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. 

      

 

Alulu Brew Pub - Brunch

As people who know me and/or read this blog, I like beer and I like visiting breweries.  While I had visited many of the breweries, taprooms, and brewpubs on the north side of Chicago, I knew that there were a few new places on the south side that I needed to visit (or revisit).  I started out on a recent trip in Pilsen with a place that I had read about and had encountered at a beer festival in the spring, Alulu Brewpub.  While I had the address, I didn't really know the area and I didn't know what to expect.  Located near a really odd intersection east of Ashland Ave, it doesn't look like much more than a neighborhood bar.  This is not a criticism, there are some really good corner bars that feel like home and put out some really good stuff.  It is simply an observation that it's pretty small and unassuming.  While there is a small patio in front and a nice roll-up window at the front of the bar, the sign is actually a little hard to find, located over the alley next to the bar where the entrance is located.  The first thing that I actually noticed was the stand up sign on the sidewalk with the brunch specials.  As there would be drinking involved, I figured that I should start off things with a good meal and between the specials listing and the menu, this looked like it would be an easy thing to do.  The bar is pretty narrow with a long bar to one side with the taps, the tap list, and assorted glassware behind it.  The walls are brick, though there is a live wall with moss to one side of the taps.  Lighting was from roll up window in front and hanging lights.  While the tables looked comfortable enough, and it was a sunny day out and the patio would have been nice, I decided to be more social and sat at the bar.

The brunch menu did look small, but really good.  The thing that caught my eye was the Brunch Poutine.  In addition to the standard (required) French Fries and Cheese Curds, it had Lamb Merguez Sausage Gravy, Pickled Peppers, 2 Fried Eggs, and an Aurum Defender Biere De Garde on the side.  Poutine is both good bar food and comfort food and this was a good poutine.  It hit the right notes of being salty, savory, and cheesy, adding spicy, and putting an egg on top.  The Aurum Defender on the side was very good and also a very good brewery introduction.  It was rich, malty, and boozy with an 9% ABV.  It almost reminded me of a Belgian Dubbel.

As I was at a brewery that doesn't distribute and makes a wide variety of beers, I thought it would be a shame not to have a flight, though after starting with the Aurum Defender, and knowing that I would be continuing to another brewery, I decided to try to stay on the lighter side of things.  A flight consisted of 5 - 5 oz pours.  I went with Ghostly Liso Mexican Lager (4.5% ABV), Sys Crisp Hoppy Red Rye Pilsner (5.0% ABV), Unison Toasted Rye Pilsner (5.4% ABV), Shad the Calmer APA (5.5% ABV), and Java Waves Coffee Blonde Ale (5.8% ABV).  They were all very good, though standouts were the Ghostly Liso, which was a good, drink anytime beer, and Shad the Calmer, which was nice and hoppy, but not incredibly sharp.  I wanted to like Java Waves more, but the coffee flavor wasn't strong enough.  Alulu is a good friendly place with good food and beer.  I will have to return to try more of the same.      

City Mouse - Brunch

I mentioned that I liked the restaurant, Giant, so I was both excited and a little nervous when I heard that Executive Chef, Jason Vincent and his team were working with boutique hotel, Ace Hotel, to open their new place, City Mouse.  I was relieved and excited to hear that he had hired Chef Pat Sheerin, formerly of the late, lamented Trenchermen, as the Executive Chef.  Located in the West Loop Restaurant District across from the Google Building, entry is through the hotel lobby.  It is a large and very open space with a modern look, glass walls, and, like Giant, also named after a character in a children's book.  Giant is named after a character in the poem, Me and My Giant in Shel Siverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends and City Mouse is named after the City Mouse in the story, The City Mouse and the Country Mouse.  They have a great covered patio which is very popular in the summertime, so while it would have been nice to sit outside, it would have been a significant wait.  We had a good table at one edge of the room where everything could be seen easily.  City Mouse offers Brunch every day with a good selection of breakfast and lunch selections and a pretty good beer and cocktail list.  I started out with a cocktail called a Gap Toothed Fizz, which had Gin, Mezcal, Cloosterbitter (a dutch bitter using distilled liquor, similar to Chartreuse or Genever), Lemon, Egg White, and Matcha.  As it was a fizz and used egg white, it had a nice foamy top sprinkled with ground Matcha Tea Leaves.  It was very herbal and botanical, with a little smoke from the mezcal, and a tart finish.  The foam made it a little different from cocktails I generally order, but the flavors fit very well and I did like it.

To start things off as far as food was concerned, I ordered something sweet for the table, a Pretzel Cinnamon Roll, something that was similar to a pastry that I really liked at Trenchermen.  It also had Chocolate Chips and was covered with Butterscotch.  It had a crusty exterior with salt, like a soft pretzel, with chocolate chips and the very sweet and sticky butterscotch.  It was very good, though admittedly, I preferred the Trenchermen version better.

