Talking with Taxim Executive Chef David Schneider for just a few minutes, one figures out just how passionate he is about Greek cuisine. Schneider is basically a walking history book on Greece and Turkeyand that knowledge is reflected in his cuisine.
Schneiderwho once worked for then-Ald. Helen Shillertalked about the food at his atmospheric Wicker Park restaurant ( named after a part of Istanbul, formerly known as Constantinople ) , his own background and more.
Windy City Times: You went to Northwestern University, and majored in engineering. You relied on that to redo this place, correct?
David Schneider: Yeah; I built it [ and ] I did the drawings. But it's not like... I was a civil engineer, so I was focused on things such as transportation planning. But we still have to do all the civil courses, so I was drafting, doing construction.
WCT: One thing I gathered about you is that you're [ really knowledgeable ] about the history of Greece and Greek food. [ Schneider nods. ]
DS: My mom's from Greece, and my dad's American. That being said, I was going to Greece every year of my life, staying for three months. So I had a social upbringing in Greece. That definitely created my identity. My relatives are still thereaunts, uncles and, now, my mom. I still go as often as I can.
My one neighbor was my grandmother's sister. Her husband is from Constantinople, which is, basically, our old capital. It was a very Greek city; [ however, ] there was a war and all the Greeks were ethnically cleansed out in 1922 and 1955. This place had the most elegant and sophisticated Greek food, going back a couple thousand years.
The main thing is that some people have forgotten that this is half of our history. We lived with the Turks for a few hundred years; we collaborated and had a culture. It was a diverse and cosmopolitan place, and I want to recall that memory of what we were doing for thousands of yearsbefore everything was torn apart and we lost our history.
WCT: So you're trying to recapture that.
DS: Yes. So it's like, "What would it be like if we all still lived together? What would this place be like?" The Greeks and Armenians are like the "indigenous" people of that region, with the Turks coming in later. I've talked with a lot of Turkish friends, and they're like, "The old places cook the old way but the new places don't do that anymore." [ Istanbul ] is still a vibrant, cosmopolitan place, but it's a different mix. I'm trying to capture that period of time that was classic Istanbul.
Even today, I'll have Turkish customers come in and say, "Wow. This is how things used to be." So that's the aesthetic and frame of the place, but food fits in as well.
I'm not exclusive to that city, though. I'm doing foods from different regions. I'm working with foods from different parts of Asia Minor: Turkey, Cyprus, Crete and parts of modern-day Greece.
WCT: For the uninitiatedwhich includes mecould you give me an example of how food differ from region to region?
DS: Sure. There are a lot of microclimates and geographic variations in the area. There are places that are so wet it's like a temperate rainforest, and places so dry they're like desertsall in a very small area. In the northwhere there are mountainsthey don't have olives, so they use more animal fats, cheese and yogurts. In the south, there are olive oils and fresh vegetables. Of course, near the coastline you'll see more seafood.
So, I'll put items on the menu that reflect different regionsbut I use spices from different areas, for example, to make the foods more authentic. We make everything in houseour breads, our phyllos [ dough ] .
[ Serving ] Greek food requires that re-education. You don't just put some Mediterranean ingredients on a plate and say, "Oh, it's got feta cheese and tomatoes and olive oil and oregano, so it's a modern Greek dish." No! It's also the structure of the food and the method used.
I've seen people skewer and stuff things, and it has no relevance to a dish or method or flavor combinations. There are millions of ways to cook a short list of ingredients, and not all of those ways will do justice to what history and innovation took place over hundreds of years.
WCT: How would you say this restaurant is different from the places in Chicago's Greektown?
DS: I don't like to compare; it's a different category. I wouldn't even compare [ Taxim ] to another Greek restaurant. I would compare it to another restaurant that's really trying to paint a place and time for their food as well. I've definitely drawn a lot of inspiration from [ chef ] Rick Bayless and what he's done with regional Mexican cuisine.
I have my own take on things, but I'm trying to do justice to what others have doneand then create from there. But it requires a solid handle on where things come from.
WCT: What other restaurants do you like to dine at?
DS: I love eating out, but I often don't have a lot of time so I just eat at home. I love, hands down, all three of Rick Bayless' restaurants. I'll just pop into XOCO and get a delicious soup or sandwich. If I'm downtown, I'll go to Arturo's and get great Mexican food.
Korean food is one of my favorite foods, too. There's one restaurant where they instruct you how to eatthey'll take the fork out of your hand and say, "This is how you should eat it." They care about the food that much.
Note: Items that Savor tasted included phyllo stuffed with leeks, polítiki melitzanosaláta ( eggplant salad with sesame and house-made pita ) , a chickpea spread and prass pita ( leeks, fresh dill, lemon, goat feta, house-made phyllo ) . You can practically taste the history in every delicious biteand Schneider even made me a fan of octopus again.
Taxim is at 1558 N. Milwaukee Ave.; see www.taximchicago.com . By the way, get ready for rooftop parties there during the summer, Schneider said, complete with performances and cheaper fare.
Photos by Ed Negron