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Still I Rise
By Jonanna Widner
published: August 21, 2008

A new Highland Park souffle joint is blowin' up

There's a wonderful scene in an episode of Mad Men, AMC's drama about early-1960s New York ad execs, in which a character orders some sort of old-school cocktail that involves an egg whiteprobably a silver gin fizz. Actually, we see him order his second round; the first one is implied, and the scene opens with a close-up on a waiter's hand as he painstakingly separates the egg with his fingers. No one at the table even pays attention; this type of complicated, old-school recipe may be foreign to us, but to a swinging cat of 1960, it was de rigueur.

Steve Satterwhite

The folks at Rise No. 1, a souffl-centric restaurant in Highland Park, practice a similar kind of eggy exoticism. If no one orders silver gin fizzes anymore, certainly few people this side of the pond indulge in that delicate anchor of French cuisine, the souffl. For one thing, like the Mad Men drink, it's too much trouble. Though great innovation in the Looks a bit like hell here, but trust us the lobster souffle tastes like arena of culinary tools, accessories and ovens has made the process heaven easier (and quicker), making a souffl is still a pain in the ass. For Subject(s): instance, according to the Larousse Gastronomique, many original Rise No. 1 , souffle , lobster souffl recipes called for 11 eggs. Eleven! Who calls for 11 eggs these souffle , escargot souffle , days? (Maybe back then it was assumed the extra one would be used for Highland Park a gin fizz.) The egg whites have to be whipped just so, forming stiff peaks and folded into a cream sauce base to which other ingredientseither sweet or savoryhave been added. The mix is poured into ceramic ramekins and baked. It used to take an hour, but Rise has special imported ovens that cut the time to 17 minutes. Though the prep time has been sped up to the 21st century, a meal at Rise takes on several elements of old-schooland old-worlddining, and it's in that delicate spot between old and new that the eatery has found a lovely balance. Rise is found in a strip mall, and the interior is chateau-cozy and intimate but not crowded. The lighting is low, the edges blurred, and although upon our visit it was quite crowded, the surrounding buzz was one of relaxed chatter, rather than the shrill drone of people jamming burgers and beer down their throats. The pice de rsistance is a tiny island of greenery that separates the dining area from the bar. Rise's proprietors could have chosen to stuff a couple more two-tops in there but instead chose this subtle oasis that serves both an aesthetic and practical purpose. It's a tiny bit of wisdom and restraint, indicative of the refined and relaxed atmosphere of the entire place. "Refined and relaxed" could also describe the menu. The selection is smallespecially as the lunch and dinner menu are identicalbut well considered and not confined to souffl only. My dining mates and I wanted to branch out from the signature dish, so we tried the artichoke Andre for a starter. Perfectly steamed, the 'choke was presented simply, its petals flowerlike and forming a bowl for a light, lemony sauce. It was an excellent start, but we simply couldn't resist a second appetizer, the escargot souffl. What a gorgeous way to begin a meal. The souffl arrived at our table hot and puffy with individual little sections of the souffl housing separate escargot. There wasn't much to it really
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just snails housed in the fancy, bready egg concoctionbut oh, the earthiness of the escargot blended with its medium. Think of the hearty flavor of a good sausage minus its heft, and you've got it. Speaking of sausage, we moved on from there to our entres, one of which was a special of the night, an Italian sausage souffl. The other two were the lobster souffl and the ham and cheese. Each was amazing in its own right. The sausage was expertly spiced and blended in with a cream sauce. In less skilled hands, the dish would have been merely an upscale biscuits and gravy. In the sense that souffls represent a different kind of comfort food, it's not too crazy of a comparison. But the souffls here are so delicate and light, piping hot and built for holding flavor, there's something, er, elevated going on. The ham and cheese was also savory and tasty, but the poor thing was all but shoved to the other side of the table, overshadowed by the stunningly presented lobster souffl. The price for this one is a bit elevated as well, at 33 bucks, but worth it for the visuals alone. Somehow, the chefs at Rise manage to scoop the extremely fragile, fresh-from-the-oven dish out of its ramekin and back into the still intact shell. It's a beautiful piece of trickery, making it seem as if the dish were baked in the shell itself. Giant hunks of lobster hide inside the fluffy concoction, which holds in the dish's heat and steamand thus the flavor. All this, mind you, is coupled with surprisingly affordable flights of wine, the sampling of which is both fun and an education for your palate. The menu offers a healthy variety of flights, and our server was extremely helpful in making a selection or two. OK, we had threebut there are so many choices of whites, reds, even sparkling wines, we barely made a dent in the selection. Just as fine a coupling was a lemon-laced espresso and a dessert souffl. Traditionally, these are called sweet souffls, but here the sugar is dispensed with a restrained hand, and to a good end. The chocolate souffl arrived at our table seconds from the oven, unbelievably airy and hot, with a little side pot of chocolate to pour on topor better yet, to pour inside, after popping through the top layer of souffl with a spoon. The dessert was understated but silky, dreamy. By the end of the meal, we realized our service too had been seamless, of exquisite but down-toearth quality. Our server was helpful, friendly and clearly knowledgeable. Our one complaint was that early on in the meal, our server noted that everything in the place was for sale, "even the wicker chairs you are sitting on." It's true Rise also serves as boutique for French cookery and housewares, which is a fine concept, but it felt a little cumbersome to be reminded of such when the rest of our experience was so gracious. It was a reminder that we were indeed in the middle of a strip mall in the middle of the United States, where everything's for sale, and even the men who sell it to us don't indulge in silver gin fizzes, or fancy French cuisine, all that much anymore. Which is a shame. 5360 W. Lovers Lane, Suite 220, 214-366-9900. Open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. TuesdayThursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday, $$-$$$

