Restaurant Toque - Montreal

 

When people thin of fine dining in Montreal, most will first think of Joe Beef, but if you google Fine Dining Montreal, Restaurant Toque' will show up high on the list.  Located in downtown Montreal, it serves seasonal French cuisine a la carte or as a Tasting Menu.  I decided to try their tasting menu so I could try more things.  Located in what looks like an office building, it's pretty unobtrusive and easy to walk past.  It's also located on a side street, but it's opposite a park, so it has good visibility and you have a lot of opportunity to see it.  The dining room is large open and carpeted with a curved bar opposite the window modern looking wine storage.  Located in a glassed in room visible from the dining room, the bottles sit on their sides on modern minimalist shelving.  There is also a stairway in the room, which I imagine, leads to more wine storage.  While their wine list did look good, I decided not to opt for a wine pairing with the tasting menu.  I went with a cocktail called La Detox instead.  It looked and tasted like a vegetable smoothie, which it was, with some booze added.  Starting with Gin St. Laurent, it also had Cucumber Juice, Celery Syrup, Lime, and Egg White.  I am generally not a vegetable smoothie drinker, but this wasn't bad.

Before the dinner actually started, I was presented with an Amuse Bouche.  It was a Cold Cod Soup with Cod Confit, Olive Oil, and Croutons.  It was thick, creamy, and very good.  While I like cod, I was surprised with how much flavor this contained.  I liked it, though think that a larger portion would have been too much.

The first course was also in the seafood vein., but was also very seasonal.  We started with Nordic Shrimp with Cucumbers and Strawberries.  I was surprised that strawberries and shrimp would work together, but the sweetness from each complemented each other and the vegetal flavor of the cucumbers also went well with the shrimp.  It was interesting and very good .  I liked it.

I will admit that course number two really didn't do it for me.  It was a Filet of Hake with Turnips.  Hake, like cod, is also a white fish, so it has a generally mild flavor, but turnips are very earthy, and it brought out the earthy flavor of the hake.  Overall, it kind of tasted like dirt.  I ate it, but it wasn't something I would have chosen.

The next course progressed to the savory and had a lot of combinations of flavors.  Starting with Foie Gras, it also had Raspberry Jam, Mushrooms, Pistachios, Cipollini Onions, and Shortbread.  Individually, everything was very good, but it was also a lot of fun to see how the different elements would taste together.  The Foie, Raspberry Jam, and Shortbread were good, but I think my favorite combination was the Mushrooms, Onions, and Foie.

My first entree was Braised Lamb with Eggplant, Tomatoes, and Mushrooms.  The Lamb was heavily glazed and was very tender.  While we were given a steak knife, the meat was so tender that it flaked apart with a fork.  It sat in a Tomato Puree.  The Mushroom was also pureed, but the Eggplant was folded on either side of the lamb.  It was all tender and very flavorful and was a good entree start.

My next course was Duck, which is generally my favorite protein.  As is typical, the main part was Fileted Duck Breast.  It was served with a Green Garlic Leaf, and Truffle and Foie Gras sauce.  On the side were Pureed Raspberries, Potatoes, and Duck Heart.  This was also a lot of fun combining flavors and textures.  The duck breast went well with the raspberries (as did the potatoes).  The duck heart didn't taste largely different from the duck breast, it did have more of a minerally flavor, but the texture was very different.  It was all good, and I enjoyed mixing and combining the different flavors.

For my pre-dessert I had a choice, I could go with the Cow's Milk Cheese for a Cheese Course, or I could go for a surprise.  While I am sure that the cheese was good, I will always go for the surprise.  For my surprise Pre-Dessert, I got Fennel Jelly, Star Anise Meringue, Celery, Brambleberry, and Brambleberry Sorbet.  Fennel and Anise both have a Black Licorice flavor and Brambleberries are pretty tart.  The variety of textures and flavors made this my favorite course.  It was sweet, tart, licorice, a little bitter, or a combination of these depending on what you tasted.  It was a lot of fun and very good.

Dessert was creative and I liked the way that it looked, though I can't say that I liked it overall.  Starting with a White Chocolate Torte, it was topped with Lemon Creme and White Chocolate and Raspberry Meringues.  On one side was a rolled slice of Cucumber and Raspberry Pudding, and the other side was a Cucumber Sorbet.  The main part of this I did like, even if it felt a little incomplete.  The Raspberry Pudding was okay, but I didn't think that the Cucumber or Cucumber Sorbet worked.

