Sunday Dinner Club - "Made Wrong" Burgers at Half Acre Brewery

 

I like Sunday Dinner Club, the underground dinner club that hosts dinners with many various themes and I try to go several times a year.  Their main location is above their restaurant, Honey Butter Fried Chicken, which itself started as a Sunday Dinner Club dinner, but several times a year they will partner with Half Acre Brewery for a dinner at one of their tap rooms (mostly the Lincoln Tap Room).  These dinners are similar to the dinners in their home space in that when people are checked in and seated, they will come out and introduce themselves.  With the dinners at Half Acre, a Half Acre rep will first introduce themselves and welcome everyone before introducing the SDC crew who will then introduce themselves, tell the story of Sunday Dinner Club, and tell everyone about the dinner they will be having.  The dinners at SDC Headquarters are BYOB, but the ones at Half Acre come with four beers.  This dinner also came with a sample of Camchi's Kimchi, a product from one of their crew that they plan on commercializing.  The beers that I started with were Eat Shop Apricot Milkshake IPA with Lactose and Apricot and Deep Space Double IPA, both IPAs, but very diffwewnt from one another.  Eat Shop Apricot was creamy and hazy with a nice soft mouthfeel and apricot and tropical flavors.  Deep Space was decidedly heavier with grapefruit and pine flavors and a nice dry finish.  

Their former sous chef Becca, had an enormously popular Cubano sandwich which they used as a theme for a pop up at Revival Food Hall.  It was also very successful, so there is now thought of opening another restaurant under the Sunday Dinner Club umbrella.  While the Cubano Sandwich is good, it's hard to build a restaurant on one item, so this dinner was sort of a try out to expand the menu.  For this dinner, they did a spin on the Maid-Rite Burger, a spiced loose meat sandwich similar to a sloppy joe without sauce, they called a "Made Wrong" Burger.  It was also a spiced loose meat sandwich on a bun, but it also had Camchi's Kimchi made with Cucumbers and Carrots, Spicy Aioli, and Muenster Cheese.  It was served with a very good Potato Salad made with Mustard and Spices.

For my beers to drink with dinner and finish off, I went with Shrub Tundra Coffee Brown Ale and another IPA, Half Acre makes a lot of IPAs, Fluorescent IPA.  Shrub Tundra is a collaboration with a local coffee roaster, Dark Matter Coffee, uses 5% liquid coffee by volume, the variety of which varies every year.  This years blend had a nice head, light carbonation, and a thin mouthfeel.  The coffee aroma and flavor were good and while there was a hop flavor, it was light.  Fluorescent IPA poured light yellow with a light haze.  It has a medium body and tropical flavors and was pretty good.

To finish our dinner, we were served Brownies.  I really like brownies in general, but these brownies were pretty fantastic.  The Brownie was Dark Chocolate topped with Peppermint Cream Cheese and Fueilletine Flakes.  Fueilletine, meaning leaves, is a very light pastry that tastes like a very light and crispy sugar cone and provided a nice crunch to the brownie.  The brownie had a great flavor and provided a great finish to a great dinner.  While Sunday Dinner Club does not do just one thing, there style is very homey and a lot of what they do is to elevate comfort foods.  I have liked the dinners that I have had with SDC, and I will continue going to their dinners.

Jolly Pumpkin Brewery, Hyde Park

 

 

I went to the original Jolly Pumpkin Brew Pub in Ann Arbor, Michigan earlier this year.  I decided recently to check out the recently opened branch in Hyde Park (Chicago), to see how they compare.  Located in 7 places, Jolly Pumpkin is a brewery that specializes in sours.  This is so much the case that when they wanted to make something other than sours, they started another brewery (North Peak) to market the non-sour beers.  They have been popular enough that they have been able to grow to 7 locations.  The Dexter Tap Room, the original original place, is simply a tap room and serves no food.  Every other place has a food menu.  Three of the locations, including the first brew pub in Ann Arbor are sit down locations.  The other three are counter service where you order food and beer, and then find a place to sit with your beer and your food will be delivered to you.  The outside of the Hyde Park location looks like a large modern retail or office location.  It doesn't really look like a brewery or restaurant from the outside, though it does look like a nice building and does have a Jolly Pumpkin sign.  Inside there is a line for the counter where you order your food and drink and then find a place to sit at one of the large picnic tables throughout the very large dining room or at the long two-sided bar.  There is also a round table that sits six inside a very large barrel in the dining room.  The dining room is very large, seating probably 200 people at the picnic tables and the bar.  Two of the walls are floor to ceiling windows looking at the street outside.  The other two sides of the dining room are the bar.  The kitchen is next to the bar one the side opposite the order counter behind a 3/4 wall.  The ceiling is unfinished with barrel lights and there are flat screen TVs throughout the room.  On the afternoon that I went, we were watching the World Cup.  There is a hall off to one side with a continuation of the window wall on one side with framed, poster-sized label art which is very cool and at the end of the hall there was a Game of Thrones-esque Throne of Barrel Staves.  It looked very worn, but it also looked kind of comfortable.

