Elske

 

While I do like to go to restaurants with Tasting Menus, it isn't my normal dining choice and the fact that dining at two tasting menu restaurants came so close together was highly unusual.  I had planned a couple of months in advance to go to Elske.  Claudia, the previous restaurant/pop-up that I had gone to with a tasting menu came very quickly and was a quick decision.  Elske has been open for about a year and I have been very interested in it since I heard about it.  Run by husband and wife team, David and Anna Posey, formerly from the One Off Hospitality Group (Blackbird, The Publican, Nico Osteria, etc.), the restaurant is listed as New American, and while many of the ingredients are Midwestern, the recipes used have a decidedly Danish spin (the name is Danish for love).  The place has received a lot of buzz, garnering Best New Restaurant lauds from both Bon Appetit, and Eater, and a Michelin Star in it's first year.  The outside of the building is light colored with large windows, but is otherwise pretty non-descript other than the script neon sign that says "elske" in the corner of one window.  The entrance is hidden.  There is a tall wooden fence next to the building with a large gate door that opens into a very quaint courtyard with crushed stone, lawn furniture with furs laying on them, and a fireplace (which I neglected to photograph).  The entrance to the restaurant is in the back corner of the courtyard.  The only reason that I knew this was because I had been to this building in it's previous restaurant incarnation, though the fence was not there to shield the courtyard.  The inside of the restaurant is simple with both a feel for both retro and Euro simplicity.  We were seated at a table in the center of the room where there was a good view of the dining area, but also of the open kitchen and of the small bar area.  While the restaurant serves both a tasting menu and a la carte, we came interested in the tasting menu, though looking at the menu, there were also some very good things on the a la carte menu.  Both were presented in a very nice menu that looked like a greeting card with a nice and simple hand drawn design of herbs, flowers and mushrooms.This was appropriate because a menu is just that, a greeting card into a chef's establishment, and the design gave us a hint of what was to come.  While we discussed what the plan of attack might be, I ordered a cocktail.  Called a GinTonic, as might be gathered from the name, it was a spin on the standard Gin and Tonic.  This was made with 4 different gins, City of London Dry, Old Raj, Tanquerey, and Citadelle, Elske's Housemade Tonic Syrup, and a Dried Lime.  It was served in a tall glass with a cylindrical ice cube, a mint leaf garnish, and a paper straw.  A good gin and tonic is smooth, sparkling, and sweet, with a generous amount of herbal flavor.  This was that with the complexity that came from the herbal mixtures from the different gins.  It was a nice and refreshing start before we actually ate anything.

Talking to the waiter we found, like many places, if one person was to have the tasting menu, we all would.  We also found that we could augment the tasting menu with dishes from the a la carte menu which we decided to do.  We would be getting an additional course that our waiter helped us to decide when in the progression that it would arrive.  Our first course looked both simple and complex and was very pretty.  Called a Tea of Lightly Smoked Fruits and Vegetables with Radish and Caviar Toast and it served as sort of a prelude to the meal. It was a simple cup with a tea with a lightly smoked flavor and a thin slice of buttered toast with julienned radishes and bites of caviar.  The toast was light and crisp and with the radishes and caviar tasted very fresh and had a nice saltiness to it.

The next course was Sprouted Lentil Crepes with Smoked Whitefish Salad and Tarragon.  It actually arrived while we were working on our first course.  Also meant to be eaten by hand, it was presented folded in wax paper which made it easier to handle.  The crepe was like a thin and delicate pancake, which is how a good crepe is supposed to be, with sprouted lentils used in the batter.  The smoked whitefish salad was both smooth, smoky, and a little salty, which provided some nice flavor.  The tarragon added a nice herbal flavor.  This was a favorite and it was very difficult not to wolf it down and ask for more.

The next course was also hand held and it was beautiful in it's simple presentation.  It was a Duck Liver Tart with Salted Ramps and Buckwheat.  They were presented in simple wedges on a cutting board that sort of reminded me of a backgammon design.  The tart itself was excellent (although not as good as the previous dish).  The duck liver mousse had a nice flavor that was augmented with the green salted ramp topping that provided a light garlic/onion flavor.  The buckwheat crust provided a firm backbone and was slightly sweet that played to the sweetness of the duck liver mousse.