Finishing things off, I was presented with a couple of Mignonettes, both referencing the cuisine of Quebec.  The first was a Maple Candy and the other was a Blueberry Jelly.  They were both nice, sweet, and simple, and were a nice way to finish a good meal.  I was glad to have come here even if it wasn't a home run.        

Cafe Robey - Brunch

 

When I first came to Chicago the place that I kept coming back to was the 6 corner intersection at Damen, North, and Milwaukee in Wicker Park.  For a long time, the tallest building on that corner was a 12 story triangular Art Deco building named the Northwest Tower, or more popularly known as The Coyote building (The spire at the top is said to resemble the upturned nose of a baying coyote).  It was mostly empty most of the time, though it was used for gallery space by local artists who would open up once or twice a year for the Around the Coyote Festival.  Most of the gallery space in the area was in the Flatiron Building on the opposite corner.  Because it was mostly empty, it did get pretty shabby and there was talk of demolishing the building for new construction.  The neighborhood was very against this, so that idea was quashed and it was eventually bought and turned into the boutique hotel, The Robey.  The first floor of the triangular space (the hotel also took over and converted a storage building into part of the hotel) is occupied by Cafe Robey, a neighborhood restaurant with a very French bistro feel.  There is a door on the corner of the building that would open into the cafe, but it is unused.  The actual entrance is inside the hotel off a passageway on the wide side of the building that runs between doors on North and Milwaukee.  The entrance is closer to the Milwaukee side.  The check-in desk to the hotel is also off of this passageway and there was also a lot of Art Deco ornamentation.  The host station is immediately inside the entrance and the small bar is just past that on the right.  The space for the liquor is small, but there is a good selection.  The kitchen is immediately behind the bar and can be seen through the liquor cabinets.  The space is triangular with a narrow area beside the bar for seating looking out to Milwaukee Ave. widening out to a triangular dining area looking out to both Milwaukee and North Aves.  The third wall is occupied by the bar kitchen and entrance.  While it is kind of a small space, because of the windows looking out on both sides, it looks spacious.

I started things out with some coffee.  There were a lot of interesting looking things on the menu, and coffee, being something you can find at any pace serving breakfast or brunch, was a given.  The coffee was by local roaster, Colectivo.  For my food, as I said, there were several interesting things on the menu, so I ordered several things.  For good or bad, they all arrived at once.  I had the Banana Bread with fresh Whipped Butter, one of the better Fruit Salads that I have had, and a Lyonnaise Benedict with Bacon, Frisee, Black Truffles, Poached Eggs, and Hollandaise Sauce on English Muffins.  The Banana Bread was soft, fresh, and sweet with a good banana flavor and some walnuts.  With the butter, it was excellent.  The Fruit Salad had Strawberries, Pineapple, Grapes, and Blueberries, which were all fresh and very flavorful.  The best thing about the Fruit Salad, though, was that it had no Cantaloupe.  The Benedict was very complex and very good.  Everything was all very good and I enjoyed my meal here.  I will definitely return.  

Le Sud

 

I have always liked French food.  Like many other cuisines, it changes based on what region you are exploring, though it can still be recognized as French Cuisine.  Many French restaurants around here focus on the food focused around the capitol and cultural center of France which does combine several regions, so you can get kind of a big picture of French Cuisine in general, though it is nice when a restaurant focuses on a specific region.  I went to Le Sud recently which, as you may guess, serves cuisine from the Mediterranean south of France.  Located in the neighborhood in Roscoe Village, the general design of the building is pretty plain.  It looks like a small concrete box with small windows.  The color of the concrete box, though hints that there is something special here, it is sky blue.  There is a round sign on the corner, above the door, with a rooster, the name, and the fact that it is a Mediterranean French restaurant.  There is a hall inside the door that enters the dining room midway into the dining room.  The dining room looks like a classic French bistro.  It feels very homey.  The walls are drywalled and have some hanging art between the French doors looking out.  The tin ceilings are unpainted and the hanging lights look like milk bottles in a metal basket.  The bar is small and is located in back near the wine rack and the kitchen and it's where I sat because it gave me a good view of what was happening and someone to talk to about the restaurant (the bartender and eventually, the manager).  There was a general map of Southern France painted above the kitchen entrance and next to a large wine rack containing what looked like a pretty good wine selection.  When I am sitting at a bar, I will generally look to see what their liquor selection looks like.  My first choice, when it comes to liquor is gin, and as I expected with this bar, while there was some gin, the general selection was kind of slim.  What they did have was a very nice selection of Amaro and French Bitters which I also like to explore.  While I said that their gin selection was slim, what they did have was pretty good.  The cocktail I ordered was called The Sylvan and included St. George Terroir Gin, Dolin Genepy, Fresh Sage, and Muddled Orange.  It tasted very fresh and green, earthy and herbal, and had a nice citrus finish from the large amount of orange that was used in the drink (I think an entire orange was muddled).  It was very fresh and very much fit in my mind what a bistro cocktail should taste like.