When I went to the Ann Arbor location, I ordered a flight, mostly of sours, but because they have so many interesting sours, when I came to Hyde Park, I again ordered a flight mostly of sours, with a token North IPA.  Most of the beers for the company are brewed at their production brewery in Traverse City, Michigan, though each place does have a small brewing operation of it's own for that location.  Most of the beers did come from the production facility, but I did get one that was brewed there.  Flights were four 5 ounce beers of your choice served on a barrel stave serving "platter" with space for five beers.  The beers also have an a la carte price for all sizes, so someone could augment their flight, if they so desired, so I guess that explains the extra space.  For my flight, I had the Biere de Mars Biere de Garde, Ale Absurd Sour Rye Tripel, Bath-O-Mat & Washeteria Sour Saison, a collaboration with Tired Hands Brewing of Ardmore, Pa, and my token North Peak Beer, Collaterale IPA.  The three sours were all pretty sour, but they all had different flavors.  The Biere de Mars was richer and had kind of a caramel finish, Ale Absurd was being brewed there though mine came from the production brewery.  All of the beers have some significant barrel aging time, so while they had brewed some Ale Absurd there, it was still barrel aging (in Chardonnay Barrels).  The Bath-O-Mat & Washeteria had a significant lemon flavor and aroma, and the North Peak IPA was an IPA.  It wasn't bad, but it also wasn't exceptional.

While I had to bring my beer to my seat, I was given a number for my food and it was brought to me.  While there were snacks, salads, and sandwiches, on the menu, what has gotten the most press has been the pizza, so I ordered a pizza.  The pizzas were 12 inches which is a good size for one person, especially when it has more than cheese and spices on it.  For my pizza, I ordered a Korean Short Rib BBQ Pizza with Korean Short Rib, Korean BBQ Sauce, Arugula, Scallions, Mozzarella, Black Sesame Seeds, and Sesame Soy Vinaigrette.  I liked it a lot.  It had a sweet and spicy flavor, with some savory from the soy sauce.  The Short Rib was tender and the arugula added some bitter crispness.  There was also a good sesame finish.  Between the flight and the pizza, I was pretty full when I finished.  While the service was casual, it was very friendly, and the food and drink were very good.  I would be happy to return.    

Scofflaw

Years ago when I moved to the neighborhood, there was a bar and grill called Streetside that had a pretty good beer list and bar food that was a step up from the standard bar and grill.  While I did like the place, I wasn't really a regular, and I was only mildly disappointed when it closed.  The disappointment was more than relieved when I found that the place that would replace it, Scofflaw, would be a gin-focused cocktail bar.  While the space has the same layout as the previous bar, the design is much more rustic, with a darker color scheme and antique tractor seats used as bar stools.  The space has two rooms, plus a patio.  The main room has a door on a corner with a large window in the front and a heavy and vintage looking bar, which seats about 12 people, running back into the room.  The exit to the patio and the entrance to the other room are at the back of the room on opposite sides.  The patio sits to the side of the building along a side street and will seat about 20 people, the back room (actually parallel to the main bar) is also dark, and while it does have a window as well, it is covered with blackout curtains.  The food service window is at the back of the room and there is a fireplace in the center of the wall opposite the side that you enter into the room.  While this is a cool room to hangout with small groups, when I go, I will generally just sit at the bar which I did the last time I went.  The drink menu at Scofflaw changes frequently, and while they will announce new drinks on Facebook and Twitter, they do not have one single place where you can see what the current menu is before you come.  That doesn't bother me a lot because I have no problem trying something new and I like gin.  There were nine cocktails listed on the menu, five of which were gin based (in addition to a pretty good beer list and an incredible gin list).  I started things off with The Standby, which had Gin, Cognac, Boomsa Cloosterbitter, Lucky Falernum, Tonic, Lime, and Orange Saffron Bitters, served on ice.  It had a very complex flavor that I liked trying to take apart, but the overarching flavors were bittersweet, floral, and tart.  It had the herbal flavors of a good gin without being too pine-flavored.  It was a complex cocktail and I really enjoyed it.

