The sushi menu is also available upstairs, where there's a small bar and ten or so tables, but the second story is mainly a lounge with late-night hours and a DJ on weekends. In late November he opened Mi Ciudad , a charming storefront restaurant featuring his native Ecuadoran cuisine as well as steaks and pasta. The piquant green tomatillo salsa found on each table makes a great alternative topping. Other entrees include a variety of straightforward chicken and pasta dishes, and some more creatively conceived seafood options. Capriole chevre banon wrapped in chestnut leaves, Spanish Cabra de Murchia, and Cypress Grove goat cheddar.
Servers are knowledgeable and, of course, wine savvy.
The proprietors of the Damen have joined forces with chef Alessandro Forti of La Donna to reinvent the bar as Red , a wine bar that shares a kitchen with adjoining Sipario Ristorante, at 1958 W. Roscoe. Munch , a casual American cafe that opened for breakfast and lunch on December 7 in the 1800 W. Grand space recently vacated by Wishbone, is now open for dinner. Chef Scott Helm called to set us straight on his past, reported somewhat erroneously last week in a story on the tequila bar at Adobo Grill. While Helm has worked with Rick Bayless, it was at Zinfandel, not Frontera, and he did time with Gordon Sinclair, but at Cafe Gordon, not Gordon.