5 Things We’re Excited About at Crying Tiger, Opening Soon
A sneak preview of our new Southeast Asian restaurant in Chicago's River North
One of the most anticipated Chicago openings of the year is right around the corner! Get ready for Crying Tiger, the first collaboration between James Beard Award Finalist Chef Thai Dang (Michelin Bib Gourmand HaiSous Vietnamese Kitchen) and Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants, set to open in early October at 51 W. Hubbard St. in Chicago’s River North.
The restaurant’s menu will focus on the culinary traditions of Southeast Asia. The team logged extensive travel together through Bangkok, London, Sydney, Vietnam and Hong Kong to source inspiration for the dishes and drinks and we can’t wait for you to try it!
In the meantime, while it’s tough to pick only a few things we’re most excited for at Crying Tiger, here are 5 can’t-miss highlights!
The Chef
Crying Tiger marks the first partnership between Lettuce Entertain You and Chef Thai Dang. Dang, who was born in Vietnam, started his Chicago culinary career at Lettuce’s Michelin-starred L2O and over the past decade has helmed the kitchens at some of Chicago’s top Vietnamese restaurants, including HaiSous Vietnamese Kitchen.
“When I came to Chicago as a cook for Lettuce Entertain You’s Michelin-starred L2O, I could have never imagined that 16 years later, I would be collaborating with Lettuce as a Chef and Partner for Crying Tiger,” says Dang. “This restaurant means so much to me because the menu pays homage to my immigrant family and our culinary traditions. As we explored Southeast Asia, every culture seemed to borrow flavors and ingredients from one another, and we are excited to share the diversity in this type of cuisine.”
The Food
Crying Tiger is all about celebrating the bold, vibrant flavors of Southeast Asia. We hope guests will recognize some familiar tastes—while also discovering something new along the way. The menu will feature shareable starters like the Chinese donut Crispy Prawn Toast with herb nam jim, Sugarcane Beef Bo La Lot wrapped in chargrilled betel leaves, and Crispy Hong Kong Pork Belly. Stir fry, rice and noodle dishes include Clay Pot Lobster Pad Thai and Rolled Rice Noodles with roasted maitake mushrooms. Other sure-to-be signatures include the Waterfall Beef Salad, house-made curries, whole fish dishes and more.
The dessert menu from Netflix “School of Chocolate” winner and Pastry Chef Juan Gutierrez will showcase traditional flavors with modern techniques. Items like the namesake Crying Tiger made with wild Thai banana, Brown Sugar Boba Tea Cake, Roasted Pineapple Rice Pudding and Che Thai Shaved Ice with coconut sorbet.
Crying Tiger will open for dine-in only, with carryout and delivery to follow.
The Drinks
The Southeast Asian influence is carried through in the drinks. Beverage Director and Partner Kevin Beary (Three Dots and a Dash, The Bamboo Room and Gus’ Sip & Dip) created Crying Tiger’s drink menu, which will feature an equal number of cocktails and zero-proof beverages. Cocktails include a Coconut Fat Washed Sbagliato, Thai Tea Milk Punch clarified with cognac, Coconut Water Cocktail with Johnnie Walker Black and pandan, and a Salted Plum Tequila Soda made with blanco tequila, pickled plum, calamansi and Singha soda water. Non-alcoholic options include Mango Makrut Limeade served on shaved ice and Cà Phê Trứng, a traditional Vietnamese egg coffee.
The Wine
Crying Tiger’s wine program, curated by Wine Director and Partner Richard Hanauer, will feature a list of more than 75 wines meant to compliment the depth of flavors in Dang’s Southeast Asian cuisine. The list focuses largely on unique and rare grapes from Germany, Austria and regions like New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, along with Thai pale lager Singha as the house beer. The wine menu is made to be approachable yet encourage guests to try something new. Hanauer and his team have labeled each wine with an emoji that showcases the flavors of the wines, with categories like oak, dry, rich, sweet, funky/ earthy, citrus, light bodied, juicy and more to better guide diners’ selection.
The Vibe
Crying Tiger is the second collaboration between Lettuce and London-based interior architecture and design studio David Collins Studio, which designed Tre Dita at The St. Regis Chicago, along with the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas, and The Connaught Bar in London. Crying Tiger merges the energy of Southeast Asian night markets with Chicago’s industrial and architectural heritage, and features a 150-seat main dining room with an open kitchen, a front bar, winter garden for year-round indoor-outdoor dining, a sidewalk patio, and a 10-seat private dining room. An abstract “patchwork” motif recurs throughout the space, which also includes colorful light fixtures inspired by Bojagi, a traditional Korean textile technique. Seating includes chairs made by Chef Dang’s family’s business in Dong Nai, Vietnam, as well as Pullman-style booths in vibrant leather and blackened wood chairs. Stacked terracotta tiles and rich drapery will accent Crying Tiger’s more industrial elements.
While researching how to reproduce the colorful, scissors-style security gates that front shophouses throughout Thailand and Vietnam, the team made a serendipitous discovery that the Chicago-based Acorn Wire and Iron Works is the original inventor and remains the primary fabricator of these gates. The company has been commissioned to produce a set of custom gates for Crying Tiger as a nod to those found across Southeast Asia. Other design elements include several handmade chandeliers from Bangkok-based metalwork artist Saruta “PiN” Kiatparkpoom, and more than 3,000 pieces of handmade glazed ceramic tile and serving bowls from Chicago-based ceramicist David Kim.
We can’t wait to have you in! Crying Tiger will open for dinner service only. A to-be-named cocktail bar from Beary will open in the coming months in the lower level as a standalone concept. Stay tuned for more updates on reservations and opening date, coming soon!
For more information, follow Crying Tiger on Instagram or visit www.cryingtiger.com.
