Amazing. Generous. Schwa.

schwa

[shwah}
–noun Phonetics.

1. the mid-central, neutral vowel sound typically occurring in unstressed syllables in English, however spelled, as the sound of a in alone and sofa, e in system, i in easily, o in gallop, u in circus.
2. the phonetic symbol ə, used to represent this sound.
3. a seriously amazing restaurant in Wicker Park, run by hilarious, creative, generous men who understand their food, their clientele, and what it means to truly have some “Christmas Spirit”.

All three definitions are accurate, but the third one is especially pertinent. Especially since we all learned about the first two in grade school and then forgot about them entirely until right now this second when I reminded you.

And then I more or less forgot about the whole concept of schwas for about eighteen years when my boyfriend told me that he wanted to go to Schwa (the restaurant) for his birthday. So I called for a reservation towards the end of November, maybe around the 24th, and left a message on their machine.

They got back to me in December. Not because they hated my message and not because they suck at phones, but because they are a small restaurant. And when I say “small restaurant”, I mean that there are literally twelve tables in the whole place, so getting a reservation is not the easiest thing because they’re trying to fill their restaurant to the best of their ability.

Anyway – they got back to me on a Saturday morning in December and I missed the call. So I swore repeatedly and called them back immediately.

They got back to me the following Wednesday and asked me if I’d like to come in that night. I immediately accepted and then called my boyfriend to let him know (it was his birthday present, after all) and we spent the next hour or so being incredibly giggly and excited about going.

Quail Egg Ravioli with Shaved White Truffle at Schwa

I say “the next hour or so” because the boys at Schwa called me back and were incredibly apologetic when they told me that the City of Chicago would be doing some work on the pipes or something out in front of their building and would be shutting off their water to do so. So we would NOT be able to experience the wonders of Schwa that night because of some public works nonsense. To make up for the inconvenience, the boys at Schwa offered me my pick of days and times to go for dinner – and considering I’d waited for two weeks for them to get back to me in the first place, this was an incredible gesture.

So I rescheduled for the following Wednesday and broke the news to the boyfriend.

The following Tuesday, Schwa called to reconfirm my reservation and offer some wine advice (they’re BYOB) to my giddy self. That same day, I lost my job. My boyfriend told me that I should cancel the reservation and save my money for things like groceries and so on and I was apprehensive because it’s his birthday present and I’d budgeted for it and really wanted to go.

But the next day I called to cancel because he’s right. And they’re sympathetic – maybe a little moreso than usual because we’ve been playing phone tag for a month and they kind of know me by now. So I canceled and they were nice about it and I went along my merry way.

Five minutes later, my phone rang. It was Schwa.
And they wanted us to come for dinner anyway. And they were going to pay for it.

And then I cried because I am a sap and because that kind of extreme kindness and generosity are so rare these days. And because things like this only happen in the movies.

So we went. And I cannot even begin to tell you how wonderful it was. All ten courses were perfect and inspired (standouts included an apple pie soup, ravioli with shaved truffles, brown butter, and a quail egg, and deconstructed peanut butter and jelly with homemade root beer and black pepper ice cream for dessert). There are no waiters – the chefs bring you your food and then tell you about it in a way that is personable, charming, and comes across like your smartassed friends telling you about the amazing food they just made that they’re genuinely proud of.

I can’t say enough good things about Schwa. The food’s amazing. The guys who run the place are great chefs who come up with fantastic, inventive dishes. Thank you, Schwa. Thank you for an incredible night and your generosity.

I’ll be telling people about how awesome you are until I’m blue in the face.

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