We went back to vegetables for our next course.  The dish was simple in it's presentation, but it looked very nice on the black plate that it was presented on.  While I will try anything that I see on a menu that I haven't tried before, I was really unsure about the combination of this dish in my head.  It was Salsify and Endives with Delice Cream, Burnt Bread, and Black Truffles.  Salsify is a flowering plant (also known as oyster plant) with an edible root used in French and German cooking that is texturally like asparagus, but tastes vaguely of oysters.  Endives are a bitter leafy vegetable of the Chicory family and Delice is a French Cow's Milk triple cream cheese with a very soft and buttery texture.  There were several bitter components in the dish, the Endives, the burnt bread, which was in crumb form and the salsify was rolled in, and the truffles.  I did like this, but I think it was because the Delice moderated the bitter and tied everything together.

The menu was following a fairly standard course progression with opening bites, appetizers, and vegetables, next would be fish, which it was.  We had Roasted Monkfish with Onion Soubise (a Bechamel Sauce with Onions and Rice Puree), Parsnip, and Preserved Meyer Lemon.  Monkfish is an ugly fish with an enormous head and a large mouth with the only thing eaten is the meat around the tail.  It is very tender and has a flavor similar to whitefish.  The white sauce added a nice onion flavor and the preserved meyer lemon was presented as a topping that gave the entire dish some tartness.  It wasn't bad and on it's own might have been considered pretty good, but with the other courses that had been presented so far, this fell in the lower half.

Our next course was a feast in and of itself and it's where our additional dish was added.  The course was mostly about duck, with 3 of the 5 courses on the 4 plates including something about duck in the dish.  The main plate was Aged Duck Breast and Mustard Seed Duck Sausage.  The vegetable plate was a Leek Barigoule (a Provencal dish typically using artichokes but in this case using Leeks, braised with Garlic and Carrots in a seasoned broth of water and wine) topped with Creamed Duck Fat.  A very nice and large Dinner Roll was included, and then our supplemental plate, Confit Hen of the Woods Mushrooms, with Chestnut, Pear Cream, and Thyme.  I like duck, so the aged duck breast was a win.  The mustard seed duck sausage was spicy and very tasty.  The leeks were perfectly cooked and were served at the point where the vegetables were between crisp and soft with the creamed duck fat providing a nice bit of savoriness.  The dinner roll was one of the best rolls that I have ever had and I would have been happy to eat it on its own.  It had a nice crust and the inside was just tear apart soft with a nice flavor.  With the extra course, my dining companions liked it and I liked the mushrooms, which were thinly sliced, but the pear cream included pears and I didn't care for it.  The main course was very good and our supplemental had good elements.  I could see how it was all supposed to work together, I just didn't care for the entire combination together.

As might be guessed, the last course was our last savory course.  Our next course was a very simple and cute palate cleanser, Frozen Fennel Jelly with Mint.  It was a simple bite to be eaten by hand with light mint flavor.  It was like a a mint gummy cube and I really enjoyed it.

Palate cleansers are pre-desserts to bridge the gap between the savory main course and the sweet desserts.  Having said that while our dessert was very good, it wasn't exceptionally sweet.  It was Whipped Whey with Earl Grey Ice Cream, Parsnips, Buckwheat, and Lemon.  The whipped whey was very light and interesting.  It was similar to Whipped Cream, but the texture wasn't quite the same.  The Earl Grey ice cream added an herbal and sweet tartness, which the lemon used to tie to the whey, and the buckwheat added a little crunch.  Overall it was a very good meal with some good friends that was enjoyed by all.  I'm glad that I was able to go and was happy to have friends to share it with.

 

  

Claudia Pop-Up

 

I like to keep track of underground dining in Chicago even if there are a few that I will probably never go to (for whatever reason).  I had first heard about Claudia, an underground pop-up run by Chef Trevor Teich and open only on weekends and doing a fine dining menu, a couple of years ago and while I was very interested, I couldn't bring things together for a night out there.  When I heard that they would be closing and that former Moto Chef Richie Farina would be a guest chef for their last dinners, I said that I had to make this happen.  As it was, I made it to Claudia's last dinner.  I have a special spot in my heart for Moto.  It was the first fine dining restaurant that I went to and they were full on into Molecular Gastronomy, a combination of science and art.  Richie was one of the chefs when I first went, but had risen to Executive Chef by the second time I came.  After he left, he has kind of flown under the radar, so I was interested to see what he would do.  Claudia was located on the second floor of a building in the West Loop, an area that used to be the warehouse district for the local food companies.  The building looked like it had formerly been a warehouse, but had been converted to offices.  Our dining area was small and stark and had two 8 seat picnic tables.  There was a table for the drinks that people brought and two doors, to the room.  The first door was the entrance, but the second led out into a large ballroom area that separated the dining room from the large industrial kitchen.  The diners could wait in the ballroom and socialize with each other and the chefs until dinner was ready to be served.  When dinner was announced, we were told that we could sit wherever we wanted at either picnic table.  I was by myself, so I sat at a corner to give other diners who were dining with other people the ability to dine together.  I sat across from a brother and sister who were both involved in the tech industry and a young man, his female friend, and aunt.  The people that I was around were very interested in technology and science, so the conversations were very interesting.