The food menu at Scofflaw is also not listed online.  There a lot of bits and pieces including charcuterie and cheese, vegetables, sandwiches, and fries, that can be put together into a coherent meal.  I started off with some Charred and Chilled Cauliflower with Mint and Yellow Curry which I enjoyed, but which my dining partner thought could have been charred a little more to bring out a little more sweetness and texture.  I will not argue that point, I will say that I thought that the flavors went extremely well with gin cocktails.  With the char, the cauliflower was slightly sweet, and the mint and curry complemented the herbalness of the cocktails.

For my "main course", I had a Crispy Chicken Sandwich with Dill Pickles and Swiss Cheese.  The chicken was crispy on the outside with a tender and juicy interior and the Swiss cheese and Pickle reminded me a little bit of a Cubano (although a Cuban is made with pork).  While it was pretty good, I was very glad to have some hot sauce close to add to it.

For my second cocktail, I went with one of their non-gin based cocktails.  Called a Swizzle #17, it started with White Rum and had Fernet Branca, Strawberry, Lime, and Salt Tincture.  The drink looked pretty and I liked the strawberry, but I can't say that I really liked the taste of it.  Fernet Branca has a strong flavor and while I like it on it's own, I can't really say that I liked the combination with the white rum, lime, and salt.

Our last bites were Frites served with Aioli.  They were crisp, salty and flavorful, and tasted good with the aioli.  It was very simple, but sometimes the best dishes are simple dishes done very well.

To finish things off, I ordered something off the menu that I was sure that they would be able to do.  My favorite cocktail is The Last Word which is made with Gin, Green Chartreuse, Maraschino Liqueur, and Lime Juice.  It is sweet, tart, floral, and supposed to be slightly green, and as suspected, Scofflaw hit all points and made a very good cocktail.

I like Scofflaw, and while Swizzle #17 was not my favorite cocktail, I enjoyed the experience and now know that I don't care for that combination.  The food, while relatively simple was done well, and went well with the cocktails.  The listed cocktails change frequently and if you are there at midnight, they serve cookies.  I will continue going, and trying different drinks, even if I probably won't make it to midnight.

     

Finch Kitchen and Brewery

Those of you that read this blog regularly know that I enjoy going to different breweries, both for the beer, and in the case of those places that are also brewpubs, to try the food that they serve.  I recently went to a brewpub in North Center that I had previously been to and liked before when it was known as Breakroom Brewery.  I was kind of sad when Breakroom went away, but it was nice to see another up and coming local brewery, Finch's Brewing Co., now known as Finch Beer after also buying out Hopothesis Beer Company.  I had had several Finch Beers before and liked what I had had.  I knew that they had been looking for a place for a taproom for a while, so while it was a little sad to see a good brewpub go away, it was good to see another local brewery move in quickly bringing in their own celebrity chef.  The opening chef for Breakroom was Dirk Flanigan (formerly of The Gage), the opening chef for Finch Beer Co. and Kitchen is Matthias Merges (Yusho, Billy Sunday, A10).  As the space simply went from one brewery to another, only minimal changes were made in the dining room.  The space still has a high ceiling with exposed rafters, hardwood floors and furniture, garage doors at the front, and brewing tanks on either side of the dining room.  The major change came in the back of the room.  The woodshop that made bars that was in the back is now gone and is now an expanded brewing area.  The wall that separated the bar making company from the brewpub used to have a large wooden flag on it.  That has been replaced by a neon yellow finch which is the symbol for Finch Beer.

