Chi-town Grub

This past weekend Jim and I were in the Windy City and we ate at a restaurant that has only been open for two weeks- pretty risky stuff even for seasoned pros like us. The chef hails from Alinea so we were excited for the latest gastronomy. After a semi rough start- music too loud, champagne from the previous day and service way too casual, the experience improved. The sweet curry and brown butter popcorn pre-dinner snack was so tasty!

 

Graham Elliot's menu is divided into cold/hot/sea/land &sweet. We passed on the caesar salad with the brioche twinkie and opted to try the chilled cucumber gazpacho with crab, shaved radish, whipped avocado and curry foam. This was quite refreshing although the foam was lost after the initial taste. Then it was onto the Kobe beef tartar with baby watercress, bearnaise gelee and what tasted like bacon ice cream. You know what they say, everything is better with bacon. Next, it was onto the creamy Spring Risotto with pearl onions and Truffled Potato Gnocchi with fried egg. Both really tasty dishes that lacked just a pinch of salt although perfectly cooked. We split the Pistachio Crusted Lamb with Israeli couscous and shaved fennel and topped it off with the Gooey Chocolate Brownie with roasted banana, peanut butter. We were invited back into the kitchen to meet the chef and see the kryovac process in action! Gourmet Productions is not quite ready for this process. We still do it the old fashioned way yet who knows what the future holds...