New Years Eve at Harp and Fiddle

I generally don't make plans for New Years Eve.  That doesn't mean that I don't do anything, it just generally means that I have a quiet night with friends with good food and drink.  I had no plans for this last New Years Eve, but a friend noted that an Irish Pub in a suburb close to where they live was doing a five course dinner for a good price.  It sounded like a good deal and I would be hanging with my friends, so I decided to go.  I had been to The Harp and Fiddle, in Park Ridge, before and knew that they had a pretty good craft beer list and did some pretty good bar food. I arrived on New Years Eve and saw (and heard) that there were live musicians playing, but we were sitting on the other side of the dining room, so we could actually hear each other speaking.  Looking at their multi-page list, I was looking for something unusual and there were a few beers that certainly fit the bill.  I started with Untitled Art Barrel Culture Dragonfruit Sour IPA.  With the exotic fruit and the fact that it was purported as both a Sour and an IPA, it really interested me.  The risk of trying something unusual that you don't really know much about is that you might not like it.  With the pour, I saw that it had a nice head and an unusually red color.  It had a nice tart and citrusy aroma and flavor, but the finish that some have called floral, I found soapy and didn't care for it.  I was able to drink it, but I don't know that I would ever order it again.  The fact that I disliked it was totally on me, and while I didn't care for it, I'm glad I tried it out.

While I was sipping my beer, our first course came out.  It was an incredibly creamy Wild Mushroom Bisque, topped with  Black Truffle and Arugula Coulis.  It had a great mushroom flavor with a creamy texture and a sprinkling of truffle oil on top.  The Coulis added the funky and savory truffle flavor on top of the savory mushroom flavor, as well as the bitter pepperiness of arugula.  Several of us would have been happy with another large bowl of this.

Our second course followed the standard course progression map and was a vegetable dish.  It was a salad of sorts with a Shredded Brussels Salad with Shaved Parmesan, Carrots, Baby Heirloom Tomatoes, and Cherrywood Smoked Bacon.  It was crisp and very flavorful, with a very nice Creamy Garlic Dressing and this I enjoyed as well.  With two courses down that were both wins, I was wondering if I should up my preconceived assessment that they did good bar food, but don't expect much more than that.

Our next course was our first entree, Grilled Salmon.  It was served with a Rattatouille made with Sliced and Grilled Zucchini and Summer Squash topped with a Tomato White Wine Broth that really reminded me of Ketchup.  The salmon was tender, flaky, and flavorful without being exceptionally strong.  The vegetables tasted fresh and cooked enough to be tender without getting mushy.

Our second entree, the red meat, could have theoretically been pretty simple.  The chef and company, though, amped things up to good measure.  As presented, it looked like steak and mashed potatoes, the steak cooked medium well, though still juicy.  The steak was actually Filet Mignon, topped with a Mushroom Madeira Gravy, and the potatoes were actually Pureed Parsnips.  The filet was fork tender and very flavorful.  The gravy, which very much tasted like the soup at the beginning of the meal with added Madeira Wine was also very good. 

 

By this time, dessert, I was looking for my second unusual beer, but one that would also go well with dessert.  I went with an Imperial Oak Sinister Minister Quad with Tart Cherries.  For dessert we had a the Chef's Special Bread Pudding that was topped with Syrup, Whipped Cream, and Cinnamon.  The beer was something else.  As it was a Quad, it was pretty big.  It was pretty big and tasted boozy, both from the fact that it was a quad and the barrel aging.  In addition, it had a nice and tart cherry flavor.  It was heavy, but it was also cold out, so it was a fitting beer to be drunk.  The bread pudding was good.  It was soft, sweet, and a fitting end to a fun night.  I really enjoyed myself and my opinion of their food has increased.  I am not saying that I had thought that their food was bad, I thought it was good, but pretty simple.  The food that I had had tonight impressed me and while it is a little far for me to hang out.  I would come for something special.

   

Wherewithall

 

 

 

When I went to Montreal in June, I went to a restaurant, Candide, that was kind of hidden and and an ever changing menu.  When Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark of Parachute announced that they were opening a new restaurant, Wherewithall, which would offer a single Prix Fixe menu that would change every day, I was both very excited and thought of Candide, which it very much reminded me of.  Located a block from Parachute, it's pretty low key with no external sign and only a sign on the window by the door.  Entry is on the bar side, and while you can sit there and there are bites, the vibe is more about the wine and small bites to go with your wine.  In order to have the Prix Fixe Menu, you have to sit in the dining room.  While the menu lists four courses and an optional Cheese course.  I had heard that there would be other surprises.  There was an optional wine pairing, but I wasn't interested in four glasses of wine, so I just picked from the regular wine list.

