Piccolo Sogno - Restaurant Week

I've mentioned before that while I really like Italian food, I don't eat it often (other than pizza, which doesn't really count) because, to me, it feels like something that you eat with family or a group of friends.  Having said that, there are a few Italian places that I feel that I need to go to whether I have a dining companion or not.  Piccolo Sogno (Little Dream) is one of these restaurants.  While it has been on my radar for years, and I have actually made reservations several times (mostly during restaurant week), I have never gone because I couldn't coordinate my schedule with someone else.  I decided this year that even if I couldn't coordinate with someone, it is a place that I wanted to visit and I would go whether or not I had a dining partner.  I have had samples of the food prepared at Piccolo Sogno at various benefits and festivals, I had never actually dined at the restaurant itself.  Chef/Owner Tony Priolo was raised in Chicago and had established himself as a great chef (at Coco Pazzo) before he opened Piccolo Sogno eight years ago.  The building in which Piccolo Sogno is located has actually been a restaurant as long as I have been in Chicago.  I first remember it as Thyme, a French bistro-style restaurant which switched to Italian and Timo before becoming Piccolo Sogno.  The building is a large old brick building in River West.  The entrance is on the side of the building off of a small parking lot and you enter into the lounge area.  There are three dining rooms inside, I think I was in the largest one, which seats about 70 with 2 tops and round 4 tops.  There is also apparently a fantastic courtyard that is open in the summer, but I obviously didn't see that.  The walls were dark blue (not quite navy blue) with light ceilings and dim lighting that was slightly augmented with candles at the tables.  The passageways between rooms are arched.  When I was seated, I was offered still or sparkling water and was presented with three menus:  the Chicago Restaurant Week Prix Fixe menu, the regular dinner menu, and the wine menu which was a pretty sizeable book of Italian wines.  I asked for still water, ordered a nice Rose from Tuscany and started perusing the menu.  While I was looking, I was presented with the bread basket.  It contained bread sticks and two different loafs with some olive oil at the table for dipping.  The bread had a nice crust and soft interior as good bread is supposed to be. 

While there were many good things on the regular menu, I decided to go with the Restaurant Week Prix Fixe and started with the Coda di Vaccinara, Roman-Style Braised Ox Tail braised with Carrots, Celery, and Onions.  I had had ox tail before and while it tastes good, it can be messy and a lot of work to get the meat off of the tail bone.  This ox tail had the potential of being very messy as well because it was very juicy with a lot of sauce.  There was sufficient meat though, to make it easy to peel it off of the bone.  It was very tender and flavorful and with the carrots, celery, and onions, it reminded me of a very good and flavorful stew.

For my entree, I went with some housemade pasta, Tagliatelle served with a Ragu Sauce, specifically I had a Tagliatelle con Cinghiale (Wild Boar Ragu) which was topped with Parmigiana at the table.  This was pretty amazing.  The Tagliatelle was a perfect al dente, the ragu was more meat than sauce, and my server was very generous with the Parmigiana.  Wild boar has a flavor similar to farm raised pork although the flavor is a little stronger.  The tagliatelle was long and strong so each bite was a great bite of pork and pasta with a generous helping of Parmigiana.

For my dessert, I went with a Tavoletta, layers of Chocolate and Pistachio Mousse on a Dark  Chocolate Crust served with Pistachios and Amarena Cherries and garnished with Chocolate Sauce and Powdered Sugar.  It was a sweet, rich, and nutty, with a little tartness provided by the cherries.  It was also a very good finish to a very good restaurant.  While I still think of Italian restaurants as a family/group thing, I am glad I came out and finally got to try the restaurant.

