Going dutch

Photo: Donna Rickles

Cutting through restaurant red tape is a pain—especially if you’re new to the game. Poised to open their first restaurant, Pannenkoeken Café, for more than a month, wet-behind-the-ears mother-daughter team Linda Ellis and Gina Salgado were bogged down with a series of delayed inspections that kept the doors of their Dutch pancake house closed. The long bureaucratic nightmare finally behind them, the focus goes back to turning out the eponymous Dutch pancakes Ellis spent the past three summers in the Netherlands learning to make. Slightly thicker than a crêpe and 11 inches in diameter, the pannenkoeken come in seven varieties with baked-on toppings like thinly sliced apples with cinnamon and bacon with cheese. Salgado expects the chocolate-banana version to be the biggest hit. Topped with Dutch chocolate syrup, cocoa and hazelnuts, it seems well worth the wait. 4757 N Western Ave between Leland and Lawrence Aves (773-769-8800).—Jake Malooley