Ilija's Place

Few restaurants have given as much thought and spent as much preparation time on the deer as Ilija's Place, a Cudahy restaurant serving venison goulash every Friday. At Ilija's, farm-raised venison is cubed and marinated for seven days and nights in dry wine, usually a quality Merlot. The wine is changed nightly to keep it from turning vinegary or stale. Finally, the venison is cooked along with saffron and dill and hand-ground white, black and red pepper, plus peppercorns, parsley, carrots, oregano, onions, cauliflower, tomatoes and more. Venison stew is only one of Ilija's many exquisite Serbian dishes, whether lamb shank or chicken kebab or freshly ground sausage. All are beautifully arrayed for the eye.