Omnivore - You can really taste the chutney in this

A month ago, I wrote about the Standard (327 Memorial Drive, 404-681-3344), a pub in Grant Park with better than average food. Last week, I stopped by and experienced fried collard greens for the first time. (Imagine radiantly green, featherlight chips.) This week, I visited for the chef’s regular Monday night special of chicken curry — the South Carolina low-country version called “Country Captain.”

I suggest you make it your business to be there next Monday. Unlike the thousand versions of this dish I ate as a kid — my mother was from South Carolina — this was piquant (but not fiery), the chicken moist and not overwhelmed by rank seasonings. It was served with green-pea dal, mango chutney and white rice. Our server winced when Wayne and I both ordered it. She said that it was a big serving and that a lot of people share a single dish. Well, we’re not like other people. We’re professional plate cleaners, dammit, and we didn’t leave a drop. (Besides, it’s cheap, under $10.)

How good was it? So good that this dog whined pathetically at my feet for a taste.

By the way, a similar pub will be opening in the 300 block of Edgewood Avenue in January.