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. 

Good Fortune - Tasting Collective Dinner

 

This will be a story about several people and places and how they came together for a very nice Winter dinner in Logan Square.  Several years ago, there was a restaurant called Honey's in the West Loop, located where Eleven Eleven is now located, which received a lot of critical acclaim.  Despite this acclaim, Chef Charles Welch wanted to run a place of his own,  so he left the restaurant.  In Logan Square, popular cocktail bar Scofflaw opened a Seafood Restaurant next door called Sink|Swim which started out as a higher end neighborhood seafood restaurant, but eventually scaled back and then closed.  Chef Charles set up a long term Pop Up in the Sink|Swim space called Good Fortune, which also featured seafood.  Good Fortune was in the space for almost a year, until they found a permanent space.  The new space, also in Logan Square, was formerly the space of Specialty Gourmet Grocer, Provenance Food and Wine, as well as most recently, Taqueria and General Store, The General.  It took a little while, but Chef Charles' restaurant, Good Fortune, opened last year, pivoting away from a complete seafood menu, and rotating toward a Midwest-Sourced Mediterranean Inspired menu with a live fire grill.  Tasting Collective dined here at the beginning of the year.  The building was always dark colored, but I don't know that it was predominantly black as it is know.  There is no sign sticking out from the building and there is only a stylized logo featuring and intertwined GF at the door.  Lights are on the wall and ceiling and, in the back dining room, also from the open kitchen, which was lighter colored than the rest of the space.  Despite the dark color, the space was welcoming and the staff was friendly.

 

Seated in the back dining room, I started things off with a classic Cocktail, a Tom Collins made with Gin, Soda, and Lemon.  It was crisp and gin forward, but they used good gin, so it tasted good and was refreshing.  Shortly after my cocktail arrived, we received our first course.  Unlike many other restaurants I have gone to with Tasting Collective which have served all of the savory courses Family-Style, at Good Fortune, our first course at least was served individually.  We were served a course that reminded me somewhat of a cross between Ceviche and a Chowder.  We were served Hamachi with Golden Squash Broth, Crispy Black Rice, and Plum Vinegar.  It was light with a full flavor and the crispy black rice added a nice crunch.  The Plum vinegar brought a fruity tartness that tied well with the hamachi and the broth and it made for a very good start.

Our next course was a spin on a Wedge Salad.  Using Little Gem Lettuce, it included Maytag Blue Cheese, Bacon, Tomatillos, Tomatoes, and Chives.  With the exception of Little Gem Lettuce being used instead of Iceberg, and the addition of Tomatillos for some tartness, this was a classic wedge salad.  The lettuce was crisp and slightly sweet, The cherry tomatoes were fresh and very juicy, and Maytag Blue Cheese is just excellent.  The Bacon came as bacon bits on top, and added a salty crunch.

After the salad came the pasta and this pasta was just excellent.  We were served a Porcini Mushroom Campanelle with Black Trumpet Mushrooms, Truffles, and Camembert Cheese.  The Campanelle was perfectly al dente and the mushrooms added a lot of savory and funky flavor which went well with the Camembert.  This was like a high end Mac and Cheese with a stronger flavor and really good.

For our first entree, we had some very good fish.  We were served Poached Cod with Smoked Paprika, Salsify (a root vegetable also known as Oyster Plant for its flavor when cooked), and Brandade Aioli (Brandade is an emulsion of Salt Cod, Olive Oil, and Potatoes).  Every element had flavors of the sea except the paprika which added some smoky heat.  The cod was tender and everything went very well with it.

For our final savory dish, we went extremely hearty.  We were essentially served a cassoulet, a stew of White Beans and Meats.  The kitchen mistakenly first served me a Vegetarian Cassoulet and while it did look really good, I did not order a vegetarian menu and I didn't want to be taking someone's vegetarian meal away from them.  I was then served Pork Sauerbraten with Cassoulet Beans, Celery Root, and Lyonnaise Salad, which was essentially the same thing as the vegetarian version, except with added pork.  The pork was flavorful, hearty, and slightly sweet. The beans added body and depth of flavor to the course, and the Lyonnaise Salad (Frisee, Bacon, Vinegar, and Mustard), added both some green and some tartness.  It was heavy, but it made for a good finish for the savory side of the menu.

I was unsure about dessert.  It was a Mochi Brownie with Cheesecake Puree, and Coconut Sorbet.  I was unsure about it, because I really don't get Mochi.  When it arrived, though I thought that it looked really good, so I pushed aside my apprehension and decided to try it.  It was really good.  The brownie tasted good and with the cheesecake and the coconut sorbet, I did not notice the unusual texture that is common with mochi, if it existed.  It made for a great finish to an eclectic and very good menu and I would be happy to return.    

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.