Wood - Brunch

Years ago there was a French Restaurant in Boystown that I really liked (despite the fact that I only went there twice and hadn't been there for a few years when it closed).  When it did close, I was sad, but as I said, I hadn't been there in a few years.  A new restaurant called Wood opened in it's place around 2012 and it has received high praise, receiving a Michelin Bib Gourmand (very good food at a value) in 2013, 2014, and 2015, but I still didn't go partially because I missed the other restaurant.  I did happen to come across Wood at a benefit that I was attending so I got an idea of what they did and I put them on my unofficial and always changing list of places to dine at.  A few months ago, they held a fundraiser for Secours Populaires Francaise, a French non-profit that fights poverty and tries to bring people together, after the terrorist attacks in Paris.  They invited several other restaurants to serve snacks with them.  While everything was good, I really enjoyed the stuff that they brought out.  This firmly convinced me that I needed to get here for a meal.  While I do plan on coming for dinner one evening, I recently came for brunch with some friends.  The space is long and narrow with a bar running the length of the dining room.  The kitchen is in the rear of the restaurant.  The space opposite the bar has several large, semi-circular booths with seats covered in white leather.  Our table, which was in the front of the restaurant, between the bar and the front window (and next to the entrance), was a large high topped wooden table that seated 6.  As one might expect from a restaurant named wood, there was a lot of wood in the design, with wood walls, hardwood floors, our wooden table, and the large wood bar.  We started things off with coffee and cocktails, they served Colombe Coffee and had my favorite breakfast cocktail, the Corpse Reviver #2 so I had one of each.  Looking over the menu, I saw that I could get both sweet and savory, so I ordered a Cinnamon Roll for the table.  It was a good thing that I ordered it for the table because it was enormous.  There were six people in our party and even after everyone taking a slice from it, I still ended up taking a third of it home.  The roll was soft and slightly spongy with a nice cinnamon flavor to it and wasn't exceptionally sweet (It was sweet, but not overwhelmingly so).  It was topped with a cream cheese icing.  It was good as a sharing plate and as breakfast the next day.

 

For my main course, I went with something that was both sweet and savory by itself.  They had a set of breakfast sandwiches, Waffle, Corndog, English Muffin, and Biscuit.  I decided to go with the Waffle which had Fried Chicken, Bacon, and Honey Hot Sauce.  I should have expected it after seeing the cinnamon roll, but I was very surprised, when the sandwiches arrived , at their height.  I mused how I was going to eat them and I did actually try to squeeze one and get a bite out of it, but it was too big.  I ended up deconstructing them and eating the individual pieces separately which were very good on their own (although I did get sticky hands from the honey).  The waffle was crisp on the outside and soft on the inside with a good fried flavor and the sweetness from the honey.  The chicken had a nice crispy breading, was very juicy on the inside, and had the flavor that good chicken should.  The bacon was crispy, sweet, bacony goodness.  I really enjoyed brunch here and I will have to return one day for dinner.  The space looks very nice, the staff is friendly, and the food is very good.  

Halloween Offal Dinner at Table, Donkey, and Stick

Maintaining my reputation as a foodie does take some work.  If people consider myself a relative expert on the local food and restaurant scene, I feel obligated to try expand my knowledge.  This means having an open mind and trying things that other people may find a little off putting.  Many restaurants will play to the season and present things that may be a little macabre or gruesome sounding.  In that vein, Table, Donkey, and Stick, for the second year has offered a 6 course Offal Dinner for Halloween.  I hadn't gone to it last year, I have liked the offal that I have tried before, it fit with the holiday, and I like Table, Donkey, and Stick, so I figured that they could make an interesting dinner with the various entrails of butchered animals.  Offal is simply the internal organs and entrails of a butchered animal.  As we eat a wide variety of animals and the classification of offal covers a very wide range, I could see this going anywhere.  Of those things that I have tried that could be considered offal, I have liked many, but there are a lot of things (like hearts, brains, or testicles) that I have not tried, so I figured that there were going to be a few things that were going to be new to my palate.  Things immediately started out with new flavors with a Veal Brain Custard with Arugula, Veal Fries (Testicles), and a Lemon Aioli.  This was actually very good.  The brain custard was very light.  It did have the irony flavor of those organ meats that might have a lot of blood flowing through them, but that flavor was actually pretty subtle.  Brains are also pretty fatty, so it had a rich flavor.  The arugula was fresh and crisp and added a lemony pepper flavor which also went well with the aioli.  The veal fries were interesting.  They tasted good, but the thing that they reminded me of most were very good skinless hot dogs.  The first course was a success for me.  It introduced me to a couple of things that are well outside my comfort zone and I really liked it, so I was set up for whatever they planned on presenting to me next.

