Marisol - Brunch

 

There is a restaurant in Logan Square, Lula Cafe, that has been enormously influential in the Farm-to-Table movement, and has produced a significant number of good chefs that have moved on and opened other cool and important restaurants.  Through all of this, Chef Jason Hamel has been the owner/chef/restauranteur at Lula Cafe.  While his proteges have expanded his influence, he has remained at Lula Cafe.  He opened another notable restaurant for one of his notable former chefs, Jason Hamel, about 10 years ago, the late lamented Nightwood, and has now opened a new place in coordination with the Museum of Contemporary Art, Marisol.  While you do have to enter the museum building to enter the restaurant, it is independent of the restaurant and can be entered from the ground level theater entrance.  There is a sign on the building for Marisol, but entering on the ground level puts you in an entry hall for the theater.  There is a coat check and a ticket booth near the entrance, Marisol is located toward the rear of the hall on the left side.  There is a coffee bar, running parallel to the length of the hall, that acts as a divider between the hall and the restaurant.  There are a few tables and benches for waiting for a table or for simply enjoying a coffee.  The coffee bar also serves a variety of fresh pastries.  Entering the restaurant, it is fairly narrow with a bar opposite the coffee bar in the front and a few marble communal tables in the middle of the room.  There are also two and four tops on the sides of the room.  There is a very colorful and abstract mural on one side of the room and a mirror on the wall opposite the mural.  We sat at one of the communal tables near the mirror, which had a design etched into it.  The design looked cool, but it was tough to see the overarching design.

When we were seated, I started things off with a cocktail.  I don't remember what it was called, but it had Cocchi Americano, Vermouth, Lime, and Soda.  Served on ice, it was more clear than most cocktails that I typically drink.  It was lightly sparkling from the soda and otherwise had a tart and slightly bitter flavor.  While it wasn't something that I might drink regularly, it was pretty good and I might order it again if I new what it was called.

There was a small selection of pastries offered, with my habit of ordering something sweet and savory for brunch, I ordered a Doughnut for the table.  It was a Cardamom and Ginger Doughnut with Candied Walnuts.  The doughnut was a fry cake style and had a nice icing that seemed to have ginger in it that went well with the ginger and cardamom.  The doughnut was sweet and lightly spicy and the cardamom went well with the candied walnuts.

My main course was labeled a Grilled Ham and Comte with Garlic Aioli, Date Honey and Petite Greens.  While that title is technically correct, it would be more commonly known as a Croque Monsieur with a side salad.  The bread was nicely crisp and the cheese (Comte) was melted just the right amount.  The greens were very fresh and crispand added a crisp and bitter counterpoint to the sweetness of the sandwich.

Brunch was good and fun and the space was beautiful.  It's a nice place for a timeout at the museum, but it is also good enough that it can easily stand on it's own.  I will definitely return whether during a museum visit or even for a visit just on it's own.