WoodWind - Restaurant Week

 

 

 

 

It's hard to expect a fine dining restaurant at the top of a hospital.  While Green River occupied the same space  and actually earned a Michelin Star, it did run into the problem of a dearth of customers who didn't think about it because coming to a hospital to eat is not obvious and finding the location after was not made any easier with the fact that there was no signage down on the 1st floor to let you know you are in the right place.  WoodWind, located on the 18th Floor of the Lavin Family Pavilion of Northwestern Hospital, has avoided a few of the problems that Green River had by putting a sign on a pillar on the first floor and also locating a Host Station on the first floor to direct you to the elevator to the restaurant.  Having been there before (to Green River), I knew where the elevator was and knew that the restaurant was on the 18th Floor.  Walking out of the elevator, I immediately saw an impressive wine rack with the host station to my right.  I was led to a table in the middle of the main dining room.  Green River also had an impressive patio with a great view, but it was February and at night, so it was obviously not open.  The dining room for WoodWind remained largely the same as Green River, though the color scheme and theme was different.  While Green River was more green with maps of the Great Lakes area, WoodWind is brown and tan with a wall of plants and many diagrams of plant life.  While the tables in the center of the room were close, it was a good place to see the lay of the land.  The kitchen was open and over my right shoulder.  The bar was in front of me.  I was sitting among a group of high top tables that were all full with low tops and booths off to the left in a corner of the dining room.  While the wine list did look pretty impressive, the cocktail list also looked nice.  I started out, while I was looking at the menu, with The Big Boss, a cocktail made with Bombay Dry Gin, Pear Liqueur, and Mint.  I liked it and it was very good.   It wasn't listed, but it also seemed to have a strong Vanilla flavor.  The drink was very refreshing and I really enjoyed it.

The Restaurant Week offer here was to choose three courses and a common dessert would be served to all.   For my starting course, I started with House Ricotta, Honey, Mish Mish, and Grilled Toast.  The Ricotta was very light and creamy.  Mish Mish is a Lebanese Colloquialism for Apricot.  With the honey and the citrus flavor of the mish mish, it kind of reminded me of breakfast.  It was sweet, tangy, and creamy, and on the crisp toast, it was a very nice start.

My second course was a bit unusual, Sunchokes.  Sunchokes, also known as a Jerusalem Artichoke, are a root vegetable and come from a species of Sunflower.  The Sunchokes were served three ways:  Roasted, as a Fermented Puree, and as Chips.  They were also served with Apple and Parmesan.  I have, in the past, liked sunchokes.  They generally have an earthy, potato flavor, with some sweetness.  This, while it had all of that, also had a funky tart flavor, which came, I imagine, from the fermented puree.  Other parts of this I liked.  I liked the roasted sunchokes and the chips, but with the funky flavor, it didn't come together.

My entree, like many of the entrees that I had during Restaurant Week was fish.  This fish, Smoked and Grilled Sturgeon with Black Garlic, Housemade Creme Fraiche, and Shoestring Potatoes, was very good and came together well with all of it's elements.  The sturgeon was tender with a nice smoky flavor which went well with the earthy flavor of the black garlic and the crispy shoestring potatoes.  The sour flavor of the Creme Fraiche brought in a complementary tartness.

 

      There was one dessert that they were serving everyone, Cashew Gelato.  It sounded fine, but didn't seem exceptionally exciting.  I did notice that they had a nice list of Digestifs.  I decided to excite my gelato with a Braulio Amaro, not to add to it, but to drink it along side the gelato.  The Amaro was very nice, lightly spicy and bittersweet with a lightly minty finish.  It was nice and went well with the gelato, but the gelato was actually very good on it's own served with mint, tangerine, and cashews on the side.

For the most part I enjoyed my meal, the service was great, and while I didn't think much of the Sunchokes, I learned that I didn't care for fermented sunchokes.  In many places after the dessert come Petit Fors or Mignardises, which are generally a bite of love, to say thank you.  There was a Mignardise served here, but it was very unexpected.  The waitress came out with a huge mass of Lime Cotton Candy.  I will grant that Cotton Candy is mostly air (the rest being spun sugar), but the sheer size of the mass was a huge surprise.  A lot of cotton candy is incredibly sweet.  As this was Lime, it also had some tartness to it and I really enjoyed it.  It was a very good dinner in a great space.  I hope to be able to return in the future.