For the next course, we went to seafood with Fried Shrimp Heads, Monkfish Liver Mousse, and Fennel.  I had had shrimp heads before and had sucked the innards out and have liked the monkfish that I had had before, so I was confident of this dish.  I had never had fried shrimp heads fried before and I had also never had monkfish liver, so it was going to be a new experience.  I liked the monkfish liver mousse.  It was smooth, creamy, and had a nice, rich flavor.  The fennel was fresh and crisp with a sweet and slight licorice flavor.  The shrimp heads, I wasn't so sure about.  I like shrimp which is what it tasted like, but the frying seemed to concentrate the flavor.  When eaten together with the mousse and the fennel it wasn't so bad, but by itself the flavor was a bit overwhelming.

The next course also had some familiarity to it.  It was a Foie 'Nduja with Greens and a Grilled Baguette.  I have had 'Nduja before, which is simply a spreadable salami.  I have also had foie gras which is fattened duck (or goose) liver.  I am not sure however, if the foie used in the 'Nduja was of the gras variety.  I have also never had foie 'Nduja.  This dish was simple and it wasn't bad, but it did need some work.  The 'nduja was spicy and flavorful, but it wasn't smooth and didn't spread exceptionally well.  The greens were limp, but it felt like that is how they were supposed to be.  They were fresh and flavorful and the baguette was crisp.  If the 'nduja was a little more spreadable, this could have been a very good dish.

I could also say that there was some familiarity with the next dish, but that would be a stretch.  I was served a Lamb Heart Tartare with Beets, a Potato Nest, and a Quail Egg Yolk.  I could say that I've had lamb before, and I have had tartares of many different kinds which are frequently served with egg yolks.  I have also had beets and potato nests many times.  The X Factor in this is the fact that the lamb is specifically lamb heart, which I had no familiarity with.  If would have had to guess about eating a heart, I would consider the fact that it is a muscle, so it might be kind of fibrous like the other muscles that we eat (any other kind of meat we regularly eat).  It is also an organ so it has a lot of blood flow and might have a bit of an irony flavor.  Lamb itself is kind of gamy, so I didn't have a lot of hope for this dish.  It came out and I saw that the heart had been roughly chopped so the texture of the meat could be seen.  As far as flavor was concerned, it did have a have a lamb flavor with some iron undertones.  The beets added an earthiness and some sweetness, and the potato nest mellowed things out.  The dish wasn't bad, which is actually better than I expected.  I might have preferred it more however, if the heart was chopped more finely.

The last savory dish had me wondering.  I wasn't really apprehensive, because I knew that it could be eaten, but I thought that there might be a texture issue that the chef would have had to work through.  I had seen Pigs Ears sold at the butcher shop that I go to for pork belly, but when I think of them, I think of them as chew toys for dogs.  I was served a Pigs Ear Terrine with Pickled Pigs Ear, Mustard Seeds, and Mustard Sauce.  The meat was thinly sliced and looked to have been formed by being pressed into a pan (which is how a terrine is formed).  The greens, mustard, and pickled pigs ear were presented over the three thin slices and the mustard sauce was presented under the terrine slices.  This was actually one of my favorite dishes.  The terrine slices tore apart easily if you went with the grain.  It was served cold and the meat, while fairly tender, also had a bit of a gristly crunch.  This was a good thing because it provided some textural variety.  It also had a very definite pork flavor.  The pickled ear was very tender and had a sour flavor that went well with the mustard.

 After five dishes that were fair to very good, I wondered about dessert.  In retrospect, I should have passed on the dessert even though it came with dinner.  I was served Chicken Liver Malt Ice Cream with Chicken Skin Toffee.  I will say that it was not terrible, but it was my least favorite dish.  The chicken skin toffee was actually pretty good.  It actually had a sweet and salty flavor that was both fudgy and crispy.  It was similar to a chocolate covered potato chip.  The ice cream wasn't terrible when eaten with the toffee, but by itself, the liver flavor just lingered, and it was not a pleasant aftertaste.

As it was Halloween, dinner finished with a treat which could also be classified as offal.  We were given a Halloween Treat Bag with Caramel Corn Chicharrones.  I am generally not a fan of popcorn because it feels like I'm eating styrofoam and while chicharrones are not bad, they don't really excite me, so I don't generally go out of my way to eat them.  Breaking up the chicharrones to popcorn size and putting caramel on them though was a win.  They were sweet and crunchy with a slight salty pork undertone and I really enjoyed them.