For my first appetizer, I went for more earthy flavor.  I like Escargot (Snails) and I will order them frequently when I see them on a menu.  There was Escargot on the menu and I ordered it, but the presentation was not what I expected.  The snails, of which I was presented plenty, were shelled and skewered on one skewer.  They were Wood Grilled and served with Herbes de Provence (Rosemary, Fennel, Thyme, Marjoram, Basil, Lavender, Parsley, Oregano, Tarragon, and Bay), a Petite Green Salad, and Country Bread.  As it was presented, I figured that the best way to eat it was similar to the way that I eat Marro, as an open faced sandwich.  I did eat an Escargot on it's own to get the flavor individually, but generally, I piled the greens on the bread, and topped it off with the escargot.  The snails had were very savory and smoky and had a nice earthy flavor which went well with the greens.  It was different from how I had ever had it, but very good.

My second appetizer was also earthy and many people are kind of unfamiliar with what they are.  Sunchokes, also known as Jerusalem Artichokes, are a tuber from a species of Sunflower.  They have a texture similar to potatoes, though the flavor, slightly nutty and a little sweet, is kind of like a cross between an artichoke heart and a great potato.  These Sunchokes were Roasted and served with Pickled Blueberries and Trumpet Mushrooms.  It was earthy, a little tart from the blueberries, and very good.

My entree was a classic of Frence cuisine, Steak Frites.  My steak was a Bavette (or Flank) Steak served on the Rare Side of Medium Rare with Sorrel Butter and Aioli.  It was juicy, tender, and very good, seasoned simply with salt and pepper, and the frites were cooked perfectly.  It's one of those dishes that will just bring a smile to your face.

Dessert wasn't specifically Southern French or French in general, but it is something that I really enjoy.  It was a Basque Cake with Dates, Almonds, Oranges, and topped with Chantilly Cream.  It is simple sweet, and nutty, and topped with Chantilly Cream.  It was a nice and simple finish to a simple, earthy, and very good meal.  I will enjoy returning.   

Ella Elli - Brunch

With three posts in a row about brunch, it could be implied that I have switched simply to doing brunch.  That is not the case.  It is simply that the places that I have gone to recently for dinner I have to been to before.  With that said, there are a lot of places for brunch and I rarely repeat.  I recently chose Ella Elli, a restaurant just off the Southport Corridor, that has a classic look and specializes in globally inspired cuisine (focusing on France and Italy).  It has an older brick exterior with large windows trimmed in black.  There is also a nice sidewalk patio surrounded by a trellis with the same black accent.  The interior dining area looks both classic and comfortable with comfortable furniture with a classic look by a fireplace used for waiting.  The bar in the back of the room has has a hardwood top and a light base and a tall shelf for their liquor selection behind the bar.  Besides the windows, lighting is provided by large white hanging globes and a few smaller globes on stands by the lounge area.  Photo credits for the restaurant go to Rich Frachey.

In addition to coffee (La Colombe) and juice, there is a pretty good brunch cocktail selection that goes beyond Bloody Marys and Mimosas.  While I did have some coffee , I also had a coffee based cocktail called Cold Buzz.  Served in a Coupe Glass, it started with Old Forester Bourbon, a liquor I will generally pass on, but with the addition of Amaro, La Colombe Cold Brew Coffee, and Demerara (raw sugar) Syrup.  It made for a very good cocktail.  It was bitter, sweet, with flavors of oak from the bourbon, and a good coffee flavor.  The bourbon and coffee paired very well and the amaro and demerara syrup tied it together well.  It was actually kind of a spin on an Old Fashioned with coffee added and I really liked it.

While there is a Bakery Board on the menu which provides a variety of pastries for sharing, I was already going to be getting a lot of bread with my main course so I went with a simple Fruit Salad for the sweet side of my brunch.  Admittedly, when I order fruit salad, I get a little worried because it will frequently have canteloupe, a fruit that I really don't care for.  I was very happy to see that this fruit salad had a wide variety of fruit:  Grapes, Plums, Blueberries, and Golden Raspberries.  It also did not contain any canteloupe which made me very happy.  It was one of the best fruit salds I have had in a while.