As far as the beer is concerned, they have a flight menu that is also used as a serving coaster.  There are 8 beers offered on tap that you can order as part of a flight.  There was also a cider, a guest tap, and a Hopothesis beer offered on tap, but which had to be ordered in 10 or 16 oz sizes.  When I was there, flights of four or eight were offered, it seems that they are now offered as three or five.  As it was early and I had other places to be, I decided to just go for a flight of four.  At the time that I went there, they seemed to be focusing on IPAs as there were 3 IPAs and an APA on the flight menu.  The flight menu now seems to be more widely focused with a variety of styles including a saison, a lager, a Mexican Lager, a dubbel, a wit, and one of the IPAs that had been on the menus previously.  The flight that I ordered included  Skull Hammer American IPA, Liquid Swords APA, Shards of Narsil American IPA, and Western Exposure Belgian Witbier.  As the name suggests, Skull Hammer hits hard and was pretty bitter.  Between the two IPAs that chose, I preferred the hops of the Shards of Narsil which had a more tropical flavor.  Liquid Swords was a hoppy pale ale that does not quite reach IPA levels of bitterness, and Western Exposure had a grassy coriander flavor and a higher ABV than a standard ABV.  Overall, the beers weren't bad, but I liked the Shards of Narsil best. 

When looking at the food at a brewpub, you have to look at the bar snacks offered.  Pretzels and nuts should be expected, but pork rinds, sausage,  and crispy chickpeas were a surprise to see on the menu.  I ordered the Crispy Chickpeas with Smoked Paprika which were served in a sealable plastic bag with a window which was brought in a bowl.  It was a good thing that they were brought in a sealable bag, because I got more than I would eat in a single sitting (actually I got more than I would eat in several sittings).  The chickpeas were crispy, flavorful, and well coated in smoky paprika, which gave them a spicy and smoky flavor.  They were also a great palate cleanser so I could better differentiate between the beers.  They were very addictive and reminded me of corn nuts and while I didn't eat them all in a single sitting, I made sure that they came with me when I left.

The rest of the menu is divided into For The Table, shareable dishes, Sausages, Sandwiches, and Dessert.  While there were a few things on the shareable menu that looked good like the Raclette Cheese Platter, Charred Beets, and Beer Steamed Mussels, I was by myself, so I wouldn't be sharing, and while the sausages looked interesting, I went with a Crispy Chicken Sandwich with Kimchi, Fried Shallots, and Sesame Aioli which were served with a side of Kennebec fries.  The chicken had a crispy breading with a tender, juicy interior, and a great flavor.  The kimchi and the aioli gave the chicken some sour, some spice, and a nice Asian accent.

Dessert basically worked out to be a choice between ice cream and donuts and while I like ice cream and they were serving Black Dog Gelato, I really was not in the mood for ice cream, so donuts, it was.  The Donuts in question were Chocolate Stout Donuts with Ginger Caramel Dipping Sauce topped with Powdered Sugar.  The bartender suggested that I order a Finch Secret Stache Chocolate Stout, which was the stout used in making the donuts because it would make a great pairing.  While I thought it sounded like it would be a great pairing, I tried to wave it off.  The bartender though, noticed that I am a great guy to give free stuff to, and decided to give me a tasting glass of the stout.  The donuts were hot and fluffy with a great chocolate flavor and a bitter malt undertone.  They did pair perfectly with the stout and the dipping sauce provided a creamy and spicy sweet finish.  I enjoyed my beer and meal here and will return to try more.      

Trellis - Brunch

I have a tendency to lean toward the savory side when I go out for bunch.  I will say though, that for the most part, I do tend to stay on the breakfast side of brunch.  While I will occasionally have pizza for breakfast, I will say that calling pizza a breakfast food is a stretch, most of the time.  My adventure to hit some good and interesting brunch places took me to Trellis this month.  I had been to this location in it's previous incarnation as Gaslight Bar and Grille (although not for brunch) and at the time, it was pretty good in the world of bars and grille.  As Trellis, it has updated the look of the place, giving it a more modern look (while still maintaining a vintage vibe) although it is still a narrow bar with an elevated section at the back of the bar where we sat.  The menu (both brunch and regular) features a selection of charcuterie and cheese as well as oysters, sandwiches and pizzas.  The brunch menu has pancakes, French toast, and eggs, while the regular menu swaps those out for things small plates such as steak tartare, venison meat balls, and fondue.  As we were coming for brunch, it was going to be the eggs, pancakes, and French toast.  I had recently read an article raving about Trellis' Fig Jam and Bacon Pizza so I knew what I was going to get before I even looked at the menu (although looking at the menu did make things a bit more difficult).  Before getting to the pizza though, I did start out with an order of Fruits and Berries.  I was a little worried about ordering this because in many incarnations of the fruit salad, I have seen a lot of canteloupe, a fruit that I am not overly fond of.  Talking to the waitress beforehand, I found out that while there was canteloupe in the dish, there was also a lot of other fruit so it hopefully wasn't going to be a huge issue.  I really liked the presentation as it came in a mason jar and at first glance I saw no canteloupe which made me happy.  The jar was topped with Strawberries, but also contained raspberries, Blackberries, Blueberries, Pineapple, Honeydew, Watermelon, and after some digging, 3 balled pieces of canteloupe.  The fruit was fresh and sweet with a mild tartness as good fresh fruit should have.  Three pieces of canteloupe was fine because I was easily able to eat around them and there was still plenty to eat.

