Bad Hunter - Brunch

 

While I had gone to Bad Hunter recently for dinner with Tasting Collective (and really enjoyed it), their brunch had been on my list for a while.  I had wanted to go about a year previous, but a fire got in the way.  The fact that I had really liked it for dinner put it near the top of my list and pushed me to make brunch plans.  I generally do not make plans for small parties, but the number that were coming with me doubled in size at the last minute, which did not allow me to make a reservation for the date and time that I had planned, so it was going to have to be a walk in and wait (if it came to that, my party wasn't that big).  While there were no tables available, we were offered one side of the counter in the center of the dining room which had a row of plants in the center, separating us from the other side of the counter.  It was a little awkward for conversation from one side of the counter to the other, there were 5 of us, but the plant life in front of us was nice.  I started things off, as is typical for me for brunch, with Coffee and a Cocktail.  The coffee was a medium roast and nicely flavored.  It definitely helped do the trick.  For my cocktail, I went with something light and refreshing, a Pink Spritz which came with Ramazotti Rosa, Batavia Arrack, and Sparkling Rose.  The Ramazotti is a wine based Amaro made with Hibiscus and Orange Peel and the Batavia Arrack is a Sugar Cane based Liqueur similar to Rum, but made with the addition of Red Rice.  The drink was nicely chilled, lightly bittersweet with floral and citrus flavors, and provided a nice start to a great meal.

 

 

When there is a pastry selection, I will generally order it for the table.  There were three choices and they all sounded good, so I decided to order all of them.  The first selection were Beignets covered in Powdered Sugar and served with two dipping sauces, one Caramel based and one with Orange Rind.  If beignets are made correctly they are very light and airy with a flaky crust under a ton of powdered sugar.  They are great to eat even if a bit messy with the powdered sugar.  These were very good beignets and the dipping sauces just added to them.  The second Pastry was a Cranberry Sage Pop Tart.  Many Pop Tarts are very sweet.  This pop tart, while having some sweetness was not incredibly so.  It also had a lot of filling and the Sage added an herbal complement to the bittersweet cranberry flavor.  The last pastry was the one that I was most interested in.  It was called a Shakshuka Croissant which I had a little bit of a hard time wrapping my head around.  Shakshuka is a dish from the Middle East consisting of Eggs poached in Tomato Sauce and Spices.  It is very savory and I like it a lot.  A Croissant is a flaky layered pastry which I also like.  While I could see eating Croissants with Shakshuka, I couldn't see how Shakshuka could be made into a Croissant.  The answer was moderation.  The egg was cooked on top and the tomatoes were inside the croissant.  It was topped with Basil and Grated Parmesan and was pretty amazing.

The restaurant had hit a home run with the pastries, I was excited to see how my main course would turn out.  I ordered a Chicken Fried Hen of the Woods Mushroom Sandwich with American Cheese, Bread and Butter Pickles, White Barbecue Sauce, and a side of Hot Sauce.  Mushrooms are very savory and are frequently used as a meat substitute.  Chicken Frying the mushrooms, added a crunchy exterior while maintaining the mushrooms juicy.  The Bread and Butter Pickles were sour and crispy.  White Barbecue Sauce is a spicy, mayonnaise based sauce used frequently with chicken, and everything is better with cheese.  American Cheese is simple and goes well with those things that don't need any complexity.  It was a great finish to a great brunch and I would be happy to return if for nothing more than the Shakshuka Croissant.     

Gadabout - Tasting Collective Dinner

Ever since the Tasting Collective came to Chicago, it allows me to try out some newer restaurants that I may not have otherwise thought about and allows me to do so with some like-minded people.  When Gadabout came up, I had heard about it, but knew little.  I knew that it was in Andersonville and it was very new.  I knew that I liked the name, for whatever reason, and looking it up, I saw that they were building a menu around globally-inspired street food. This really sounded good and interesting to me, so I decided that I had to try this out.  From the outside, the space looks large.  It has a large streetfront presence in a space that looks like it may have once been a department or clothing store with large picture windows and a large sign above them.  The entrance is in the center of the space and opens to the large bar, which sits in the center of the space and divides the room.  While the space was open, it felt like it was divided, by the entrance and the bar, into four rooms.  The entire space felt very comfortable with a lot of low tables and lounge furniture.  The table where we sat was large, a six top, though one party didn't make it and my party of three had the table to ourselves.  The floors were stained wood and the walls were brick, with a lot of decorative wall hangings.  With my friends there, it was going to be friendly and comfortable and I was excited to start.