When we were seated, our first course came out and it looked for all the world like Chicharrones served on a paper towel.  While similar, the "chicharrones" were actually Flash-Fried Beef Tendons.  The texture was similar, very light and crunchy, but the flavor was a little more savory.  The paper towel was also an illusion.  While it looked like a paper towel, it was actually a ceramic plate.  It was very cool and set a great stage for a night of experimentation.

While the Beef Tendons were good, they weren't an official course and were more an Amuse Bouche.  Our first course was about lamb.  It started with Lamb Loin Tartare and accompanied it with Lamb Fat Aioli, Red Carrots, Onion Strings, and as with most tartares, a raw egg.  I like Steak Tartare, this had a more funky and gamy flavor than does beef as might be expected from a dish using a lot of lamb. 

The next course was apparently a classic of Chef Trevor's and was frequently on the menu.  Called Snails in the Woods, it was very much a visual experience.  The plate with the dish was presented first and then water was poured into a vase on the table.  The vase apparently had dry ice because when the water was poured into it, steam poured out to set the atmosphere for the dish.  The dish itself consisted of Tempura Fried Snails, Black Truffle "Dirt", and Herbs.  With the steam (fog), the leafy herbs, and the dirt, the illusion was complete.  The snails were very good.  The tempura crust provided a light crunch to the regular chewy texture of snails.  The herbs and dirt added some nice flavor to the snails.  The dirt tasted of truffles (of course), but it didn't have the overwhelming flavor of some truffle flavored dishes.

Our next course was called Coconut Squid and seemed to be an unusual combination, especially that was what the course almost completely consisted of.  It was a multi-layer course starting on the bottom with Coconut Custard, topped with Squid Ink Marinated Squid.  On top of this was Deep Fried Young Coconut.  This was all seasoned with Togarashi and Nuac Mon Kombu (a Fish Sauce Braised Seaweed).  The dish was a mixture of flavors and textures from soft and chewy to crunchy.  The squid ink marinade did little to the squid other than turn it black.  While all of the individual components were good on their own, if you could get a bite with everything, it was the best, with a wealth of flavors and textures.  I have to think that this was one of Richie's dishes, because I noticed that there is something similar in the Moto Cookbook.

The next course was very pretty and delectable as first presented even in its simplicity.  It started with a couple of Butter Poached Scallops with Cuttlefish, Fennel, and Confited Orange.  To this was added a Red Wine and Scallop Consomme.  The scallops were incredibly tender and flavorful.  The cuttlefish added some texture, the fennel - some flavor, and the confited orange concentrated the orange flavor.  The consomme, was very light, but added flavor to the dish and was all pretty good.

The next course is a classic flavor combination, but the dish was very much an expression of art and science.  It was Beef and Cabbage which you would expect to be simply brown and green which were there, but there were a variety of shades of red and green striped on the plate (from cabbage juice at different pH levels).  The dish consisted of an incredibly tender Red Wine Braised Short Rib and Bacon Braised Cabbage, with the previously mentioned Cabbage Juice, Leek Ash, and Sarsparilla Beef Glaze.  It was rich, tender, savory, and almost as much fun to look at as it was to eat. 

Our last savory course that reminded me somewhat of a Deconstructed Cubano Sandwich.  It was made with a Quick Cured Pork Belly, Pork Loin, Corn Bread, Rye, Carrots, and Mustard.  I will grant that a Cubano has two types of pork, Swiss cheese, Mustard, and Pickles, on Grilled Bread, and this dish replaced cheese with carrots, but the flavors still really reminded me of a Cubano.  It was simple, very flavorful, and very good.

I said that the Pork Belly was our last savory course.  That was sort of true.  Our next course was dessert which was sweet as a dessert should be, but it was also very savory.  It was a Rice Cake with Kombu (seaweed) and Amazake (fermented rice) Ice Cream.  If any dish could be considered a fail, this would be one.  It was mostly ice cream in a flavor I didn't care for.  The rice cake and kombu did provide (savory) flavor, but it added to something that I didn't really care for in the first place.

The first dessert was essentially a palate cleanser, the second dessert was actually fun to eat.  While the menu labeled it Chocolate, it could have just as easily been called Coffee.  It started with Chocolate Gelato, continued with Coffee Espuma (culinary foam, this was thick enough almost to be called a mousse), and Caramel.  It was really good and actually kind of reminded me of a Caramel Macchiato turned into a dessert.