I started things out with a glass of wine, a 2016 Idlewild Arneis.  It was fresh and fruity with flavors of peaches and pear, and it may have been a wine that I tried at another wine bar in Montreal, Mon Lapin, a wine bar associated with Joe Beef, one of the most famous restaurants in Montreal.

 

 

Shortly after my first Amuse Bouche arrived.  While I did expect to see an Amuse Bouche because, while it isn't on the menu, it is kind of expected in higher end restaurants, especially since the prix fixe was listed as four courses plus surprises.  What I didn't expect was more than one Amuse Bouche.  My first amuse bouche was a Chicken Liver Mousse with Plum Jam and White Turnips (on Bread).  It was beautiful, delicate, and tasted really good.  The Chicken Liver Mousse was spread perfectly over the bread.  The plum jam was liberally spread over the chicken liver mousse and added a sweet and tart fruity flavor.  The white turnips were finely cubed and topped everything, adding an earthy funk.  I would say that it was a nice start, except that I could also say that I wasn't finished.  As I was eating my mousse, my second amuse bouche and then quickly thereafter, my third arrived.  The second was a Cauliflower Fritter served with a Horseradish Dipping Sauce.  It was cooked well done and had a dark brown crust.  It was very good, tasting like a fried cauliflower, but was also very savory.  The Horseradish Sauce was spicy as expected, but it tasted good and went well with the cauliflower, adding another element to it.  The last Amuse Bouche was very simple, Beet Broth.  Considering the color, I have to think that Golden Beets were used.  It was simple, but it was flavorful.

After being a little overwhelmed with the Amuse Bouches (Thinking that Beverly Kim, the Chef, is Korean, I'm wondering if the multiple Amuse Bouches was like this restaurants version of Banchan), my first course arrived.  The courses were named simply, just listing the ingredients.  The first simply named Sweet Potato, Pistachio, and Coriander.  The potato was very soft with the pistachios chopped, fried, and spread over the potato.  There were some soft, flavorful, and orange things on top and a flavorful white sauce on the plate.  I have to think that was where the coriander was.  In any case, it was really good and I especially liked the pistachios.

For my second official course, I was served Scallop, Enoki Mushrooms, and Guanciale (Pork Jowl), in a Mushroom Broth.  There was nothing about this dish that I disliked.  Each element tasted very good separately or combined together.  While it was a little difficult to try a bit of everything together, that was the best way to eat it, though another good combination was the scallop and guanciale.

 

  By the time that I had finished my scallop, I had also finished my first glass of wine, so it was time to choose a second.  As I was going to be proceeeding into a truly savory course, it was going to be a red.  Admittedly, I chose it more for it's name than anything else because I really knew nothing about the wine.  It was a 2017 Folk Machine Film and Camera Valdiguie.  I was told by the server after ordering it that it was a good choice.  Looking it up after dinner, I found that it's from Redwood Valley, California and described as having the brightness of a Gamay with flavors of cranberry and blueberry.  I will say that it was bright, I liked it, and it did have a flavor that went well with red meat.  For my entree, I was served a Beef Striploin with Black Sesame, and some incredibly tender Turnips.  The steak was also incredibly tender and the Black Sesame played well with the savoriness of the steak.

While I was dining, I was looking at the beer and wine list to see what they had that was interesting and I had heard of.  They curate a short list with few big names, but a lot of interesting wines from small producers.  All of their beers seemed to be local as well.  One of the beers was produced by a local brewer that is a favorite of mine, Middle Brow Brewing, but it was a beer I had not heard of, which was a surprise because the guys at Middle Brow frequently commented on how I had tried just about everything they made.  I made a comment to my wine server that I was friends with the guys at Middle Brow and mentioned that I had never heard of the beer that they were serving.  It was called For You and it was a Wild Lager.  I was told that they had only made three kegs and two went to Wherewithall and she quickly asked if I would like to try it.  I was very interested in this beer, so they brought out a sample for me when I had the cheese.  As mentioned, it was labeled a Wild Lager, so it was crisp and light, but it also had a funky tartness to it and I really liked it.  The cheese and accoutrements were also very good.  While I don't remember the names of the cheeses or the produces, I remember that I was served a Raw Cow's Milk Cheese (Upper Left), a Washed Rind Cow and Goat's Milk Cheese from Zingerman's (Upper Right), and a Funky Cow's Milk Cheese.  With the cheese, I was served Toasted Bread and Cranberry Relish.  My favorite cheese was the washed rind which both brought the creaminess of the goat's cheese and some washed rind funkiness.  It went very well with the toast and cranberries.  The hard cheese was good on its own, but also was good with toast and relish, and while the funky cheese was semi-soft and funky, it was flavorful.