I started things off with a cocktail that seemed pretty complex, but interesting, Purple Flame, which seemed to wander all over the map with it's ingredients.  It started with Fabriquero Sotol (Sotol is a distilled spirit of Mexican and West Texan origin made from a plant called the Desert Spoon or Sotol in Spanish), continued with Rothman and Winter Creme de Violette (from Austria), Ancho Reyes Poblano Liqueur (Mexico), Lingonberry Simple Syrup (Lingonberries are stapes of Swedish cuisine), Lime Juice, Owl and Whale Smoke Bitters, Owl and Whale Hot Bitters, and finished off with an Orchid Garnish.  It was sweet and really complex with vegetal, berry, smoke, and spicy flavors, and a little tartness to finish things off.  Our first course arrived when I was trying to figure out the flavors of my cocktail.  It was a Madai Crudo with Young Coconut, Blood Orange, Serrano Chilies, and Lotus Root.  This also, was very complex, and I like it a lot.  The fish was very tender, the Blood Orange and Serrano contributed sweet and spicy flavors, and the young Coconut added a crunchy texture among all of the tenderness from the fish and fruit.

 

The second course arrived on two plates.  First arrived the Grilled Flatbread.  The bread was simple and while it was to be eaten with the second part of the dish, Smoked Eggplant, it was good on its own, which was good, because when the second part of the dish arrived, we destroyed it.  There was more bread to be eaten, but it was fine, because it was also finished off.  The Smoked Eggplant was served with Golden Raisins, Goat Cheese, and Peppers.  On it's own it reminded me of Baba Ghanouj, which I like, but with the flat bread, it really reminded me of Pizza.  Because our table was a table for six, the restaurant was serving for six.  We first tried to allow for some time for the other party to be late, but when they never arrived, the restaurant told us to finish their food as well, which we happily did.

For our next course, we had another vegetarian dish that was modeled after a very popular Italian meat dish, Vitello Tonatto, Veal with a Tuna Mayo.  This was a Grilled Broccoli Tonnato, with Capers, Gremolata (Chopped herb condiment made with Lemon Zest, Garlic and Parsley), and Lemon Vinaigrette.  The broccoli was crisp and flavorful and went very well with the tuna mayo.  The gremolata and the lemon vinaigrette gave it a nice tart finish.

Our fourth course started our entrees, and while it was a fish course, there was a very significant twist.  It was a Monkfish, a fish that I very much like for it's texture and flavor prepared with the flavors of a Chicago Hot Dog.  In addition to the very good Monkfish, it had a Panzanella Salad (a Tuscan Bread Salad made with Onions, Tomatoes, Cucumber, and Basil), Mustard Vinaigrette, and Celery Salt.  This was also very good with a complex flavor and was enjoyed around the table.

For our final savory dish we had Steak, served Medium Rare.  It was a Denver Steak, a Chuck Steak from the Shoulder, served with Brussels Sprouts, Salsa Negra, and Chipotle Honey.  The salsa and honey gave the tender and flavorful steak layers of heat and sweet.  The Brussels Sprouts added a vegetal flavor.  This was a favorite and because we were getting so much, much of this went home with me (because I had to save room for dessert).

The food thus far was tasty, complex, and interesting.  Our menu listed a cake for dessert, while I will eat cake and enjoy it, I will generally not choose it.  There are a few exceptions to that rule (like the Chocolate Cake at Dos Urban Cantina), but generally I will not choose cake.  Our dessert was a Banana Spice Cake with Chocolate Custard, Peanuts, and Miso Caramel.  This is a cake that I will now make an exception for.  It was very moist and sweet, the chocolate added some bitter sweetness, the Miso Caramel was a combination of sweet, savory, and buttery, and the peanuts, which were crushed, added a nutty finish.  While we were enjoying our desserts, Chef Rolf Pederson and his Wife, Sous and Pastry Chef, Meg Pederson came out to answer questions about themselves and the restaurant as is a Tasting Collective tradition.  I really liked the food and the atmosphere and would be happy to return for another meal and the awesome Banana Spice Cake.         

