Revolution Brewpub

As most of my friends would say, I love going to brewpubs as well as any number of restaurants.  I like going to breweries to try the beers that they make.  If they also serve food, all the better.  Revolution Brewing, one of the veterans of the Chicago craft brewery scene (opened in 2010), has been a favorite for years.  I realized recently though that while I have been here many times, I had never had a regular meal.  I have gone to a few popups and special dinners at Revolution's Brewpub, but those generally do not reflect the menu.  There beer reputation is well established and I had read many good things about their pub menu (which puts a seasonal focus on relatively standard bar food), so I decided to actually try it out myself.  Located in a very hot section of Logan Square, it is located in a vintage building with some very nice lines.  For the first few years of its existence, it had pillars in front of the entrance that were topped with fists.  The fists are a big part of the visual imagery for the brewery and are still on cans and coasters, but I was a little disappointed when they removed them from the building.  Entering the building, there is a large bar in the center with seating on 3 sides.  There are booths on the walls as well as some table seating on the main floor and an elevated seating area to one side.  The kitchen is open and in the back of the dining room with a window next to it that shows the brewery.  The brewpub is very popular and there is frequently a wait for seating.  A stairway leads upstairs where there is a second bar as well as overflow seating or a space for private dining.  I sat at the bar on the main floor and started with the beer list.  The beer list at the brewpub features the brewery's flagship beers, as well as what they happen to brew there.  They also have a commercial brewery close by with a taproom that actually has a longer beer list, but does not serve food.  As I was at a brewery with a long list, I obviously had to go with a flight.  For my flight, I went with a variety of styles, none of which was a standard bearer that I  had had many times.  I started with Freedom of Speach Peach Sour, Sun Crusher Hoppy Wheat Ale, A Little Crazy Belgo-American Pale Ale, and Rise Hoppy American Stout (which won gold at the World Beer Cup in 2012).  All were very different and with the variation of hops used, even the hoppy ones had different flavors.  The Freedom of Speach was not exceptionally sour and the sour went well with the peach flavor.  Sun Crusher is a good and light summer beer even with the hop flavor.  A Little Crazy had the body of a Belgian Single with the flavor of a pilsener.  And Rise is a very good and hoppy stout with flavors of chocolate and coffee.  They were all good, but I think I liked Sun Crusher best.

Between the beer and the bar food that I would be eating, I thought I should at least try to have something a little healthy, so I started out with some Brussels Sprouts.  I will grant that they were Pan-fried, but at least I tried a little.  The Brussels Sprouts came with Roasted Cauliflower, Butternut Squash, Maple-Chipotle Sauce, and Toasted Pepitas.  This was really good.  The Brussels Sprouts and Squash were crispy, and the Maple-Chipotle sauce added a sweet and spicy flavor.  The toasted pepitas added a finishing crunch.  While it wasn't necessarily the most healthy way to eat brussels sprouts, they were good and at least better than the bacon fat popcorn that was also on the menu.

The healthiness went out the window for my main course.  I had a burger.  This burger, the Galaxy Burger was topped with Chipotle Cheddar, Pimento Cheese, Pickled Pineapple, Cucumber, Red Onions, and Bottom Up Wit Aioli.  As with most places, my burger was served with a large serving of fries.  Galaxy hops have a flavor profile with a lot of fruit, and Bottom Up Wit, has a lot of fruit flavor as well.  I imagine that the fruit was used to pair with the aioli.  It was all very good and filling.

 

When I go out, I order dessert, so I looked at the dessert menu and saw a S'Mores Pie.  Local pie masters, Bang Bang Pie and Biscuits, have a S'Mores Pie on their menu and their main shop is located very close to Revolution's brewpub, so I thought that the pie came from Bang Bang.  I have no issue with a bar outsourcing their dessert if it brings in something  this good.  When I found that Revolution made their own S'More's Pie, I had to order it to compare, if for nothing else.  The pie was very good, but I could tell immediately that it was not a Bang Bang pie.  The flavor was very good.  The chocolate was rich, the Marshmallow Cream Topping had a nice brulee to it, but the crust was a little tough.  While it wasn't perfect, it was still very good and a nice ending to my dinner here.  I will undoubtedly return, I know know that the food is of a high standard to match with their beers.

The Loyalist - Restaurant Week

Last year a combination Gastropub/Fine Dining Restaurant opened last year in the West Loop.  Headed by Husband and Wife Team, John and Karen Urie Shields, who met while working at Charlie Trotter's, Smyth and The Loyalist got a lot of buzz after opening.  Smyth, the fine dining half, is located upstairs, and The Loyalist is located in the basement.  Although they are both very different experiences, I was very interested in visiting both, Smyth because it's a fine dining restaurant which is like experiencing art, and The Loyalist, which looked to have some very good bar food.  In fact, The Loyalist was noted by Bon Appetit to have one of the best Cheeseburgers in the country this year.  Unfortunately, both restaurant and bar operate using Tock, an electronic reservation system that frequently makes it difficult to book odd numbered parties.  I understand the logic, an odd numbered party leaves an open seat which can't be booked and makes it that much harder to make a profit, but it does make it difficult for those people that like dining solo.  Luckily, The Loyalist decided to participate in Restaurant Week this year and I have an easier time finding someone to dine with during this festival of food, so it was a given that I would go.  The building in which Smyth & The Loyalist are located is kind of a non-descript office building.  Entering the building, you encounter a landing with stairs leading downstairs for The Loyalist and Upstairs for Smyth.  Going downstairs we enteres a space that was like a partially finished basement.  The floor was cement, the walls were black, and the lights were hanging.  The furniture was wood and steel and had a bit of a Colonial bent to it.  We were seated and we began perusing the menu.  The restaurant week menu was small, but it did select items from the regular menu.  The cocktail menu was pretty extensive and adventurous so it took some time to decide what I might be interested in.  I decided to start things off with Buddha's Little Finger, a cocktail with Genever (a Juniper flavored liquor that is the national liquor of The Netherlands and a predecessor to London Dry Gin), Italicus (an Italian liqueur using bergamot and with a citrus and floral flavor), Buddha's Hand (a hand shaped citrus fruit that is all rind and no fruit and is used in cocktails for it's citrus flavor), Lemon, and Egg White.  It had a nice creamy head, a citrus and floral flavor, and was a nice start to a relaxing evening.