My main course was essentially a breakfast pizza.  It was served on a board and they called it a Prosciutto Flatbread, but aside from the shape (rectangular), it was essentially the same as a pizza.  In addition to the Crispy Crust and the Prosciutto, it also had Arugula, Crispy Potatoes, a Farm Egg, and Parmagiano-Reggiano Cheese.  It was pretty big and could have been shared fairly easily, but I enjoyed it by myself.

I really enjoyed brunch here.  The place has a classic look and is very comfortable, the staff is friendly, and the food is very good.  I will have to return for dinner sometime. 

      

 

SBK Supper Club - Bistro By the Sea

Sauce and Bread Kitchen does some great dinners.  I have been to several and have enjoyed them all.  Last month, they did one that they claimed was simple food.  They called the dinner Bistro by the Sea and as can be guessed, featured bistro-style dishes with seafood.  While I will grant that there were a few simple dishes, like the first, even the simple dishes were done very well.  We started out with a couple of Oysters, one East Coast and one West Coast.  The East Coast Oyster was from Misty Point, Va and the West Coast was from Willapa Bay, Wa.  They were served with an Apple Cider Vinegar/Hot Sauce Mignonette, Lemons, and Horseradish.  I will frequently eat oysters in the shell in one swallow, so admittedly I probably lose the finer details of the taste, but while they did have slightly different tastes and the West Coast Oyster was bigger, they were both briny and tasted very good.  Due to the shape of the shell, it was smooth, the West Coast Oyster was easier to swallow.

For the second course, they did something that falls right into their wheelhouse, It was a bread plate called a Pissaladiere, which is a bread dish originating in Nice, France, with Olives, Caramelized Onions, and Anchovies.  For our course, it was served in squares loosely stacked on a bread board with Canned Anchovies.  The bread used Green Peaches, that were treated with lye like olives, Caramelized Onions, and Tomatoes.  We put the oysters on the bread as we liked.  The bread actually lasted longer than the Canned Anchovies, which was fine because the bread was fantastic on its own.  It was soft, fluffy, and very salty and flavorful, while the oysters were good with it, it was good on it's own.

From the bread, we went to a Salad Course.  It was a Smoked Trout and Spinach Salad with a New Potato and Heritage Weisse Cheddar Waffle, Crispy Shallots, and Mustard Vinaigrette.  The spinach was very fresh, crisp and flavorful.  The mustard vinaigrette was had a nice spicy mustard flavor, the trout had a lightly crisp exterior, but was pretty tender and flaky.  The most creative part of this though was the waffled cheddar.  It was crispy, chewy, waffled, and had a great fried cheddar flavor.

For our main course, we had Bouillabaisse, a fish stew that originated in Marseilles using bony fish that the fishermen were unable to sell, as well as sea food and shellfish.  This version actually had no fish.  It had Mussels, Shrimp, Clam, Koji Cured and Smoked Pork, Fennel, Magic Broth, a Mayonnaise based sauce that we mixed into the broth, and Baguettes.  There was a lot of shellfish in the stew, so it was a good thing that we had an extra bowl for the shells.  the meat in the shellfish was big and flavorful and the sauce added a richness to the broth.  The baguette was crusty and was great for soaking up the broth, but admittedly, I ended up tipping the bowl up and drinking the broth after the shellfish and baguettes were gone.  It was very good.

Finally, came our dessert.  It was called a Tarte Fromage Blanc avec Black Raspberry Meringue Coulis.  Translated, that would be a White Cheese Tart (Cheesecake) with Black Raspberry Sauce.  It was also served with Ice Cream.  It had a nice crust on the outside and the tart was a little more savory than your standard cheesecake.  The Black Raspberry Coulis was tart and the ice cream added some sweetness.  It was a nice finish to a very good meal.  I really enjoy the creativity that SBK brings to their evening meals and I will continue to go to them.         