Hopewell Brewing - Monday Night Dinner with Flat and Point

 

I really like Hopewell Brewing.  They are good people that do some good and interesting beers.  Periodically, on a Monday night (when they are normally closed), they will invite a neighborhood restaurant who they are friends with and will host a Monday Night Dinner.  It gives them a chance to feature their beer with some different and interesting food served family-style, and it gives their friends a chance to try something that might not normally do.  For this Monday Night Dinner, they invited Flat & Point, a neighborhood restaurant that is similar to a barbecue restaurant.  The food is locally sourced and whole animals are used, though they feature things other than smoked meat.  The Hopewell Taproom is big and open with a bar on one side and three long communal tables in the center of the room.  Besides the large windows in the front, the space is lit with hanging light bulbs.  The walls also feature hanging art, which changes periodically.  The art that is now hanging was interesting and bright and if I were to add descriptors, I would say that it looked to me like Psychedelic and Robotic Aztec Art.  As in previous dinners, there was a Hopewell cooler sitting in the back of the room filled with beer to welcome us.  To be hospitable, I grabbed one, a Lil Buddy Lager, a light and crisp beer served in 8 oz cans and is very easy drinking.  Because I was dining solo, I was seated with another group which was fine because it made it easier to serve things family-style and it gave me a chance to socialize somewhat.

 

After everyone had arrived, was seated and had a beer, we started.  Our first beer was a favorite of mine, Table Salt Gose which is made with French Gray Sea Salt, Lemongrass, Lime Leaf, and Cardamom.  It's tart with a nice lemon-lime flavor and a salty finish.  This was paired with Charcuterie.  We were served Leberkase (literally Liver Cheese, it is a Sausage made with finely ground Corned Beef, Pork and Bacon), with Smoked Ricotta Cheese, and Pickled Radishes, on Sourdough Bread.  This was not what I expected as far as charcuterie was concerned, but it perfectly fit in with what Flat & Point does.  It was smoky and meaty, with the creamy ricotta, and dense and flavorful sourdough.

 

From the appetizer we went to the salad and what better beer to serve with salad then a Saison.  Great News Saison is a classic saison providing flavors of fruit, pepper, and citrus, and went very well with those things green.  Our salad wasn't completely colored green, but because it was all plant-based, I will use green as a generic descriptor instead of the color.  Our salad was a Winter Salad with Smoked Delicata Squash, Wilted Baby Kale, Carrots, Pumpkin Seeds, and Honey Dijon.  I really liked this salad because it had a lot of flavors and textures.  I am generally not a huge fan of Kale, because texturally, it's generally a bit stiff.  Wilting it, did soften it up, but with the squash and carrots, there was enough to chew on.

 

Our next course was lasagna, though it was lasagna with a definite twist.  It was a Veggie Lasagna with Parsnips, Sweet Potatoes, Kale, and a Truffle and Creamy Mushroom Sauce.  It was served with Off Black, Hopewell's Schwarzbier (Black Lager), which is both earthy and crisp.  The Lasagna was layered with Sweet Potatoes and Parsnips, sliced, laid on its side, and covered in the amazing Mushroom and Truffle Gravy.  It was tender and very flavorful, and the earthiness of the sweet potatoes and parsnips went well with the earthiness of the Schwarzbier.

 

 

After the excellent lasagna, many of us would have been happy to finish, but we still had our entree and dessert to go, so on we plowed.  Our final beer was a seasonal beer that they have made since the beginning, 24:37 Red IPA (24:37 is the length of a day on Mars, the red planet).  It's good and a bit unusual, being both malty and hoppy.  It was served with a Thuringer Porchetta (a spiced Pork Sausage made largely from Pork Shoulder) with Red Cabbage and 24:37 Red IPA Gravy, it was also served with a big bowl of Polenta.  This was really good, though it was tender and flavorful, it was also heavy and it was hard to get through after the rest of the food.

 

Happily we made it to the end and while dessert was nice and sweet, it wasn't exceptionally heavy.  Our beer was a Cold Brew Imperial Coffee Stout made with the coffee of a local roaster and featuring flavors of Dark Chocolate and Coffee.  What better to match a stout with than a Double Chocolate Crinkle Cookie which was made with Glazed and Made with Dark Chocolate.  It was sweet, bitter, and made for an excellent finish for a great meal.  I was happy to talk to both the owners of Hopewell and the Chef/Owner of Flat & Point.  I will continue to go to Hopewell's Monday Night Dinners and will definitely visit flat & Point for dinner some night. 

