Balena

I first heard about Chris Pandel when he opened the neighborhood restaurant, The Bristol, about five years ago.  That restaurant featured small plates and nose-to-tail cooking.  There was more to it than that but many of my friends (and I) thought of The Bristol, they thought of meat.  When I first heard that Chef Pandel would be opening an Italian inspired restaurant, it did not compute.  I could not see how you would get to Italian from where he was cooking at The Bristol and I told him as much when I met him at a benefit later that year (before the new place was opened).  He told me not to brush it off so quickly.  I admitted that he was a good chef which would allow him to make Italian cuisine, but I still remained a little skeptical.   A friend of mine went to Balena shortly after it opened last year and raved about it, telling me that it was a restaurant that needed to be on my short list.  When I saw that it was participating in Restaurant Week, where participating restaurants will offer a 3 course prix fixe meal for $22 for lunch and $33 or $44 for dinner (plus drinks, tax, and tip), I decided to give it a try.  Located near the retail hub around Clybourn and North Avenue and near a couple of theaters, Balena does see a lot of traffic so I shouldn't have been surprised by the sheer size of the space.  The space uses a lot of hardwood and pillars with a high vaulted ceiling with both overhead and table lighting.  The bar is at the front and while it does have the standards, it specializes in cocktails featuring Italian bitters.  The list, as a matter of fact, lists the relative bitterness of it's specialty cocktails.  The kitchen is off to one side in the back and while elevated, it is also fairly open so the action in the kitchen can be watched if you so desire.  There is a hallway like a closed catwalk on the second floor where offices can be seen.  I was seated in a back corner of the open dining room opposite the kitchen where I had a good view of the entire restaurant.  When he was just running The Bristol, Chef Pandel became known for his charcuterie program.  It should not be a surprise that charcuterie would make an appearance at Balena as well as the Italians are well known for their charcuterie (salami and prosciutto being but two examples).  My first course was Porchetta di Testa with Lemon Zest and a little Olive Oil.  When I saw it listed, I recognized it as charcuterie but was unsure in what form it was.  When it was served, I saw three thin slices of meat that looked similar to round prosciutto with lemon zest and a little olive oil.  Trying it, I really enjoyed it.  It was very light and delicate with a salted pork flavor.  The tang from the zest played very well with the flavor of the pork.  While I was at the restaurant I looked up porchetta to find out what exactly, it is.  It turns out that it is a lightly salted and cured pig face that has been rolled and poached.  As I said, it was really good, but I was surprised as to how light it was.  I would have expected pig face to be that light.  It was a great start and it got me set for the rest of the meal.

The next course was another meat course, but this one was cooked.  I had Beef Short Ribs with Calabrian Peppers, Onions, and Orange Zest.  It was meaty, spicy, sweet, and unfortunate.  It was very good but being short ribs there were a lot of bones in the meat.  It was unfortunate because this was served in a fine dining restaurant which, while it wasn't required, did encourage me to eat with a knife and fork.  Had I been in a regular barbecue joint, I may well have just used my hands.  It was a good course, but because it was ribs, it did require some work with a knife and fork.

The next course was the pasta course and it was much easier to eat than the short ribs.  It was a very colorful, striking, complex, and made for a great picture.  It was Beet Agnolotti with Smoked Salmon, Poppy Seeds, Dill, and Creme Fraiche.  The first thing that has to be said of this dish was that the agnolotti was very red.  This was obviously from the beets.  On top of this were several pieces of smoked salmon, a couple of dollops of creme fraiche, and several sprigs of dill.  The poppy seeds were sprinkled over the whole dish.  The agnolotti was perfectly cooked.  It was toothsome and had an earthy flavor, the salmon was smoky and had a nice firm texture.  The creme fraiche added a nice tang, and the dill provided a complementary flavor to the salmon and tied it to the vegetal flavor of the agnolotti.

The dessert was very good.  It took a simple idea and amped it up.  It was a Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Spiced Cranberries and Craquelin.  Panna Cotta is a simple and fairly standard Italian dessert.  It will typically use fresh fruit to add a complexity to the custard which by itself would simply be sweet.  The buttermilk panna cotta was richer than a standard panna cotta and had a little tang.  Cranberries are normally sweet with some bitterness, the fact that they were spiced added a nice bite, and the craquelin, which is essentially croutons made from sugar-coated brioche, added textural variety in a nice crunch.