Café Marie Jeanne

While there are a few places that are really good there, I generally don't think of Humboldt Park for dining out.  I happened to be in the neighborhood one morning for other reasons and I hadn't eaten, so I decided to check out a place on a corner that I knew to be blowing up.  From the outside, Café Marie Jeanne looks like one of the many independent coffee shops or small restaurants in the city.  It sits on a corner and has large windows on both sides of the corner.  The sign is nice, although understated, with painted script on the lower part of the windows.  Walking in, the look is of a cafe, with hardwood floors, a painted tin ceiling, several tables laid out cafeteria-style (straight lines), and a few booths.  As you walk in, there is a small display counter with some beer, sodas, and produce, and pastries, which is one end of a long slate topped bar.  While they operate primarily as a restaurant, you can also buy fruit, milk, coffee, some produce, beer, and wine for take out, as in a market.  There seemed to be another dining room in the back, but I was happy in the front at the bar where the beer, wine, coffee, and liquor were.  While I was given a couple of menus consisting of breakfast and drinks to look at, I also noticed that there were several chalkboard menus at different places that emphasized specials, coffee, and beer and liquor.  While I was looking at, and comparing, all of the menus, I decided to start things off with some coffee.  I had not had a Capuccino in a while and they used a good coffee (Metric), so that's where I started.  I was happily surprised that, in addition to good tasting coffee, I also got some nice Latte Art.

The a la carte menu features a lot of meats, cheeses, produce, and pastries, so it potentially could take a little work to put together a composed meal, but a pastry is a good start.  I ordered a Ham & Comte (Cheese) Croissant and from the start, it reminded me of something I might find at a French Patisserie.  The plate, in fact, had a blue design around the edge and a blue farmhouse painting in the center.  It really reminded me of something I bought in France years ago.  The croissant was very light with a crispy and flaky crust and a nice chewy interior.  The ham was thinly sliced in the center and was very tender and flavorful and the Comte, while mostly melted into the croissant , still provided a nice funky cheese flavor.  I would have been happy with this alone, but there was more to come.

While I said that there were a lot of pieces and it could take a little work to create a composed dish, Café Marie Jeanne provided an easy way to do it.  On the menu is a Breakfast Sandwich that you essentially choose yourself.  How it works is that you choose two items from the Breakfast A La Carte Menu which are then placed, with cheese (White Cheddar) and an egg to order, on Country Wheat Bread or an English Muffin.  You could also build your sandwich on a muffin for a premium.  For my sandwich, I chose Smoked Brisket, and Jowl Bacon on an English Muffin with my egg over medium (so I get a little yolk, but it doesn't explode), which with the egg and cheese, made for a seriously hearty sandwich.  Everything about this sandwich was very good (although it was a little work to be able to get a good first bite because it was pretty big).  The brisket and jowl bacon were very flavorful and slightly crispy, but not charcoal, the egg was cooked perfectly and the cheese was melted.  I really enjoyed this, as well as my breakfast in general, and will definitely have to return to try different versions of the sandwich. 

Mexique - Brunch, Chicago Restaurant Week

While most of the restaurants I have gone to for Chicago Restaurant Week I have dined at before, several are in a different context than in the previous time (or times) that I have dined there.  I had previously dined at Mexique, the Mexican restaurant that uses French techniques in their cooking and presentations headed by Chef Carlos Gaytan, for dinner and I had their wonderful tasting menu.  For Restaurant Week this year they were also offering a brunch and lunch menu (lunch during the week and brunch on the weekend), so I decided to come on a weekend afternoon to try their brunch menu.  The restaurant, while not full when we arrived, was definitely getting busy and it kind of struck me funny that we were seated at basically the same place I was seated the last time I dined there (It wasn't the same table, but it was one table over) so my point of view was essentially the same.  We started things of with Pozole Verde, a Hominy Stew made with Roast Pork and Salsa Verde and also included Red Onions, Carrots, and a Chicharron.  It was very hearty with pork that was so tender it basically melted in your mouth and a spicy flavor that provided a good burn at the beginning, but dissapated quickly.  The Chicharron was crispy and flavorful and went well with the flavors of the pozole.

For my main course, I went with a Huarache de Asada, a fried corn cake with steak.  In addition to the Flank Steak, which I had Medium Rare, it also had Fried Black Beans, Spinach, and a Goat Cheese Fondue Topping and a thinly sliced Radish garnish which was crisp and flavorful.  This was very good, but a little surprising because other huaraches that I have had were thicker and were able to be eaten with your hands, similar to a tostada.  It probably was a good thing, though, that the huarache was thinner because with the wealth of meat and the fondue topping, if it had been attempted to be eaten by hand it would have made a mess all over the place.  The steak was very tender, the beans provided a depth of flavor and the cheese fondue provided a lot of sour goat cheese goodness.