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.                 

Papa Cenar

 

 

 

I really liked Twain, and was sad when it closed.  When the space reopened a few months later as Papa Cenar, I was surprised that the space remained largely the same.  I mentioned it to my server and she said that the ownership remained the same and most of the employees remained.  The major change was that the Chef and his wife, who was in charge of the wine program, left.  Instead of doing a memorial to Mark Twain the restaurant now takes as it's theme, the time that Ernest Hemingway (Papa) spent in Spain.  Cenar is the Spanish verb meaning "to eat", so the restaurant focuses on those things that Ernest Hemingway may have had for dinner in Spain.  When the restaurant was known as Twain, the outer wall was baby blue.  It has now been painted to a dark orange.  Inside, the space remained, largely the same.  The murals on the walls, the wooden tables, and the decorative hanging lights remain as does the bar with the decorative copper etching on the wall behind the bar.  There is a new chalkboard behind the bar where the Happy Hour Menu is written.  The bar features a lot of Spanish Wines as well as some classic cocktails like a Daiquiri and the Papa's G&T which is what I ordered.  Papa's G&T contained Mahon's Spanish Gin, House Made Tonic with Quinine, Lavender, and Grains of Paradise, and a Lime slice.  This was clean, crisp, a little peppery, and very nice.

Just after I put in my food order, I received something that I will call a cross between an Amuse Bouche and a Bread Course.  It was a nice and thick slice of Toasted Bread served with Crushed Tomatoes and grated Manchego Cheese.  If the Tomatoes had been served on the bread, I might have called it a Bruschetta.  In any case, it was still nice and fresh and made for a very nice introduction.

For the start of the food that I ordered myself, I had Smoked Whitefish Dip with Olive Oil Crackers, and Fermented Chili.  Everything about this was great.  The fish was whipped and held together well enough to spread on the crisp and flavorful crackers.  The fermented chilies were a sauce served with the whitefish that gave a sour bite.  It was a nice addition to the flavors of the whitefish and crackers.

My second appetizer was a Farmer Squash Pisto.  A Pisto is a vegetable dish that, when done traditionally, looks similar to Ratatouille, containing Tomatoes, Eggplant, Onions, and Red Peppers.  This took a decidedly Midwestern Fall twist, using Roasted Farmer's Squash, Frisee, Spiced Pepitas, and Goat Cheese.  It was still a vegetable dish that focused on the flavors and textures of local vegetables, despite being completely different from a Spanish Pisto and it was a favorite.

 

 

And then came my entree, Bone Marrow.  The Bone Marrow, served in long bones sliced lengthwise, of course, was served with Lamb Bacon, Onion Jam, Fresno Chili Peppers, a Pickle Salad, and Toast.  In the past, I had learned that the proper way to eat bone marrow was to spoon it out of the bones and spread it on the bread.  You would then top it with any accompaniments that you might have and top all of that with your greens, which helps to cut the fattiness of the marrow.  I did all of this and it was good, but then I was told about another thing that could be done to clean the bones and finish things.  called a Bone Marrow Luge, it involves pouring an Apertif down the bone channel and into your mouth.  The Apertif that was recommended was called Bonal, a Wine-based Gentiane-Quina drink.  I poured the Banal down the bone and into my mouth.  It was sweet and spicy with a definite meaty aftertaste.  It was a lot of fun, very flavorful, and a great way to finish the savory side of things.

While it was wrapped in Spanish clothing, dessert was definitely Midwestern.  I was served a Couple of Apple Empnadas with Fall Spices, Chocolate, and Persimmon Sorbet.  The empanadas tasted like Apple Pies and the Persimmon Sorbet added a sweetness similar to peach or apricot.  The chocolate was sweet with the bitter aftertaste that chocolate tends to have, which tied things together.  For a digestif, I finished with a very dry Amontillado Sherry.

The food and service was very good here and while I was a little disappointed about the closure of Twain, they made a good transition with Papa Cenar.  I will be happy to return and to introduce friends.