Siena Tavern - Brunch

While the last time I went to Siena Tavern was during brunch, I did not go for brunch so I decided to make it the location of my brunch together for this month.  The Italian-ish restaurant in river north run by Executive Chef Fabio Viviani is spacious with both modern and vintage elements done in a siena color scheme.  The restaurant is in an office building and the outer walls are tinted glass looking out to the street.  Despite being located in an office building though, the space does look friendly and the waitstaff are very helpful. As far as the food was concerned, I continued my habit of trying both sweet and savory starting with the Monkeybread for the table.  Our jaws dropped when this arrived because it just looked ridiculous.  The sweet sticky bread was topped with Hazelnut Cream, Hazelnuts, and was sitting in a thick, buttery caramel.  It was amazing and despite the size of it, it was pretty big, it disappeared quickly. 

For my main course, I went with a hash, as I frequently do, but this was a major variation on the standard hash.  It was a Lobster Hash with Poached Eggs, Lobster (obviously), Caramelized Vegetables (Asparagus, Onions, and Carrots), House Cured Pancetta, and Truffled Hollandaise Sauce.  The entire dish was very flavorful.  The lobster was sweet and tender and came in large pieces.  The eggs were poached perfectly with solid and firm whites and liquid yolks.  The vegetables were tender and had a caramelized sweetness.  The pancetta was firm and flavorful with a sweet pork flavor and the hollandaise sauce was great.  It was creamy and buttery with a significant amount of pepper and enough truffle to give it a good truffle funk without overwhelming it.

This brunch was a favorite of mine and I will probably repeat it in the future because many of the people that expressed interest had to cancel at the last minute and this is a place that deserves wide acclaim.