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

 

 

 

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. 
    

Eleven|Eleven - Tasting Collective Dinner

The majority of my posts are positive, because I like food and I think that most places that I go to try their best to please their customers.  There are some restaurants, however, that while I want to like, had some serious problems during my visit.  I had encountered Eleven|Eleven at a few benefits around town, and while I had liked what I had tried from them, they weren't really on my radar.  Most of the dinners that I've had with Tasting Collective I have really liked, so I trusted them to curate a good meal at a restaurant that might not be known well by the greater dining community, but should be, so when I signed up for dinner I was pretty excited.

The menu is very eclectic with global influences, so I was very interested to see what would come out.  We started with California "Maki" Rolls with Grilled Calamari, Avocado, and Hibiscus Rice.  While three of the rolls were wrapped with Nori, they were all essentially the same.  I really liked these.  It was presented nicely, the rice was very flavorful, and the calamari and avocado made a good combination.  It was better, in my opinion, than a standard California Roll which uses Imitation Crab instead of the calamari.

The second course was also very good and kind of a show stopper.  It was a spin on chicken and Waffles, a dish that I like, but it was presented in a very unexpected manner.  The Breaded Chicken Nuggets were presented in a Waffle Cone with Buttermilk Dressing in the bottom of the Cone, Green Mango Salad topping the nuggets, and XO Sauce, a spicy sauce made with roughly chopped seafood like scallops and shrimp, originating in Hong Kong.  The chicken was tender and flavorful.  The Green Mango salad added a tart flavor, along with the buttermilk dressing, the XO Sauce added a spicy seafood flavor, and the waffle cone added a nice crunch.

 

 

 

The third course was when the wheels started to fall off.  To start, the third course had actually been listed as the fourth course on the menu.  This isn't a big deal most of the time, but it seems now that it was foreshadowing.  The course was Charcuterie and Cheese presented with accompaniments and served with Rice Crackers.  We were served three different meats, 3 different cheeses, Celery, Olives, Cranberry, and Peppers, and Rice Crackers.  The idea of this was good, but we only received one tray of each item for the table, which was set to receive two plates of each.  All of these items also arrived separately, so it was a bit confusing trying to try things and/or combine flavors, without knowing if the last plate had arrived yet.  All of the meats and cheeses and were from good companies (La Quercia and Smoking Goose), so it all tasted good, it was a bit confusing.

 

Our fourth course also arrived in two separate parts, was not explained, and we weren't brought enough, so the kitchen had to come back with another service.  We were first served our Salted Shishito Churros that were supposed to have been drizzled with Butterscotch, but seem not to have been.  The churros were very light and flavorful, it just seems that we weren't served enough.  After we wolfed down our churros, the Bourbon Glazed Pork Belly arrived.  It was tender and tasted good with a nice flavor of bourbon and wood with the sweetness from the pork, but the presentation looked like a joke.  There were three pieces of meat on the plate (for six people) and they looked like they were thrown on the plate and sprinkled with baby greens.

 

There was a pause for a bit before the fifth course showed up.  It was essentially Steak Frites served on two plates.  We first received a large bowl overflowing with Sticky Black Truffle Fries with Grana Snow which were the side to the main course, the Steak, a Wood grilled Bavette Steak with Pesto and Chips.  The steak was very good, flavorful, tender, and perfectly cooked, but it took about half an hour to arrive at the table and there really wasn't enough for the people it was serving.  The fries (Frites) were also perfectly cooked and flavorful, but there was enough for the table.

When we finally got to dessert, there were many people waiting for it to be over.  Luckily, dessert wasn't a fail, though it wasn't completely what is was advertised.  We were supposed to be getting a three pie flight.  What we received were three Shortbread Cookies with some very good pie fillings, Mama's Apple Pie, Banana Cream, and French Silk.  My argument in this case is semantic.  What we received tasted good and the pie fillings were there, if not the crusts, along with some very nice Whipped Cream.

While this dinner was ultimately a fail, it was not a failure of flavors; all of the food that we had tasted very good.  Our service also seemed polite, if harried.  This seemed a failure of poor planning, something the management has vowed to correct, so i am willing to give them a second chance soon.