Chicago - September 19, 2005

The Joy of Lex

Schwa Restaurant Opens

schwa (shwä) n. 1. The symbol (ə) used to represent an unstressed neutral vowel and, in some systems of phonetic transcription, a stressed midcentral vowel, as in but.

schwa (shwä) n. 2. A laid-back, casual new restaurant that just opened in the old Lovitt space.

And never has a working knowledge of language been so delicious.

A quick lesson in the punctuation necessary to understand the menu: “?” means that the menu changes daily, depending on what seasonal ingredients owner/chef Michael Carlson (former sous chef at Lovitt and a Trio alum) can source. “!” is how you’ll feel when you taste a bite of the quail egg ravioli or the sable fish accompanied by summer veggies marinated in ice wine vinegar. And “%” stands for the amount you’ll save on your bill, because this bistro’s BYOB.

Close your books now, class dismissed — early, so you can go eat.

Schwa, 1466 North Ashland Avenue, at Le Moyne Street (773-252-1466 or schwarestaurant.com).