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Critically acclaimed chef Thai Dang, who fled Vietnam as a 7-year-old refugee with his family, has partnered for the first time with Lettuce Entertain You, the biggest restaurant group in Chicago. Crying Tiger opened in River North on Oct. 14. The new Southeast Asian restaurant was named for a ferociously fiery dish. Suea rong hai translates to crying tiger in the Thai language. Grilled sliced beef is served with a defining and spicy sauce. “With lots of aromatics, toasted rice, tamarind paste, palm sugar and chiles,” said Dang, who was nominated for a James Beard award this year, about his recipe for the mythical sauce. “It’s so good and so spicy that it can make you or a tiger cry.” His crying tiger signature dish comes interpreted as a 45-day aged ribeye steak intended to serve two to four people with grilled sticky rice at $115. Lettuce managing partner Amarit Dulyapaibul grew up in a family that has been operating Thai restaurants for decades, said Dang. The chef describes the new restaurant as their love of Southeast Asia. The dish he’s most excited to share, however, was inspired by Cantonese roast pork and Mexican carnitas. The former is from his time in Hong Kong, where he consults for the Black Sheep Restaurants group. The latter is by way of his cooks in Pilsen, where Dang co-owns the award-winning HaiSous with his wife and business partner Danielle Dang. “We eat carnitas for family meal,” Dang said. “It’s cooked in its own fat, and tender like roast pork.” At Crying Tiger, he wanted puffier and crunchier skin like chicharrón. “So we take pork belly with skin on, dry it out in the walk-in, and then roast it wrapped in foil at two different temperatures,” said Dang. “The skin gets so crispy, where you can hear the crunch across your table.” The crispy H.K. pork belly on the menu gets served with a garlic herb nước chấm, or Vietnamese dipping sauce, doused on top. “Another dish that I’m really excited about and love is the prawn toast,” said the chef about his take on another Cantonese dish, also known as shrimp toast, traditionally offered at dim sum. “But instead of white bread or milk bread, it’s youtiao.” The long and golden fried bread, sometimes known as a savory Chinese doughnut, is stuffed with a shrimp filling and fried again. “I have this recipe using pure shrimp,” said Dang. “No pork, no meat, just shrimp with ginger, scallion and a little bit of sugar and salt to balance it out to make this shrimp farce.” His prawn toast youtiao is sliced into bite-sized nuggets and served with an herbaceous nam jim, or Thai dipping sauce, on the side. Lettuce pastry chef Juan Gutierrez created a dessert that looks like a tiger face rising from the plate. “The ‘crying tiger’ is 3D printed with white chocolate, and inside is a banana filling,” said Dang. “And we spray paint it with edible paint.” They’re using wild Thai banana, sourced from Rare Tea Cellar. “It’s dry, so we steep it,” said the chef. “Then we make a banana crémeux, and it has elements of cake in there.” Kevin Beary of Three Dots and a Dash is also a partner at Crying Tiger, and created the beverage program with cocktails and nonalcoholic drinks. “We have a few coffee drinks,” said Dang, who invested in a coffee roaster in Da Nang, Vietnam, with his wife. The couple also owns two locations of Cà Phê Đá, the original next to HaiSous in Pilsen, and a second on the University of Chicago campus in Hyde Park. “We’re using that coffee to make Vietnamese coffee drinks.” At Crying Tiger, the Vietnamese iced coffee differs from the traditional cà phê sữa đá by adding spices and substituting condensed milk with condensed coconut milk, so it’s dairy-free. David Collins Studio, the interior architecture firm based in London, perhaps best known here for Tre Dita, also designed the new restaurant. The space seats 130 or so in the dining room and bar area. A seasonal patio is planned when weather permits, but not until next year. Meanwhile, murals of tigers await against tile, wood and colors everywhere, the chef said. “And the plants transport you to this beautiful restaurant that will make you think you’re at a resort.” 51 W. Hubbard St., 312-736-0183, cryingtiger.com New restaurant openings, in alphabetical order: Daeji Dough Company Albert Song quit his job as a software engineer to make Korean-inspired baked goods, first at the Division Street Farmers Market, and now at his own bakery. Daeji Dough Company soft opened in Lakeview on Oct. 10. Look for his tteokbokki croissant, bulgogi mushroom focaccia and Kiki’s Magic Matcha Brew with black sesame. 1360 W. Belmont Ave., daejidoughco.com Park Manor 75 Charlette Stanton and Jacare Thomas, a wife and husband team with backgrounds in interior design and education, respectively, have realized a lifelong dream with a wine and charcuterie bar that’s their love letter to the city and the neighborhood that shaped them. Park Manor 75 began serving in Greater Grand Crossing on Oct. 14. Sparkling wines feature the Black woman-owned LoveLuvv label, to possibly pair with a charcuterie board, or the Italian beef and lamb topped Park Manor fat bread. 600 E. 75th St., parkmanor75.com Zeitlin’s Delicatessen Sam Zeitlin, aka Bagel Boy, was part of the opening team at Michelin-starred Galit and launched a stall at the Old Post Office food hall, but now he and his brother Hal Zeitlin have finally opened their highly anticipated deli too. Zeitlin’s Delicatessen started soft noshing in Lincoln Park on Oct. 31, kicking off a full menu on Nov. 4. You’ll find a Zeitlin’s Delicatessen burger with a smash patty and hawayej Yemeni spiced onions on a challah bun; the Zeitlin’s Bagel Dog Chicago-style in an everything bagel; plus a giardiniera focaccia. 2203 N. Clybourn Ave., 312-955-0567, zeitlinsdeli.com In closing news: Les Nomades, the historic fine dining French restaurant in Streeterville, closed permanently after an announcement on Oct. 18. Opened originally as a private club by the legendary late chef and restaurateur Jovan Trboyevic in 1978, he was followed most famously by award-winning chef Roland Liccioni and his then-wife and restaurateur Mary Beth Liccioni, who bought the business in 1993. Talard Thai Asian Market, the grocery store that opened in 2019 and added a hidden gem hot food bar in 2020, closed permanently in Edgewater on Sept. 14. Turner Häus Brewery, which was turning the tide for Black brewers in Chicago, has paused operations at its taproom, which shares a space with Sip & Savor coffee shop in the historic Rosenwald Court Apartments building. But it will be open for special events in Bronzeville as of Oct. 31. Do you have notable restaurant news in the Chicago area? Email restaurant critic Louisa Kung Liu Chu at lchu@chicagotribune.com.
