Cabra-Brunch

Being a lover of Peruvian food and a fan of Stephanie Izard's, I was very excited when it was announce that she was going to open a Peruvian Cevicheria, Cabra (Spanish for Goat), on the rooftop of the new Hoxton Hotel in the West Loop.  While I knew that I wanted to go, I didn't really have plans to go until I happened to be in the West Loop on a Saturday morning and was looking for a place to eat for brunch.  I knew that it was on the rooftop and it could be seen from the road, I was just not sure how to get there.  Walking into the building was not a big help because the lobby was occupied by Cira, a Mediterranean restaurant run by Chef Chris Pandel, and a Coffee shop, and I had to walk through the lobby/restaurant to get to the elevator, which was luckily labeled.  The elevator opened into a passageway that emptied emptied into two dining rooms, both large and open with large windows and a covered roof.  One room held the Ceviche Bar and the Cocktail Bar and the other side had a pool.  I walked into the bar side and saw that Chef Stephanie was working behind the Ceviche Bar.  It would have been interesting to sit there, though that bar was full, so I sat at the cocktail bar, which gave me a good view of the local skyline.      

 I started with a spin on a Pisco Sour.  Called a Sunrise Over Nazca, it was also a Coffee drink which included Coffee-infused Pisco, Passionfruit Honey, Lemon, and Egg White, and like all Pisco Sours was garnished with Angostura Bitters.  It was awash in a variety of flavors and I really liked it.  It started with the bitter of the Coffee, then went to the sour of the Passionfruit and the sweetness of the Honey, with the flavor of the Pisco available throughout.  

When I was in Peru, I tried something called a Causa.  It was generally a combination of Mashed Potatoes, Chicken, Aji Chilies, and Vegetables.  When I saw that Cabra had a Causa, it had to be had.  this Causa had replaced the Chicken with Crab, combined the Aji Chilies into the Mashed Potatoes, and added Avocado.  It was very creamy and tasted very fresh with the creamy avocado and the sweetness of the crab.  The Aji added a little spice at the end which was nice.

Next on the agenda were the Goat Empanadas.  I had had Goat Empanadas at Chef Stephanie's signature restaurant, Girl and the Goat.  With a Grilled Mushroom and Apple Giardinera it was savory and a little spicy.  The Empanadas were the same, though the mayo dipping sauce was different.  At Girl and the Goat, they use a Miso-Bleu Aioli and at Cabra they used a Huancaina Mayo, which combined Queso Fresco and and Aji Amarillo Chilies.  It was creamy and spicy and went well with the empanadas.  

Finishing off, I went with the Quinoa Peruvian Sourdough Toast with Strawberry Aji Jam, Passionfruit Honey, and Queso Helado.  It was sweet, a little tart, a little spicy, and pretty good.  It made for a very good finish to another of Stephanie Izard's very good restaurants and I would very much enjoy returning, especially now that i know where I'm going.

Green River- Brunch

While there are many restaurants that offer brunch, even many that offer a very good brunch, the number gets smaller when I have to consider party size.  There are a few places that I like, but would not set a brunch up there because I don't think that they could easily handle the large parties that I frequently have for my large brunches.  Green River has been on my to do list since shortly after it opened, but I had the idea that it was a smaller place so I thought that while I could come for dinner, they would be hard pressed to handle a larger party.  A couple of friends wanted to meet for brunch, though, and wanted to do a rooftop, so I decided that it would be a good time to check it out.  Located on the 18th Floor of Northwestern Hospital in Streeterville, there is a sign for direction on the main floor.  The elevator opens to a hall with the main restaurant and the host station to the left.  Located near, and named for, the river that gets dyed green for St. Patrick's Day, the restaurant is known both for it's fantastic terrace and it's nod to the cities Irish heritage which can be noted in their fantastic cocktails.  While the interior did look very nice with a lot of marble used on the floor and bar as well as with dividers between the booths.  Heavy light colored wood is used for the chairs and the booths and couch are upholstered with leather.  The main room did look very nice, but we were interested in the terrace which used modern and well made patio furniture.  The tables were dark wood and the chairs were stainless steel with a woven seat and back.  While we sat close to the building, there was nowhere that didn't provide a great view (and there were areas where there weren't tables that seemed to be made for balcony pictures).  Green River quickly became a Michelin Star restaurant, but they are also very well known for their cocktails.  That being said, trying at least one cocktail was a must.  The cocktails are divided on the menu by the grain, seed, or fruit used in the base spirit.  For my first cocktail, I started with Juniper.  There were two spirits on the menu based on Juniper, Gin and Genever.  I started with Gin and a drink called Haley's Comet.  It started with Sipsmith Gin, and used Aveze Gentiane, a French bitter using the Gentian root, Passion Fruit, Lemon, Kaffir Lime Leaf, and topped with Cava.  This was a tart, sparkling drink served in a cava glass.  It was very refreshing and a nice sipping drink.

When I go out for brunch, I do like to hit both sweet and savory.  They had a Cinnamon Roll on the menu that I happened to see before I ordered and saw that it also was a must.  It was big and sticky looking and served on a board.  It was topped with a Cream Cheese Frosting that did make it very sticky.  There was a lot of cinnamon and it had a crusty outside and a very soft inside.  While I would normally eat a cinnamon roll by hand, it was so sticky that I would have ended up wearing as much as I ate.  It was very good and I really enjoyed it despite having to eat it with knife and fork.

For the savory side, I went with  Fried Chicken and Cheddar Biscuits with Sausage Gravy and an Arugula Salad.  This reminded me of three brunch favorites, a breakfast sandwich, Chicken and Waffles, and Biscuits and Gravy.  While it couldn't be eaten by hand as a sandwich could most of the time, it presented the best parts of all of these dishes.  The biscuits were flavorful and tender, the arugula provided some peppery green, the sausage gravy, was rich, with a lot of sausage and pepper and went well with everything, and the chicken had a crispy breading and was juicy and tender.  Minus the gravy, it might have been eaten with difficulty by hand, and that probably would have been the easiest way to achieve the correct ratio of everything in a single bite.  It could be done with knife and fork, but it was a little more difficult, but it was good and everything went together well.

To finish things off, I had another cocktail, this one from the Grape and Apple section.  Called a Tommy Gun, it had Kappa Chilean Pisco, Pineapple, Lime, Garam Masala, and Aromatic Bitters.  This drink was very complex and very good.  It had the flavors of a Pisco Sour, and a Tiki drink, with flavors of Curry.  As odd as it might sound, it was very good, and a very good finish to our brunch.

Looking around the space, I wondered about the possibility of doing a larger scale brunch here and talking to the manger, I found that it could be done although probably not on the terrace.  I was shown around and got to see their event space/alternate cocktail lounge, The Annex.  When it is operating as The Annex, it has it's own food and cocktail menu, but it can be used for larger parties and brunch and it also has a fantastic view even if it is enclosed.  I really enjoyed my time here, so I will have to include it on my list of upcoming restaurants to visit.