The other entree that was offered was a Chorizo Crepe with Fried Potatoes and topped with Salsa Roja.  One of my companions ordered this and loved it and while I did only have a small taste, I found that it did have some great flavors and textures.

I don't normally eat dessert for brunch, although I do try to do both sweet and savory.  As dessert was part of the meal, I decided to struggle through it.  We were served a French Toast Bread Pudding with Orange Juice Marshmallows, Pepitas, Coffee Ice Cream, Raspberry Sauce, and a light sprinkling of Powdered Sugar to top things off.  This had all of the flavors of a traditional breakfast and I felt that with the traditional flavors represented, it brought us full circle.  It was an excellent finish to an excellent brunch and one I may definitely have to repeat.  

Wood - Brunch

Years ago there was a French Restaurant in Boystown that I really liked (despite the fact that I only went there twice and hadn't been there for a few years when it closed).  When it did close, I was sad, but as I said, I hadn't been there in a few years.  A new restaurant called Wood opened in it's place around 2012 and it has received high praise, receiving a Michelin Bib Gourmand (very good food at a value) in 2013, 2014, and 2015, but I still didn't go partially because I missed the other restaurant.  I did happen to come across Wood at a benefit that I was attending so I got an idea of what they did and I put them on my unofficial and always changing list of places to dine at.  A few months ago, they held a fundraiser for Secours Populaires Francaise, a French non-profit that fights poverty and tries to bring people together, after the terrorist attacks in Paris.  They invited several other restaurants to serve snacks with them.  While everything was good, I really enjoyed the stuff that they brought out.  This firmly convinced me that I needed to get here for a meal.  While I do plan on coming for dinner one evening, I recently came for brunch with some friends.  The space is long and narrow with a bar running the length of the dining room.  The kitchen is in the rear of the restaurant.  The space opposite the bar has several large, semi-circular booths with seats covered in white leather.  Our table, which was in the front of the restaurant, between the bar and the front window (and next to the entrance), was a large high topped wooden table that seated 6.  As one might expect from a restaurant named wood, there was a lot of wood in the design, with wood walls, hardwood floors, our wooden table, and the large wood bar.  We started things off with coffee and cocktails, they served Colombe Coffee and had my favorite breakfast cocktail, the Corpse Reviver #2 so I had one of each.  Looking over the menu, I saw that I could get both sweet and savory, so I ordered a Cinnamon Roll for the table.  It was a good thing that I ordered it for the table because it was enormous.  There were six people in our party and even after everyone taking a slice from it, I still ended up taking a third of it home.  The roll was soft and slightly spongy with a nice cinnamon flavor to it and wasn't exceptionally sweet (It was sweet, but not overwhelmingly so).  It was topped with a cream cheese icing.  It was good as a sharing plate and as breakfast the next day.

 

For my main course, I went with something that was both sweet and savory by itself.  They had a set of breakfast sandwiches, Waffle, Corndog, English Muffin, and Biscuit.  I decided to go with the Waffle which had Fried Chicken, Bacon, and Honey Hot Sauce.  I should have expected it after seeing the cinnamon roll, but I was very surprised, when the sandwiches arrived , at their height.  I mused how I was going to eat them and I did actually try to squeeze one and get a bite out of it, but it was too big.  I ended up deconstructing them and eating the individual pieces separately which were very good on their own (although I did get sticky hands from the honey).  The waffle was crisp on the outside and soft on the inside with a good fried flavor and the sweetness from the honey.  The chicken had a nice crispy breading, was very juicy on the inside, and had the flavor that good chicken should.  The bacon was crispy, sweet, bacony goodness.  I really enjoyed brunch here and I will have to return one day for dinner.  The space looks very nice, the staff is friendly, and the food is very good.  