 

Our final dessert was a course in two parts and I have to think that each chef made one part.  Called Embers & Ash, We were first presented with Embers:  Flaxseed Caramels, on individual spoons for each diner, and presented on a burning log.  It was supposed to evoke the image of eating sweets around a campfire.  After Embers come Ash and that is what the course very much looked like, ash.  We were presented a plate of powders consisting of Smoked Creme Anglaise, Dark Chocolate Powder, and Brown Butter.  Before we were allowed to dig in though, Chef Richie came around and dug chunks of Liquid Nitrogen Frozen Chocolate Cake which "smoked" and was meant to look like smoking coal.  When we ate these pieces, because they had been so cold, we would blow a lot of steam out of our noses and mouths.  It was very cool, a lot of fun, tasted good, and was a great ending to a fine dinner.

When dinner was finished, the chefs were in the ballroom to talk, sign menus, and take pictures.  I did all three.  I really enjoyed my dinner, I just I wish I had gone sooner.    

   

Orange on Roscoe - Brunch

 

It has been a long time since I last was at Orange on Roscoe, but I had really liked it so I decided to schedule it for one of my monthly brunches.  Orange has been around for a long time and while there are a couple of Orange Restaurants in the city and there used to be a couple more, I think Orange on Roscoe is the oldest.  It is a small neighborhood brunch place that unsurprisingly focuses on oranges (They have orange coffee) as well as other brunch stuff.  The space is fairly large for a neighborhood restaurant, but it still draws a good crowd on the weekend.  The fact that it doesn't take reservations means that if you want to bring a larger group means that you have to plan to have someone there a little early in order to get your name on the list.  The space is nice with local artists art on the wall, a hardwood floor, tin ceiling, a small bar at the front of the room with an automatic juicer behind it, small booths on the same wall as the bar and tables throughout the rest of the room.  Surprisingly, I was seated pretty quickly before my friends arrived, but because of a misunderstanding, I ended up getting moved when the rest of my party arrived.  It was okay, though because the table was still good and the food was still the same.  I mentioned the Orange Coffee.  It was a given that I would have some when I came as it is something that they are known for and I like good coffee.  I am not sure how it's done, but the coffee definitely has the flavor of oranges without the sweetness.  I drink my coffee black, but I have to imagine with cream, the flavor approaches that of a creamsicle.

Another specialty of the house is their Frushi or Fruit Sushi.  I like fruit and sushi both, so of course I was going to order it.  One order came with one "Maki" Roll and one "Nigiri".  I wanted to share so I ordered two.  The plate presented had the Nigiri with Strawberry and Blueberries on Sushi Rice, the Maki was Lemon and Pineapple in the rice, as well as stripes of Strawberry Jam and slices of Kiwi, Orange, and Grape.  It was good, fresh, and a lot of fun to eat.

There is a rotating Pancake Flight that changes every month.  Also a specialty, it is very popular, and most of our table ordered one.  The Pancake Flight consists of  4 sets of three specialty pancakes with flavors that rotate monthly.  The flavors that were offered this month were the Tea Pancakes, served with Lemon Filling, Whipped Cream, and Honey, Coffee Pancakes with Coffee Cream Reduction, Whipped Cream, and Powdered Cocoa, Hot Cocoa Pancakes with Chocolate Pancakes, with Marshmallow Whipped Cream, and Chocolate Ganache, and the Vitamin C Boost Pancakes with Lemon butter, Fresh Strawberry Slices, and Orange Segments.  All were sweet, flavorful, and very creative, doing a good job referencing the drinks for which they were named.  While they were all good, I think that I liked the Coffee Pancakes best.

I really enjoy Orange and even with the other great restaurants that have opened, has continued doing their thing.  I wish them many more successful years and hope to get back sooner than was the last time I came.  
     

Naha

 