After the cheese was another off-menu item, the palate cleanser, Avocado Ice cream with Mole Spices.  On paper, this kind of sounds weird as an ice cream.  In real life, this was the creamiest ice cream that I have ever had.  It was not exceptionally sweet, but it did have a sweetness to it.  The mole spices added some bite, a little bitter chocolate, and some herbal flavor.  This was something else.

 

And then we came to dessert.  I started out with an Oloroso Sherry, which while not exceptionally sweet, seemed like it would go well with those sweet things you might get with dessert.  Deseert itself, from the description, shouldn't have worked as a dessert.  It was described as Sunchokes, Grains, and Creme Fraiche.  I would say that sunchokes kind of have an earthy potato flavor.  Creme Fraiche is similar to thick sour cream, so again not sweet, though it is frequently used in desserts.  Grains can have some sweetness, though I would describe the flavor as closer to nutty or bread-like.  None of this sounded like it should work.  It wasn't exceptionally sweet, but there was a sweetness to it with a variety of textures and flavors.  It was really good, I liked it, and it made for a great finish.

Except that it was not quite the finish.  With the bill was presented a little Mignardise, an Ice Cream Sandwich with Mint Ice Cream.  This final bite was sweet and really made me smile.  It was fresh and sweet with a nice refreshing mint flavor.  It was a great finish to what was one of my favorite meals of last year.  In the end, it still reminded me of Candide in Montreal in that they have a similar style.  I cannot say which is better, because they were both very good and I would be happy to return to either.

Papa Cenar - Brunch

 

 

 

 

I mentioned that while I really liked the restaurant Twain, I was happy to see that when it changed to Papa Cenar, the design at least, remained largely the same.  I decided to go for brunch recently to see how that compared.  I noticed when I went that in addition to the outdoor color change, they had added an oval sign with a twisting and stylized sign holder (2-dimensional) looking similar to a grapevine.  The door was still a big and heavy wood door with a steel handle that looked like a stylized squirrel.  I sat at the bar because it gives me a better chance to ask questions.  I noticed next to me another stylized animal sculpture, this one appearing to be a fox.  As I was there for brunch, coffee was a given, especially since it came from one of the best coffee roasters in the city, Sparrow Coffee.  It was a medium roast that had some chocolate and berry flavors and it was a nice way to get things started.  As it was also brunch, a cocktail was also in order, so I ordered a wine based cocktail called Byrrh, It's Cold Outside with Byrrh Grand Quinquina, Branca Menta, Angostura, and Lambrusco.  Quinaquina is a red wine based apertif that uses Cinchona bark (Quinine).  Branca Menta is a blend of Fernet that also includes Peppermint and Menthol.  The cocktail was interesting, tasting like red wine with mint and tonic.  I will not say that it was my favorite cocktail ever, but it wasn't bad.

For the sweet part of my brunch, I went with a doughnut.  This doughnut, however, was a bit ridiculous.  Called Nick's Doughnut, it was a yeast doughnut with Amaro Montenegro and Mascarpone Glaze, Strawberries, Raspberries, Blueberries, Berry Jam, Mint, and Powdered Sugar.  It was like a fruit salad built on top of a glazed and filled doughnut.  While I would normally eat a doughnut with my hands, this would have been very messy.  It was very much a knife and fork thing but it was really good.

The savory side of my brunch is a classic of Spanish cuisine and while brunch isn't necessary to have it, it does work for brunch.  I had a Spanish Omelette, made with Scrambled Eggs, Potatoes, Red Peppers, and Onions, and served with Fried Potatoes, and Arugula and Fennel Salad, Burrata, and Toast.  The arugula and fennel were very fresh and crisp, with a slight licorice flavor provided from the fennel, The potatoes had a crisp and crunchy exterior and a fluffy interior, the toast was crisp without being exceptionally dry and the Spanish Omelette was served cold as it is supposed to be.  It had a lightly crisp topping, was very flavorful, and I really liked it.

While I was eating, I was talking to my bartender/server about Gin.  He was recommending Letherbee's Autumnal Gin to me, so to finish things off, he made me a mini Last Word.  The Gin included roasted rice which with the roast flavors evoked images of autumn.  It was very nice and made for a nice finish.  I really enjoyed brunch and the Last Word at the end was nice.  I will definitely return when I want to do something a little different in the neighborhood.        