Boeufhaus

When I go out, I will typically choose a place that does something new or exotic or different.  I generally choose a steakhouse because, while I like steak, there are any number of places where you can get a good steak so it isn't usually that exciting.  Never mind the fact that a good steak can be pretty expensive.  Sometimes though, I just want a steak, so I recently went to a relatively new place that opened up in Ukranian Village called Boeufhaus to see what they do.  Located in a small storefront that used to be a butcher shop, Boeufhaus puts a French and German spin on a steakhouse.  It is a small space, seating about 40 including the bar, and has kept a lot of elements from the butcher shop like the display case at the front where the host station now is and and big, heavy looking freezer doors behind the bar.  The space has a hardwood floor and bar and tin ceiling tiles with hanging lights that focus on the tabletop.  While the dining room is generally dim, the tabletops are bright enough that a flash is unnecessary.  While Boeufhaus bills itself as a steakhouse, and I am sure that is what most of the orders are, the snacks and appetizers French and German inspired and there is also some seafood, duck, and pork on the entree menu.  While several of the entrees did look good, I figured if I was going to be at a steakhouse, I should really have the steak.  Before that though, a good appetizer was needed.  While looking at the menu, there were several things that excited me including the Tarte Flambée, a caramelized onion tart with bacon and white cheese, but there was also on the menu one of those things that didn't look like it made a lot of sense so I had to order that.  What I ordered were the Short Rib Beignets.  I like short ribs and I like beignets, but in my mind they don't seem to be two things that should go together.  Beignets are a light and yeasty fritter that are generally topped with powdered sugar and eaten at breakfast.  Short ribs are the beef version of spare ribs.  For this dish, the meat was braised and stuffed into the beignets, which were not covered in powdered sugar.  They were light and airy with a small piece of short rib wonderfulness in each one.  The braising liquid was reduced and used as a dipping sauce.  It was very good, I enjoyed it heartily, and it was a good opening for what I expected to be a very good steak.

As for their steaks, Boeufhaus has a relatively short list:  two dry aged ribeyes, 35 day and 55 day, a New York strip, a filet mignon, and steak frites, a hanger steak and fries.  I decided to go with the top of the line and ordered a Medium Rare 55 Day Dry Aged Ribeye with an order of Bordelaise Sauce on the side and a Side order of Roasted Mushrooms.  I was actually a little surprised when it came out because the way it was sliced and presented, it looked to me a little smaller than I expected.  It was a 22 oz steak (with bone) which would be a pretty big steak as one piece, but didn't look as big sliced.  Having said that, it was about an inch and a half thick with five slices plus the meat on the bone.  The steak was very good.  Aged 55 days, it was tender (although not fork tender) and had a blue cheese funk to it.  The funk wasn't strong, but it was definitely there and it went well with the stronger beef flavor that comes with the aging.  The Bordelaise Sauce was good, but it really wasn't necessary as the steak had enough flavor on its own.  It was a little darker than other Bordelaise sauces that i have seen and it did have a good beef flavor.  The mushrooms, though, were a nice addition.  It was a mixture of Shiitake, Maitake, Trumpet, and Portabello Mushrooms combined with Fresh Thyme and Vinegar.  The mushrooms added a variety of texture to the steak and the meaty flavor along with the vinegary bite added to the flavor.

With the appetizer and a large steak, I was a little surprised that I could handle dessert.  Even though I was a little full, there is always room for dessert.  I ordered a Brown Butter Almond Cake with Toasted Coconut and Lemon.  There was nothing about this that I didn't like.  It was sweet, but just slightly and very nutty.  The toasted coconut was added both as a chip on top and a garnish and the lemon was a sauce that went well with everything.  It was delicate and a great finish to an otherwise pretty heavy meal.

I really enjoyed dinner here.  The space has a very nice vintage look, the staff is friendly and helpful, and the steak, of course, was very good.  I will definitely consider it again when I am in the mood for a good steak.      

Mexique

While there are a lot of Mexican restaurants in Chicago, I tend not to go to them often.  It isn't that I have anything against Mexican food, in fact I quite like it, but when I go out, I like to explore, and Mexican food generally feels too familiar to me.  I had heard of Mexique, a few years ago, and while a Mexican-French fusion sounded really interesting, I still battled familiarity issues so it was always "another time" when I chose a place to go out.  When Carlos Gaytan, the executive chef at Mexique was on Top Chef and when the restaurant won a Michelin Star, it moved up on my list of places to go, but it still took a while to get here.  The day finally came recently.  I didn't have a reservation so I made a plan to get there early when it would probably be easier to get a seat.  I was correct.  When I arrived, the dining room was mostly empty, but by the time I finished my dinner, it was mostly full.  The place is very unobtrusive from the road, so if you don't know the address, it's easy to pass without noticing it.  The color of the restaurant is done in shades of brown.  The space is narrow, with banquette seating on one side and a bar on the other, with a row of tables in the center of the room after the bar ends and another row against the wall.  I was seated in the center row, which gave me a good view of the restaurant flow.  The kitchen was at the rear of the restaurant with the serving line parallel to the line of the tables.  The walls on either side of the restaurant had large solid color block paintings with wall cutouts exposing the brick behind the wall on either side of the paintings.  I think that this was supposed to parallel the contrast between the fine dining and the rustic elements of the menu.  The white tablecloths also implied the fine dining aspect of the cuisine.

