Frank Orrall (AKA Dandy Jack Quimby)

Sharing Is Caring

We’re big on sharing around here. We ask that you share our cozy and intimate space with other diners, tell you that sharing one (or two) bottles of wine is the perfect way to dive into our wine program, and offer a Whole Fish that’s — you guessed it — made to share.

All of the above is a nice way of saying that “sharing is caring,” which we stand so proudly behind that we’re ready to go public with even more items meant to be shared with your nearest and dearest. In the interest of ‘You Heard It Here First’ may we present two items that have made their way past the arduous test kitchen of Chef John Manion:

Moqueca "Super Deluxe"  

Christening this dish the “Super Deluxe” is an homage to our patron saint Frank Orrall (a.k.a. "the dandy bitch"), because it’s a phrase he uses to describe something truly outstanding. What you’re really ordering here is a smorgasbord of awesome (attention nitpickers: this is not a classic Scandinavian smorgasbord, we’re simply using an expression): mussels, head on prawns, fish and lobster. This is served up family style via a large Le Cruset dutch oven with cilantro risotto and all the accoutrements.  Once the lid comes off, the Super Deluxe gets gussied up with lime juice, cachaca, cashews, dende oil, cilantro and green onions.  

Parillada

We’ll also deliver this dish to your table if you request the "plate-o’-meat" or "shit just got meat-y.”  The detailed preparation changes from day to day, but the Parillada will always be grilled meats — think beef short ribs, hangar, sweetbreads — served family style with chimichurri, serrano salsa, salsa criolla, malagueta hot sauce, house giardiniera, black beans, rice and french fried potatoes.

These special dishes are not on our menu just yet, but they are available upon request. So, next time you’re in, go ahead and order off the menu (like the big shot that you are).

20,000 Empanadas Above the Sea

The empanada making machine that is John Manion and his venerable kitchen crew are about to dough’l out their 20,000th incarnation of this savory pastry. To celebrate this momentous occasion, we put together a list of empanadas-past. Is it just us or is it getting hungry in here?

Chili Cheese Dog

Pork Bolognese

Bean Burrito

Blue Cheese & Leek

Eggplant Parmesan

Chicken Xim Xim

Picadillo

Mushroom Stroganoff

Corn, Chanterelles & Sweet Pepper

Romesco (Goat cheese, peppers, and almonds)

We’ve mentioned how we’re incapable of predicting upcoming filling varieties because of John’s tendency to make it up as he goes along buy whatever looks great at the morning market. But just look at that list and tell us you wouldn’t be stoked to have any of those varieties appear on your plate.