Bad Hunter - Tasting Collective Dinner

 

 

 

While I am not a vegetarian, in recent times, I have been judging restaurants by how creatively they do their vegetables.  Luckily for me, there have been several restaurants that have opened in the past few years that have been vegetable focused, if not strictly vegetarian.  One of the most high profile to have opened recently was Bad Hunter, in the West Loop.  I was very interested in checking them out when they opened, but they had a fire that shut them down for several months.  They reopened recently and while they went back on my list, I was happy to see that Tasting Collective scheduled a dinner there, so I made a point to get a ticket for dinner.  Located in the heart of restaurant row on Randolph in the West Loop, it is not exceptionally flashy.  The building is brick with smaller windows and if it were not for a one color neon sign in one window, the fact that the building holds a restaurant would not be exceptionally obvious.  Looking into the windows, you can see tables and plants, but the space may well be a conference area or cafeteria as it might be a restaurant.  While the exterior is not obvious, the interior is obviously a restaurant with a very relaxed feel.  There are a lot of plants, both hanging and in plant holders, and the space has light colored walls and parquet floors.  The bar, on one wall, is long and runs into the space with round stones cemented together and ground flat to make the bar top.  It looks very cool and with the stone top, I don't imagine that they really have to worry about condensation ruining the bar top.  The rack behind the bar is bookcase like and holds a nice variety of both liquors and plant life.

I found before I came, that I had a friend that was working at Bad Hunter and was working on that night, so I decided to stop in early, say hi and grab a beer.  The beer that I grabbed fit in very well with the feel of the restaurant.  Whiner Brewery is a brewery on the south side located in a former meatpacking facility, their work is very much about sustainability and reusing as much as they can.  They produce a lot of wild ales and are very focused on barrel aging.  The beer that I got, Le Tub, is one of their most popular beers.  It is a Blended Barrel-Aged Wild Saison with a tart and funky flavor.  It has flavors of white grape and lemon and while it is good and I liked it there, I prefer their Le Bleu Tub variant, which includes blueberries.

After saying hi to my friend and finishing my beer, I continued upstairs to The Herbarium, their upstairs event space for dinner.  I started with Mermaid Water, made with Dolin Blanc Vermouth, Gin, Nardini Grappa, and Lime.  This was very refreshing, like a Gimlet, and was nice to enjoy with my meal.

Starting out, we were served a Caseificio Artigiana Burrata, a Burrata (Cream-filled Mozzarella) with King Trumpet Mushrooms and Sott'Olia, a combination of Cured Olives and Lemon Peels.  The Burrata was very creamy, of course, and the mushrooms, olives, and lemon peels added a tart, briny, and savory flavor.  The one thing that I didn't care about this, and it was minor, was that the olives weren't pitted, so you had to watch how you bit into them.

After the cheese came the salad course, and with this we were served Butter Lettuces, Lemon Cream Vinaigrette, Black Radishes, Bleu Cheese, and Cashews.  While it had all of the standards of a salad, it wasn't bad.  All of the ingredients were good quality and it did taste good, but ultimately it was a salad which, in many cases, is not exceptionally exciting.

Our next course, however, kind of blew me away.  We were served Butter Dumplings with Charred Corn, Smoked Peanuts, Corn Cream, and Radishes.  The dumplings were perfectly cooked and the corn and peanuts added a lot of smoky flavor.  The corn cream added a sweet corn and creamy flavor and the radishes added a crisp and lightly spicy finish.  This was probably my favorite dish of the night.

Our next course went the fish and seafood route.  We were served Monkfish Tail with New Potatoes, Saffron Fish Stew, and Asian Pear.  It was good and while I don't like pears, the Asian Pear was edible because it was cooked.  The stew reminded me of a Brazilian Stew that I had and enjoyed several years ago.  The Monkfish Tail was very tender and had a light flavor, though was spiced well.  Absent the stew and pear, though, it would have probably been a bit bland.  Together it made a very nice and flavorful bite.

Our last savory course was kind of a surprise.  While I knew that Bad Hunter was not a vegetarian restaurant and that there was meat on the menu, I figured that for those courses that did include meat, the vegetables would still be the star.  This course, though, Adobo Whole Roasted Chicken with Celery, Caramelized Onions, and Labneh over rice.  The chicken was the star with the vegetables working to elevate the chicken.  The chicken was well cooked, tender and had a nice and spicy crust.  The celery, rice, and labneh (soft cheese made by draining the whey from salted yogurt) tasted good on its own, but did a good job complementing the chicken.

From here we proceeded to dessert.  Dessert was pretty simple, but it did taste good.  It was a Lemon Poppyseed Cake with Boysenberry Jam and Cardamom Whipped Cream.  The cake had a texture of Coffee Cake and the Poppy Seeds added a little spice and crunch.  The boysenberry added some sweet and tart, and the whipped cream was light, fluffy, and sweet, with the citrusy, minty, and herbal hit from the cardamom.  All together, the elements made a perfect bite, with many flavors and textures that played very well together.

Dinner was very good and I really enjoyed it.  The lower dining room is very relaxing and the vegetable focused menu used a lot of styles to keep focus on the vegetables.  They also do a weekend brunch that I am interested in so I will definitely return.