Where Do Chefs Eat?

The Barrington Courier-Review did a nice little roundup on where Chicago’s chefs eat a while back, but we were so honored by the recommendations, we couldn’t help but give it some blog real estate. We were stoked to see La Sirena Clandestina name checked by three different amazing chefs as a favorite spot for industry folks to grab a meal. We couldn’t be more honored that you’re into us, because we’re really into you. Thanks, guys!

Stephanie Izard, of Girl and the Goat and Little Goat fame, really digs our Empanadas, saying “Sometimes the simplest things, when done perfectly, are my favorite go-to’s. The empanadas are flaky, tasty and comforting.”

Our Empanadas are intertwined with a memorable evening for Chris Curren, Executive Chef of Homestead on the Roof, West Town Bakery & Diner and The Berkshire Room. He remembers choosing La Sirena Clandestina as the spot for his first meal out with his girlfriend after the birth of their son. He noticed that we’re “doing amazing things in that little space — great food, great drinks, great ambiance, great service. We ordered a bunch of food, including the empanadas. It was the best and most flavorful meal I’ve had all year. Everything had big flavors — the kind that punch you in the face with deliciousness.”

Carriage House’s Mark Steuer raved about our Pork Milanese: “I loved it because everything about it was perfectly executed. So often, the seasoning is off, or a sauce is too thick or thin, vegetables are over or under cooked… On John Manion’s Milanese, the pork was perfectly juicy, the breading was flavorful and crispy. The chanterelle mushroom ragoût had a lot of acid to it, which I love, and the creamy mustard sauce really brought it all together. It’s one of the best plates of food I can remember eating.”

When asked of his own favorite meal, John Manion passed the love right back to Carriage House, giving the Quail with Black Pepper Dumplings some high praise: “Most likely my favorite thing to eat in Chicago. If I eat at CH and don’t have it, I feel empty inside.”

Read the full story here.

Surf the Airwaves

Two of our main men sat down with “The Dinner Party” on WGN Radio. Pay particular attention to the first segment, when Elysabeth Alfano chats with John Manion and Justin Anderson.

Click here for the full program, or just pick a favorite quote from below!

On the Moqueca:

“Kissed with ginger.”

On La Sirena Clandestina’s philosophy:

“We wanted to be the kind of place you could go twice a week or once a month. And you could have an experience. Come in for lunch for an empanada or a sandwich, have some soup and a glass of wine in the afternoon. Or you could come in and blow it out: have a whole fish, some moqueca, have cocktails. And we have an outstanding natural wine selection. We never wanted to be exclusive...I always wanted to be a little more proletariat.”  

On cocktail trends:

“I think with the current trends, it’s going to continue with the classics. We do a lot of classics with our own spin on it: a Manhattan made with latin spirits or an Old Fashioned made with mezcal. A trend...having a small place that is fixed on one region or one particular way of making cocktails.”

On farm to table:

“To me, that’s not a cuisine. To me that’s how you cook. You buy the best ingredients and serve them to your customers.”

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

No plans yet for bringing in the new year?  Come spend a casually elegant New Year's evening with La Sirena Clandestina and our exceptional food, drink and service. While our regular menu will be available all night, John Manion’s special prix fixe menu (below) provides an elevated experience for those who like to take the guesswork out of ordering.

La Sirena Clandestina New Years Eve Menu 2014

    broiled 1871 oyster | lime and cachaça, malagueta hollandaise, tobbikko

    First Course

    bolinho de bacalhau | sauce grabiche, caviar

    Second Course

    seared scallops | piri piri pork shoulder

    Third Course

    spiny lobster tail baiano | tomatoes, chiles, coconut milk, heart of palm, dende, coconut-cachaça la bomba rice, cashews

    Dessert

graham cracker rabanada | fernet-menta chocolate mousse, meringue

Reservations can be made here. 

    *Prix fixe menu is $80, (does not include tax or gratuity).  Our regular menu is available all evening.

Los Inmortales de Chicago: Photo Essay

We’ve tried to communicate the magic that is a La Sirena Clandestina/Los Inmortales de Chicago night through words, but that’s a poor imitation of what it's truly like. Perhaps some photos will help put into perspective what a Los Inmortales night really feels like, when even our captain is moved to song, so browse the gallery and make plans to be here for their next appearance. 

Open Market: Friday, December 6

If you’ve ever wanted to take a little bit of La Sirena Clandestina home with you, we’ll be giving you the opportunity on Friday, December 6 when we vend our wares at a new food-focused pop-up market. From the mastermind that is Tasting Table’s Heather Sperling, Open Market will feature only the finest (hey, they invited us) food purveyors this city has to offer.

Chicago Magazine called Friday’s portion of the market — featuring food stalls from yours truly, Mott Street, The Bristol, Yusho, Travelle, Parson’s Chicken & Fish, Smalls, Pecking Order, Blackbird, Big Jones, Floriole Cafe & Bakery, and Acadia — “what foodies have always wished Taste of Chicago would be like.”

We’ll be hawking hot sauces or alfajores or something equally delicious and ‘take-home-able,’ so you can skip that Black Friday doorbuster, because the last thing we’d want is for you to get trampled when you can scoop unique and awesome holiday gifts in a much more civilized atmosphere.

Open Market

Block 37

108 N. State Street

Friday, December 6, 2013

6*-9pm

*get in a whole hour early when you purchase a VIP ticket!

Get Your Party On

We’re here to tell you that you don’t have to put up with tired buffet lines and tepid chafing dishes at your holiday party this year. Instead, you could be enjoying the cornucopia of Mermaid Shack favorites above. 

This mermaid shack stays cozy all winter, thanks in part to Alice’s arrangements, and you can roll right through that initial awkwardness of co-worker socialization pretty quickly once you’ve got one of Justin Anderson’s daiquiris in hand. Play the big shot and impress your coworkers with the story behind the Mermaid on our Morgan Street facade.

We’ve packaged together some of our most popular dishes into perfect party fare, so you can leave the details to us if you’d like. In our opinion, no menu would be complete without our signature empanadas or Feijoada Black Beans and Rice, but we’re into customization, so we encourage you to pick the dishes that truly float your boat, like our Whole Fried Fish.

It’s the kind of latin/local party that will make your boss look the other way when you sneak in around lunchtime the next day.

Our Three Cheese Panini

Humans weren’t born yesterday. In fact, we’ve been on this planet cooking cheese and bread for a long time. We’re pretty sure the moment fire was invented, a line formed immediately for everyone’s cheese to be toasted. But it wasn’t until the 20th century when the U.S. really got down to business in the cooked bread and cheese game, and the ubiquitous Grilled Cheese as we know it was born.

Like many of our greatest inventions, the Grilled Cheese arose out of necessity. In the 1920s, sliced bread and American cheese were relatively inexpensive and some genius decided to slap some butter on the bottom of the bread, layer the top with cheese, and cook the daylights out of it.

When the Great Depression hit the country in the 1930s, the Grilled Cheese was renamed the Cheese Dream — PR appears to have been a thriving business, even then — probably because giving something a fancy name makes it more than acceptable to serve to guests, without doing too much damage to one’s wallet. And moreover, given the choice between the American Dream and the Cheese Dream, which would you choose? We rest our case.

We’ve got a modern, Latin-local Cheese Dream on our lunch menu. You may know it by a slightly less aspirational moniker: the Three Cheese Panini. It’s comfort food at its finest, with chihuahua, cotija and cheddar melted and perfectly gooey, plus a little avocado (almost everything is better with a little avocado). Pickled fresnos and salsa verde add the La Sirena Clandestina bite that you’ve come to expect from this Mermaid Shack.