There were a lot of things on the menu that looked really good, so it was going to be a little difficult to make a choice.  Fortunately, they also had a tasting option that offered six courses and took the choosing out of the diners hands.  I went this route.  Before my first course arrived, I was presented with the bread plate.  This started showing the fusion aspect of the restaurant.  The bread was a white bread with a crusty exterior and a soft and fluffy interior.  With it, instead of butter was served Chicken Liver Pate on the right side with Black Bean Puree on the left.  Both spreads were very flavorful and tasted good, but the black been puree was easier to spread.

Dinner in a French/Fine Dining restaurant follows a standard progression:  Appetizer, followed by soup, salad, fish, fowl, light and dark meats, and finishing off with dessert.  Dinner at Mexique followed, more or less, the standard course progression.  When the first course came out, I sort of thought it was a salad of some sort.  It was a bowl with sliced Tortillas, with cubed Zucchini anf Potatoes, Corn, and dollops of Goat Cheese.  I found when they poured the Cream of Poblano broth over it that it was the soup.  It was creamy, flavorful, and very fresh with a mildly spicy finish.  This was very good and while it did make me look forward to the rest of the meal, it also made me wish for a bigger bowl of this soup.

The second course looked very nice and tasted very good.  As far as the course progression is concerned, it was fine where it was, although it could have been also presented as the first course.  It was a Steelhead Trout Ceviche with a Mango Puree to provide the acid to cure it, and served with Zucchini, Avocado, Mangoes, and Black Radishes.  It was tart and the fish was very tender, but the radishes provided a crunch to the dish.  The Tomatoes and Avocadoes almost gave it a Guacamole flavor and the sliced Mangoes provided some fruit sweetness.

 

The fish course looked, on the surface, pretty simple, but had some amazing complexity.  It was a pan-seared Swordfish served over Caramelized Mushrooms and Lentils with very finely pureed Potatoes and Fennel with Fennel Shoots.  The top side of the plate was layered with Parsley Oil and the bottom half with Paprika Oil divided by the potatoes and the mushrooms and lentils.  The swordfish was garnished with thinly sliced Radishes and Fennel Fronds.  The swordfish was tender and flaky and the mushrooms and lentils tasted really good.  The potatoes were actually a little finer than I would normally prefer and the oils added some additional flavor and spice as well as giving the plate a look similar to the Mexican flag.

The next course, as far as a course progression is concerned, may have fit as the last savory course, although it could be argued that they were in the right order because the most savory course was the last course presented before dessert.  This course was a Mole Glazed Braised Pork Belly topped with Apricots, Radishes, and Fennel, and served with Fried Brussels Sprouts, and More Mole topped with Sweet Potato Puree with Cocoa Nibs.  This was sweet and spicy, but it was also also very complex.  The mole was made with 27 ingredients and while chocolate and spice were key flavors, there were also many flavors that presented themselves like garlic and cinnamon.  

The last of the savory courses was a Seared Duck Breast served over a Tamarind Chipotle Sauce and Parsley Oil.  The plate was dotted with more Tamarind Chipotle Sauce, which was dark, and some Mango Habanero Sauce, which was light colored.  On the side was served a Corn and Blackberry Tamal topped with a fried Kale Leaf.  It was a very nice presentation, but since Duck is my favorite meat, I may have liked it without the fancy presentation.  The duck was very good and I was happy to see it, but the sauces and the tamal added a wealth of additional flavor.

 And then came dessert.  Dessert was a tasting in and of itself.  It started, on the left with a Blackberry Sorbet which was sweet and tart with a lot of blackberry flavor.  Next came the Tres Leches Cake topped with Strawberries.  The cake was rich, sweet, and very moist, with the very fresh strawberries on top.  The last of the major portions of the dessert was the Mango Panna Cotta which was very tart and reminded me of the Key Lime Panna Cotta that I really enjoyed years ago at the late lamented restaurant onesixty blue.  All of these together would have made a great dessert tasting, but there was also an Apple Coulis (like a thick sauce) between the main pieces and Nutella Powder was spread liberally around the three pieces.  It was a great finish to a great dinner.

I'm glad I was finally able to make it to Mexique.  The food was great, it was a true fusion, and the service was excellent as well.  It very definitely does not fall under the standard Mexican restaurant and I would be happy to return.