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Euro-time is Gonna Come

Sports post by Jonanna Widner, Submitted by Jonanna Widner on April 29, 2009 - 2:08pm; tagged Dirk Nowitzki, NBA Basketball, NBA Playoffs, women's basketball. Last night I had the distinct pleasure of watching my Dallas Mavericks polish off the San Antonio Spurs in Round One of the Western Conference playoffs. The Mavs won the best-of-seven series pretty decisively, this last game on the strength of the performance of their star player, Dirk Nowitzki. Nowitzki is a 7-foot-tall, 245-pound jump-shooting German. In that, he is both an anomaly and a harbinger of things to come for the NBA. Seven footers arent supposed to be jump shooters. For the past several decades, the seven footers in the league have had only a handful of jobs: 1) Hang out very close to the basket. 2) Catch the ball when it is passed to you down there (if you can, you big oaf!). 3) Dunk the ball. 4) Rebound. 5) Block shots. Big men were never supposed to do the following: 1) Dribble the ball, unless as part of a post up move. 2) Shoot the ball from more than, say, two feet outside the bucket (Shoot a three? What, are you crazy?!). 3) Shoot free throws well.

Shaquille O'Neal, although surprisingly nimble and coordinated for such a giant man (you just cant tell because relative to normal people he is still a mountain of flesh), is a prototypical big man. Tim Duncan is as well. Both men are center/forwards who use power and post moves to score. They engage in all the activities on that first list above, and none of the second. Thats what theyre supposed to do. But Dirk has goofed all that up. Dirk is coordinated and can dribble and shoot free throws, but most of all his forte is the opposite of the usual big manshe hardly ever traverses the paint, dunks even more rarely, but he nails jump shots from all over the floor. Dirk's shots from the elbow, top of the key, baseline, or three-point line are equivalent to another mans layup. The touch on his jumper is as feathery as the layers in his hair. Dirk aint a dunker. The rare occasions when he approaches the paint, he shoots layups and works hard to get fouled in the processand he usually does. He shoots his free throws well, too. All of this adds up to the fact that, well, he kind of plays like a girl. Now, in the common vernacular, playing like a girl is meant as an insult, but I dont mean it that way. All I mean is, many of the dominant characteristics of Dirks game are also characteristics of a female approach to basketball, which is to say, a combination of fundamentals and creativity, but not a lot of power. Which is not to say girls dont also follow the philosophy of throwing the ball in low to a big post-up player; its just, as in Dirks game, theres little dunking, a lot of shots from the floor, and more brain over brawn. And it works: Dirks got an MVP trophy and a 2006 Western Conference title under his belt. He averages about a double-double a game. He shoots about 50% from the field, close to 90% from the free throw line. He had a great, underappreciated season this year, including a stretch of 24 games in a row in which he scored 20 points or more. He was the fourth best scorer in the NBA during this season, behind only Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant. Dirk is the cream of a new type of NBA crop, culled not from Midwestern gyms nor from inner city hardtop, but from Europe, where they play a more girlish game, where shooting touch, free throws, and arcing three-pointers comprise the hallmarks of skill. Although Dirk is the best of the bunch, several of these types of players have made their mark in the NBA of late: Hedo Turkoglu, Peja Stojakovic, and Pau Gasol, to name a few. Its notable that the teams these Euros play for have had great success with a less traditional approach to the game. Many of them have all but thrown out the half-court strategy. The Mavs, for instance, have built their franchise around Dirk, and because he is more agile and speedy than the usual big man prototype, their transition-oriented, run-and-gun offense kicks ass. And even when they settle into a half-court set, most of the set plays involve pick-and-rolls near the top of the key, designed to get Dirk a jump shot. Similarly, even though he is 610, Stojakovic isnt feared for his dunking prowess but for his deft, soft three-pointers. At the same height, Turkoglu also works the three. Gasol is more traditional, playing in the paint, but he is nimble and his game is refined rather than brawny. None of these guys dunk with any particular brutishness. Which to me means they play a different game, one that we havent seen before in the NBA, at least not quite like this. But we have seen it beforein the womens game. So my point is this: As more teams discover Euro-talent, and as more teams gear their strategy to play to the strength of their Euro players, does this mean that the NBA actually is listing toward a girl-game paradigm? Maybe just a little? Its just a theoryIm curious to see what yall think.