For the Restaurant Week menu, there were two choices each for entree and dessert with a salad served for the first course.  We decided to order one of everything and add an additional salad off of the regular menu, so we could each experience as much of the menu as possible.  The Salad that came as part of the Restaurant Week menu was a Bibb Salad served Family Style.  It started with Bibb Lettuce leaves with Watermelon Radish, Walnuts, Dill, Green Goddess Dressing, and Fromage Blanc.  The vegetables were very crisp and fresh and the lettuce was served as whole leaves.  It was very good and flavorful, but I had a little trouble with the lettuce, because it became stuck in my head at a young age that you don't cut lettuce.  I realize as an adult, that while you might not want to cut the lettuce before service (to prevent bruising), the diner would be perfectly within his rights to cut the lettuce.  While the Bibb Salad was good, I liked our additional salad better.  It was a Beet and Endive Salad with Smoked Salmon, and Caramelized Mandarins.  It had a variety of flavors and textures and it was easier for me to eat.  The beets were bittersweet and cubed, and the salmon was served between the beets and endive leaves which were served on top.  While I knew that it was there, it was hidden under the endives, and it was a surprise to find and taste it.

 

 

For our entrees we were very happy to see the Cheeseburger on the menu.  If it had not been, we would have had to have ordered it off the regular menu.  Leaving without trying it was not an option.  The burger on the Cheeseburger was a mixture of Short Rib, Chuck, and Ground Bacon.  It was griddle fried (which results in crispy edges) and presented on a Sesame Seed Bun with American Cheese, House Made Pickles, and Onions prepared three ways:  Charred, Pickled, and Raw.  It was presented with a Jus and Onion Infused Mayo on the side as well as some perfect fries that tasted like they were double fried.  It lives up to the hype and is one of the best burgers that I have ever had.  Our other course was Fusilli with Short Rib and Tripe Bolognese, Goat Cheese, and Parsley.  The pasta was simple and had a nice flavor, and was presented perfectly Al Dente.  It was good, but it really couldn't compete with the cheeseburger.

Dessert was another winner.  We were presented with a couple of Macaroons with a Chocolate Mousse Brulee on top.  There were two served, so there was no worry of dividing them.  They were crispy and sweet with a nice smooth and creamy mousse topping that had been touched by fire crisping the outside and making it a little sweeter.  While these were good, I liked our other dessert better even though it was a little tricky to divide.  It was a large and very delicate cream puff with Hazelnut Praline topping, lots of Whipped Cream filling, and Toasted Hickory Nuts.  It was sweet, delicate, nutty, but also very much a mess.  I think that I did consider eating it with my hands, if I had, I would have ended up wearing as much as I ate.  Both desserts were very good and made for a perfect ending.  I decided to pair them with another cocktail.  The Lonesome Dove, a Gin Cocktail with Gentian, Lavender, Lemongrass, Lime Bitters, and garnished with a sprig of Sage.  It was tart and floral and was a contrast to the sweet desserts.  Everything was very good and I would be happy to return either here or to go upstairs to Smyth, for some fine dining.

Small Cheval

While I typically go for a full meal when I go out (appetizer, entree, dessert), when I go out for a burger, I am almost always just going out for a burger.  There was no question about this when I went to Small Cheval.  Located in the former Roxie's By the Slice space and owned by the same group, there were no gross changes in the space between concepts.  It did change the seating layout, putting a counter along the outside walls with bar stool seating and adding a communal table in the center, also with bar stool seating.  Ordering is done at a counter at one corner of the dining room and a paging device is given to you which buzzes when your order is ready.  Small Cheval has, if not the simplest, then one of the simplest menus around.  It consists of two items, a hamburger and a cheeseburger (American Cheese).  The one side is Golden Fries.  The burgers come with Lettuce, Tomato, Grilled Onions, and Dijonnaise.  Bacon can be added for an additional charge.  The burger is based on the very popular burger served at Au Cheval.  There are slight difference between the two, but they are essentially the same.  For drinks, they have an 8 head tap serving beers ranging from the very cheap (Miller High Life and Schlitz) to selections from local breweries like Half Acre and Local Option, to some national craft brews like Ommegang and Founders.  They also serve a small number of cocktails and sell shots.  For my burger, I went with the Cheeseburger with Bacon with a side of Golden Fries and a Half Acre beer.  The Au Cheval burger has been listed as one of the best burgers in America.  The original restaurant, Au Cheval, will frequently have waits of several hours for their burgers and Small Cheval will have a line during hot times.  I will say that while they make a good burger, it isn't worth a several hour wait.  I would argue that a lot of the line is caused by hype.  While I would certainly have and enjoy their burger again, I wouldn't wait several hours for it and would quickly go elsewhere if that was the case.