Then came the pizza.  It was a large single serving size that looked like it was hand tossed and cooked in a fired oven.  The dough was both crisp on the outside and chewy and had some nice browning  to it.  In addition to the fig jam, which was spread over the top like a well frosted streusel, and the bacon, which was finely cubed and scattered over the top, the pizza also had Caramelized Onions, Mindoro Blue Cheese, a rich Danish-style blue cheese made in Mindoro, Wisconsin, and was topped with an egg, which you have to have on a breakfast pizza.  I had my egg over hard because I didn't want to deal with the yolk.  The fig jam provided a sweetness which emphasized the sweetness of the bacon, the onions, and the blue cheese.  The blue cheese added a depth of flavor with a nicely bitter finish which played well with the onions.  The egg added a savory finish.

While pizza might not generally be thought of as a breakfast (brunch) dish, in this case it really worked and I liked the way that it was made.  There were a few other things on the menu that really intrigued me so I will definitely have to return, for brunch and for dinner.    

Big & Little's

If you want to talk about Big & Little's, you first have to talk about the location.  It is in an area that formerly bordered the Cabrini Green Housing Project.  While the housing project is now gone, the location is certainly not what you would call hot.  While it is now located in a building next to Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, after previously using the space now occupied by Badhappy Poutine Shop, there still is nothing in the area that would bring most people to the area.  This actually does have some advantage to it.  There is more parking (even if you don't count the attached parking lot) and much less competition.  As one might expect for a place that is essentially in no man's land, there isn't much to see inside the restaurant.  That having been said, it's okay because it isn't trying to impress with it's look and is trying to be an everymans kind of place which it does well.  The entrance to the restaurant is on the side, off the parking lot.  The counter is to the left of the door behind which is the open kitchen and fountain drinks are available from the fountain to the right of the door.  The menu is on a couple of chalkboards opposite the door and there is a specials board behind the counter.  The restaurant is cash only but there is an ATM in the building.  Seating consists of a couple of rows of picnic benches (about 7 in total) and a counter on the wall where the menu is.  The menu consists largely of fried seafood with some burgers and a variety of po' boys.  The sides are a variety of fries and poutines.  Despite the fact that this place is in the middle of nowhere, it was pretty busy when I arrived and I ended up waiting about 20 minutes before ordering.  While there was a lot of very good looking seafood being served, I decided to go with the Pork Belly Po' Boy and Truffle Fries.  Orders are sent out piecemeal as they are finished and my truffle fries arrived first.  I got a full basket of crisp and well fried fries..  The truffle aroma and flavor was lighter than on other truffle fries that I have had but wasn't so subtle that I couldn't taste it.  They definitely had a truffle funk to them, tasted pretty good, and set me up for the Po'Boy.

The Pork Belly Po'Boy was something else.  For those that are unfamiliar, a po' boy is a sandwich similar to a submarine originating in Louisiana.  Generally, they are served with seafood (and there are a lot of seafood po' boys at Big & Little's) but they can also be served with meat and they are always served on a baguette.  This po' boy is obviously of the meat variety.  The French bread was grilled and was filled with 1 inch cubes of fried pork belly, lettuce, pickles, a few onions, some hot sauce and was finally lightly drizzled with a combination of mayonnaise and maple syrup.  As stuffed as it was, it wasn't actually that hard to eat (and it was very enjoyable).

As good as the stuff that I had was, I don't think that I got to the heart of Big & Little's with what I had.  When I return, I will definitely have to try some of their fish tacos and possibly some poutine.  I will also definitely have to one day have to try the Foie Gras and Fries.