The Kennison - Brunch

 

 

 

The Hotel Lincoln has gone through a recent makeover.   Located across the street from the southern part of Lincoln Park, I ride by it frequently, though I haven't stopped there or the restaurant that is located on the main floor since that restaurant was Perennial Virant.  Paul Virant left that restaurant a couple of years ago to focus on his restaurants in the western suburbs and it closed shortly thereafter.  The Hotel was in the process of it's makeover, so I guess a new restaurant, The Kennison, made sense.  The hotel has taken on a definite kitschy vibe with a Wall of Bad Art behind the Check In Desk, which is itself kind of kitschy, made from old dresser drawers (or at least using old drawer faces to front the desk).  Even if you aren't coming for a stay, the hotel lobby is amusing and is worth a look.  The Kennison is located next door to the lobby and is accessible through a hall or through it's own entrance outside.  The restaurant doesn't follow the look of the hotel and has a clean and classic look with a lot of brickwork and brass and steel trim.  It also has a nice patio, but The Air and Water Show was going on at the time, so it would have been loud.

There were only going to be two of us for brunch, so I decided to sit at the bar.  The chairs were comfortable and the bar was at a good height to eat at, plus I like to watch the bartenders working.  For our cocktails, we started out with a nice and spicy Bloody Mary and Sting Like a Bee, which was also kind of spicy, using Mezcal, Raspberry, and Jalapeno Honey, with a Rosemary garnish.  Both were pretty good, though the Sting Like a Bee was a little sweeter than I normally like.

For our shared dish I ordered something simple, a Croissant.  It was light, fluffy, and flaky and was eventually served with Raspberry Jam and Whipped Butter which they initially forgot to bring out with it.  While the jam and butter were excellent and did improve the croissant, the croissant was good enough on it's own that I would have been happy to eat it as it was.

 

Our entrees, on the surface, seemed like brunch standards, Chilaquiles and Eggs Benedict, but both of them had a significant twist, so they were not your standard Chilaquiles or Eggs Benedict.  At it's most basic, chilaquiles is simply tortilla chips fries in salsa, generally Salsa Verde.  It will frequently have Chorizo, Avocado, and will be topped with Eggs and Queso Fresco.  Chilaquiles does not have beans.  This version fried the tortilla chips in Salsa Roja and used Pulled Pork instead of Chorizo.  It was topped with Queso Fresco and a Fried Egg and it didn't have beans, so it qualified as Chilaquiles, but it was different.  It had a brighter flavor than the standard chilaquiles, though it was good.  Eggs Benedict are frequently served on an English Muffin with Ham, a Poached Egg, and topped with Hollandaise Sauce.  This version was served on Corn Bread with Chow Chow (a pickled vegetable relish).  With the cornbread and the chow chow, and a lighter hollandaise sauce, this was sweeter than I would normally have expected.  It also was served with Home Fries which were nicely crispy and had a nice savory flavor.

The Kennison has a very nice look, the staff is friendly, and the food is interesting and fresh.  While I did enjoy my brunch, they could improve by scaling back on the sweet flavors a little.