My main course was mostly savory, though it also had some sweetness to it.  It was called a Gas Station Sandwich and the only thing that I can think of that might explain the name is that it contained a bunch of stuff that you might be able to find at a gas station truck stop during a road trip.  it had Sausage, Egg, Hash Browns, Cheese, and Grape Jelly on an English Muffin.  It was a standard breakfast sandwich (sausage, egg, and cheese, on an English muffin) with hash browns and grape jelly.  It was very good.  Hash Browns are frequently ordered with breakfast sandwiches and the flavor goes together well.  I don't normally eat potatoes on my sandwiches, but it isn't unlike the French Fries on the sandwiches at Primanti Brothers in Pittsburgh or fries on burgers in Canada or France.  They go together well and it works.  Grape jelly is also a common morning staple and does go well with English muffins, but it was a little unusual to think of eating it with everything else.  It did work though, and added some sweetness to the sandwich.  The sandwich also came with a fruit cup with what the menu called Michigan Fruits.  In the bowl were Blackberries, Blueberries, which I liked, and Honeydew, which was okay, but it also had way too much Canteloupe, which I can do completely without.  I would have been happy with everything else if they had left out the canteloupe.

Brunch was very good and a lot of fun.  The food was good, the service was very friendly, and the space was nice.  I will definitely have to return at a future date to try the rest of their menu.         

Hungryasfck Pop Up Brunch at Kimski

This has taken a while to get up, but I really liked it, so I thought it was worth writing about.  I had been interested in Kimski since it opened.  Attached to and actually a part of Maria's Packaged Goods and Community Bar, it is a counter service place with a Korean/Polish Menu that draws on the ancestry of the owners, the Marszewski family.  It started out with a neighborhood bar in Bridgeport.  When the kids took over from their mother, Marz Community Brewing, a very creative small batch brewery was started with Maria's used as it's taproom.  While Maria's had a great beer selection (and also worked as a bottle shop) they had no kitchen so it was BYOF (Bring Your Own Food).  They decided to open Kimski, both as a kitchen for Maria's and as an entity of its own.  The two places are connected in the back, but they also operate separately.  Maria's as a great neighborhood bar and bottle shop, and Kimski as a small counter service place that serves Korean/Polish Cuisine.  From the outside, the two places look very different and it would be hard to guess that they were connected or related to one another.  Maria's has a very classic Chicago Bungalow appearance with Kimski being very modern and angular with a nice open patio in the front.  Entering Kimski, it looks a lot smaller than it actually is.  There is a small lobby with paper menus on the counter and a menu on the wall.  There is probably seating for about 8 people in this area.  The kitchen window is to the side of the counter so the counter people can pick up and deliver food to customer's tables.  To get to the actual dining area, you have to walk around the counter and through a door behind the counter.  The main dining room is much larger and has a nice bar with a very good tap list with Marz as well as many other local breweries featured.  The room is wood, with the main color being black.  The back wall is made up of several glass sliding doors over looking the enclosed back patio (also wood, although this left light colored) which used picnic tables for seating.  I really liked the look of the place and the tap list and will definitely have to return sometime.

The food and drink looked very good, but I was actually there for a Pop Up by the Hungryasfck Team who were doing a Hawaiian themed Ono Brunch (Ono is Hawaiaan for delicious).  I had never heard of Hungryasfck, but saw that they were formerly from Parachute, which I really like, so I had to try their stuff out.  I had never been before to Kimski (or Maria's) and was surprised by how small it apparently was.  After I ordered, I was guided behind the counter and through the door and was relieved to see that it was much bigger than it had seemed.  I sat on the back patio and enjoyed the sunny day.  I started things off with a coffee drink from local roaster Passionhouse, a Wasabi Bloody Mary, and donuts because no proper brunch starts without donuts.  The Coffee drink was called Ice, Ice, Baby and in addition to the Passionhouse Cold Brewed Iced Coffee contained Macadamia Nut Milk, and Coffee Bean Honey.  I like iced coffee and the macadamia nut milk and the coffee bean honey added to it.  It had a bittersweet, nutty flavor with flavors of dark fruits.  The Wasabi Bloody Mary did have a slight bite, but in my opinion, it was light on the Wasabi.  It had a Celery Stalk and a small Maki Roll garnishing it. The celery did contribute to the flavor, but the maki sat above the liquid, so it only contributed as a pairing.  The donuts were actually Donut Holes, but I'm not complaining about that.  They were Yeast Donuts topped with Powdered Sugar, and Chocolate Syrup and were very light, if a little messy.  It was like eating Chocolate-Covered clouds.

Next on the menu was the Spam Musubi which was served with a spicy dipping sauce.  Spam is very popular in Hawaii and Spam Musubi is apparently sold all over the place.  While I generally don't consider it haute cuisine, I also don't consider it vile.  Since this was a Hawaiian themed brunch, I figured that this was a must try.  Spam Musubi is Grilled Spam wrapped in Sushi Rice and then wrapped with Nori.  It's like spam maki, although a little larger.  I cannot say that I thought it tasted fantastic, but it wasn't bad.  It was better, though with the spicy dipping sauce.

 I finished things off with what they called a Pork Bowl.  To me, it was like an Asian version of Hash, replacing Potatoes with Fried Rice.  It started with Pulled Pork, and added Pineapple and a Fried Egg over the Fried Rice and Spices and served on top of a Banana Leaf.  The Pulled Pork was very tender and the Pineapple added a tropical flavor to it.  The fried rice added a great texture. 

I really enjoyed my brunch at Kimski.  Hungyasfck put together a great menu and Kimski is a great space.  I will have to watch for more pop ups and I will have to return to Kimski so I can try their actual menu.