Overall, this dinner was a win.  It was thematically appropriate, I got to try several things I had not previously tried, and even though there were some things that I didn't care for, there were several things that I did like, and I know now what may not work for me.     

Table, Donkey and Stick

The space doesn't look like much from the outside, and the address to the small building is bigger than the restaurant name but the space has been a restaurant of note for years.  Occupying the space formerly occupied by the Michelin starred Bonsoiree (which didn't have a restaurant sign at all), Table, Donkey and Stick goes in a completely different direction, serving rustic alpine food.  The space is small, seating about 20 people but it does have a covered patio in back that has a thick lumber communal table that seats about 10 people and several 2-top tables for seating for an additional 30.  The name of the restaurant comes from a Grimm's Fairy Tale about an ever full table, a donkey that spews gold, and a stick that punishes those that have wronged the owner.  We were seated at the communal table in the patio.  All of the furniture in the restaurant was rustic and looked like it would go well in a hunting lodge.  While the building itself is not exceptionally rustic, there are rough hewn wall hangings that contribute to the rustic look.  The menu is divided into Wanderteller (charcuterie), Cheese, Small Plates, Large Plates, and Sandwiches (with a separate menu for dessert).  With the many varieties of cured meat available, if a restaurant offers charcuterie, I will always try it.  Table, Donkey and Stick offered six types of Wanderteller, all of which seemed to be of the forcemeat type.  We had three Wandertellers, all of which were very good.  On the left (for me) was Duck Liver Mousse with Blueberries.  In the center was a Pork and Burgundy Snail Pate served with Walnuts, and on the right was Beef Tartare.  A Housemade Buckwheat Baguette was served to eat with the meat.  The duck liver mousse was very creamy and the flavor kind of reminded me of liverwurst.  The blueberries actually went very well with it.    The pate was mostly pork but you could see the snails, which were a gray brown color as opposed to the rest which was kind of pink.  The snails had been soaked in burgundy so there was a good, red wine flavor, as well as the savory flavor of the snail.  The walnuts add a textural variety to the pate.  While I like beef tartare in general and I did like this beef tartare specifically, it did surprise me.  The beef tartare that I have had in the past was finely ground like hamburger.  This was more roughly chopped.  It was served with a raw egg (a quail's egg in this case) and seemed to have been marinated in a soy-type sauce.  While it was a little different than your typical beef tartare, this was very good.

What goes with charcuterie (wanderteller) if not cheese?  We also got three cheeses although I can only remember one of them because I had had it before.  The one cheese that I can remember the name of was the Gorgonzola (blue).  There was also a semi-firm cows milk cheese that had a slightly sweet grassy flavor and a natural rind cheese that was slightly funky.  The cheeses were served with another housemade bread, honey, and walnuts.

For my small plate, I didn't really need to go back to snails because I had them in my wanderteller, but the dish sounded so good that I had to try it.  I had the Snail Agnolotti with Cocoa Cured Pork Loin, Green Garlic, Rhubarb, and Cocoa Nibs.  The flavor in this dish was amzing.  The pork was sweet and slightly bacony with a bitter chocolate edge.  The green garlic isn't as pungent as regular garlic and it has a green flavor in addition to the garlic.  The rhubarb and cocoa nibs were both used lightly did add to the flavor when they were encountered.  The rhubarb adding tartness and the cocoa nibs, bitterness.  The snails were in the perfectly cooked and toothsome agnolotti.  It was a nice chew and a joy to eat.

For my entree, I had a chicken that actually had some taste.  The chicken I had was from Slagel Farms and was served boneless with Smoked Pickled Ramps, Bulgur Wheat, Boiled Peanuts, and Chicken Hearts.  The chicken was tender (and tasteful) and the boiled peanuts were chewy.  The chicken hearts were mixed with the peanuts and I really didn't notice it.  It was tasty and very good.

Dessert was a perfect ending to a great meal.  I had a Goat Cheese Panna Cotta which was served with Pickled Cherries, Pickled Rhubarb, Granola, a Horchata Sauce that was poured over it, and garnished with mint leaves.  It was sweet, tart, crunchy, creamy, a little minty, and I really liked it.

I enjoyed my meal at Table, Donkey and Stick and am glad to see that while the look has completely changed and the food is much more rustic than the previous restaurant, it is maintaining the high standards established by Bonsoiree.