This post is a requiem of sorts as the restaurant is closed (for now) and you will no longer be able to go to this incarnation.  The restaurant will be moving from the location that it has occupied for the last 18 years, a place that has had two restaurants in the last 40 years, and while the chef and manager, who are cousins, will remain, the question remains as to whether they will repeat their concept in a new space.  I first went to Naha years ago and loved it.  The chef, Carrie Nahabedian, is a celebrity in the Chicago area for promoting cooking that is fresh, seasonal, and local.  She is on the board of directors of Chicago Green City Market, Chicago's only organic farmer's market, and the food that she serves in her restaurant is market fresh (While Naha is closed she and her cousin, Michael Nahabedian, who is the manager, also own and run French Restaurant, Brindille).  She is also a member of Chicago Chef's Hall of Fame (2009 Inductee).  The restaurant space itself is simple and open with a light green color scheme.  The dining room is divided from the entrance hall by a wall running back into the space.  The bar sits at the space at the back of the restaurant where the entry hall opens into the dining room and the kitchen (closed) is behind that.  The dining room is very open with a long banquette running along the wall that divides the entrance from the dining room, a short banquette with a half-wall divides the room to walking, but despite the division, the space from the window at the front to the bar in the back all feels like one room.  I was seated at the banquette at the front of the room which was nice because I could see the entire dining room.  It is one of the few dining rooms that I have seen that is carpeted.  When I was there (early), the room was also fairly quiet so I could here the chef giving instructions in the kitchen to the staff for a party coming later in the evening.  I could later hear and understand conversations that I overheard from fellow diners in the dining room.  If the restaurant were to have remained here, I would have wanted to keep this in mind if I had ever returned with someone.  As I was there by myself, there was no reason not to start.  Naha has a pretty extensive wine list and a curated beer and cocktail list.  I started things with a classic cocktail that is essentially a Scotch Buck (Mule).  Called Penicillin, it contained Te Bheag Scotch, Ginger Syrup, Ginger Beer, and Lemon to finish things off.  Bucks or Mules are very popular because they combine sweet and spicy with a little tart at the finish.  With the Scotch, it adds a little peatiness, though not a lot of smoke.  It was very smooth and very good as anything coming from these guys, I would expect, would be.

I ordered my appetizer and entree after my drink arrived and was presented with a bead plate with some housemade butter.  The bread was dense and flavorful and the butter was smooth and sweet.  We were served, French, Sourdough, and Raisin Breads and though the textures were all similar, the flavors were different.  While they were all good, of the three, I think that I preferred the sourdough best and I should have saved a little for what came next.

My first course was a little exotic and very good.  It was essentially a very flavorful soup containing Manila Clams, Twisted Noodles, Cremini Mushrooms, Prosciutto Broth (which the sour dough bread would have gone exceptionally well with for dipping), Sweet Garlic, Lemon, and Parsley.  I am generally not a huge fan of soups that are mostly broth, because in many cases, the broth is extremely bland.  There was a lot of stuff to chew on in this soup, but the broth itself was so rich and flavorful, even if it had been light on stuff, I would have happily consumed bowls of it.  As it was, the clams, mushrooms, and noodles, contributed to a very rich and flavorful soup.

While the techniques and flavors at Naha would be familiar to those familiar with fine dining restaurants, Chef Carrie Nahabedian also used the techniques and flavors to reference her Armenian heritage.  This would mean an emphasis on lamb and goat and using whole animal cooking.  This is more common now in area restaurants, but when it started 18 years ago, it was very different.  My entree was an example of referencing her Armenian roots using fine dining techniques.  It was a Braised Lamb Shank Off The Bone, served with Lamb Sweetbreads, Hakurei Turnips Glazed with Rosemary and Meyer Lemon, Carrot Puree, and Navarin Jus.  If not done carefully, the textures and tastes of these ingredients can be off putting.  Lamb can have a very gamy flavor, Sweetbreads can be off putting by their very nature, and while turnips have a nice crunchy texture, the flavor can be a little funky.  As it was, the worst aspects of the flavors (to an American palate) were toned down to to create a rich and flavorful dish with tender lamb and fresh and crunchy turnips that had their flavor enhanced with rosemary and meyer lemon, and a flavorful carrot puree.  It was very good and I enjoyed it immensely.

Dessert is always fun because many pastry chefs seem to like expressing their artistic side.  While what I ordered is a classic of Mediterranean dessert cooking, Olive Oil Cake.  It is generally presented similar to a pound cake and is something you might eat with coffee or tea, but what I was served was a work of modern art.  The Olive Oil Cake was served with dollops of Meyer Lemon Custard, Hazelnut Ice Cream, and Mountain Hazelnuts, Honey, Soft Meringue (inside), and a thin stick of White Chocolate.  All of the flavors were very good and it was fun to try everything individually and in combinations.  The best combinations were the olive oil cake with the hazelnut ice cream and with the huckleberries, meyer lemon, meringue and white chocolate.  It was very good, it was a lot of fun, and it was a nice finish to restaurant I haven't gone to often, but have fond memories.

As I was finishing things off, as is the case with many fine dining restaurants, I was presented with a small plate of Mignonettes.  Both were different, one contained chocolate and pistachios, the other contained caramel (and I'm not sure what else) and they were both very good.  I have enjoyed my dinners here and I hope that when they return, it will be with a restaurant at the same level.