Secret Menu Items in Chicago

SAUTEED CALAMARI with capers, tomatoes, spinach, shallots and garlic: The secret to this dish, says owner Scott Harris is getting the pan scalding hot. And he should know since he created this dish some 20 years ago when diners were looking for an alternative to the Lakeview restaurant's fried calamari and he (now an uber-restaurateur) was still working the line. When done right, the calamari has a subtly charred flavor, says Harris, without ever touching a grill.

SMOKED TROUT HASH BROWNS: With 20 percent of the menu changing on a daily basis, it's not unusual for customers to ask for off-the-menu items, says sous chef Erling Wu-Bower, which often leads to some ?happy accidents in the kitchen.? Like this dish, which features smoked trout from Idaho, apples, pickled fennel, fromage blanc and hash browns folded omelet-style.

BONE MARROW with roasted garlic cloves, cherry mostarda and toasted baguette slices: When regulars would come in to the River North restaurant, meat-loving chef Rick Gresh occasionally treated them to his idea of a perfect snack. Turns out they liked it as much as he did, and now it's available for the asking.

LUXE EL CORAZON: Mixologist Adam Seger is known for his ingredient savvy when it comes to creating cocktails, and his El Corazon made with Corzo silver tequila, pomegranate juice and fresh-squeezed lime juice served in a peppercorn-and-salt-rimmed glass is no exception. Up the ante and ask for the "luxe" version and watch him garnish it with a flipped inside-out lime half filled with Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal.

O?BRIAN POTATOES: In general, this hotel restaurant is happy to oblige special requests, whether it's for an off-the-menu crust for one of their fish or meat dishes--think lemon-caper or mushroom--or special side dish, like couscous mixed with chorizo. But it's the breakfast dish of diced baked potatoes sauteed with onion and fresh peppers from a previous menu that diners ask for most.

AMARO CONNUBIO: Sure, the River North restaurant's housemade burnt caramel gelato is great on its own. But when topped with Amaro Averna, an Italian digestif made with herbs and liquor-soaked citrus rinds, it's a match made in heaven (?connubio? does mean ?marriage? in Italian, after all). A bartender from Sicily made it for executive chef David DiGregorio and he, along with plenty of Osteria regulars, has been hooked ever since.

CARNE EN SU JUGO: If you thought the housemade tortillas at Zocalo were great, wait until you try this weekend-only dish from the same tortilla-making woman. Grilled flank steak sits in a pasilla chile broth with whole black beans, applewood smoked bacon and chorizo and is garnished with diced radishes and arbol peppers.

SUZY?S SPECIAL WEDNESDAYS: Here's a new twist on the secret menu item. Chef/owner Suzy Crofton creates a weekly, request-only special that's constantly changing--a recent one featured squash soup with preserved duck paired with a pork shoulder confit and pickled tropea onion sandwich--but the $20 price tag doesn't.