For nearly 200 years the Dutch East India Company monopolized the trade routes between Europe and Asia. That many years later, we can thank its exploitative reign for de Quay, a new Lincoln Park restaurant that embellishes the fortifying food of the Low Countries with the tropical heat and sunshine of Indonesia. That’s been going on more or less since the 17th century, when Europeans began to learn what to do with the boatloads of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves that sailed the trade winds to their shores. But now in 2015, chef-owner David de Quay, who previously labored in relative obscurity at the Hinsdale Golf Club (and Rhapsody and Gordon), has emerged with a place of his own, a restaurant that evokes the childhood summers he spent in the Netherlands with a food-forward grandmother while seamlessly incorporating a considerable southeast-Asian influence.
But apart from those two examples, almost everything else on de Quay’s menu is either an overt or subdued combination of the two cuisines. The oorlog Amsterdam frites are the most traditional instance of cultural intermingling. Translated as “war fries” for the mess they can make, they’re thick, long spuds, crispy but creamy inside, that are typically loaded with mayo, thick peanut satay sauce, and chopped raw onion; here those toppings are mercifully served on the side, which protects the delicate integrity of the fries (which are just as good dipped in the sambals).
2470 N. Lincoln 872-206-8820dequay-chicago.com