I really enjoyed my meal hear and after having gone, I can see how you can go from local, seasonal, nose-to-tail, to Italian.  There really wasn't that much of a stretch.  I am glad my friend recommended Balena.  It will be recommendation I make to those that ask.    

Blokes & Birds

For years there have been any number of Irish-style pubs in Chicago.  There really isn't a big difference between English and Irish Pubs as far as the bar and food menus are concerned, but the music and some of the designs are different.  In the last few years, there have been several places offering takes on English Public Houses and pub food.  Longman & Eagle, Owen & Engine, Bangers & Lace, and Blokes & Birds all do takes on British pub food if those takes are all have very different.  I went recently to Blokes & Birds for dinner to see their take on a cuisine that is stereotypically thought of as pretty boring.  The dining/drinking area is all wood with hanging lights and exposed rafters.  The front wall is a window wall looking out on Wrigleyville.  The communal table in the center of the room was actually cross shaped and I was seated at one of the arms.  The menu was divided into Bits N' Bobs (appetizers), Sarnies (salads and sandwiches), Fortnight (entrees), and Dessert (dessert).  I started out with a Bits  N' Bobs dish called Cheesy Peavey.  This consisted of a cored and roasted Granny Smith Apple filled with melted Brie and slices of Puff Pastry topped with Apricot Chutney.  This was a nice looking dish that reminded me of a deconstructed apple pie.  But while this was a creative dish that tasted pretty good, it unfortunately was the highlight of the meal.  This is not to say that the rest of the meal was bad, it was however, rather uninspired.

For my entree, I had an English standard in Chelsea Fish & Chips.  This consisted of Beer Battered Cod, a cup of Frites, with a grilled lemon, and side dishes of ketchup, tarter sauce, and pea puree.  On paper this does sound interesting and the frites were pretty good but the two fish sticks could have been found at Bennigan's.  The batter on the fish was crisp but it wasn't particularly light and the ketchup and tartar sauce were fairly standard.  The pea puree was an interesting touch but it was kind of thick and I was unsure as to what to do with it.  The food was good enough to eat but wasn't anything to rave about.

The dessert menu had four items on it, of which they only had two available, a creme brulee and a trifle.  I ordered the Creme Brulee which came with fresh berries and a strawberry.  The crust on top of the custard wasn't the thinnest I have ever had but it also wasn't particularly thick.  The berries were fresh and ripe and the custard was creamy and sweet but the dessert was like any other creme brulee that I have ever had.

While the dinner here wasn't bad, I shouldn't have expected much more as the vast majority of Blokes & Birds neighbors are bars.  I am sure that this place is fine as far as bars are concerned and it does compete well with the bars on the street, but it was not what I was looking for. 

Lula Cafe - Brunch

I have previously covered Lula Cafe on Dinner and for Halloween but they also do an excellent breakfast so I knew that I would eventually have to write about that as well.  The food served at Lula is local and seasonal and that doesn't change based on the meal.  It also doesn't take reservations for brunch so if you come with a large party and don't want to wait forever, you might want someone get there a little early to let them know. I was coming with a large party so I arrived half an hour before we were to meet so we only had to wait for about 20 minutes.  By the time we were seated, the bar had gotten pretty crowded so it was good that I arrived early.  We sat at a large table in  the front dining room which also has the main bar.  I decided to start things out with a selection of pastries.  They were serving a Smoked Pecan Sticky Bun, Chestnut and Chocolate Scone, and an Apple and Goat Cheddar Crostata so I got some of each.  In short, I will say that they were all amazing.  The sticky bun was sticky with a lot of smoked pecans covering the roll.  The roll was also nice and soft, easy to cut, and chewy.  The crostata was fruity, flavorful, and very moist with a goat cheddar topping that was sweet with a little sharpness that played well with the appl in the body of the crostata.  The scone, while it was good, was probably the least of the pastries.  It had the rough texture of the scone and the flavor of the chestnut and the chocolate were prominent but it wasn't as exciting as the sticky bun and the crostata.  The pastries were very good and it excited the party for the rest of the meal.

The menu at Lula Cafe changes frequently based on what is available although they will have those things that will be typically found on a brunch menu i.e. omelettes, waffles, French toast, and breakfast burritos, as well as bacon and eggs.  What varies are the fruits and vegetables that are available based on the season.  We had a wide selection of items including what I was told was a very good breakfast burrito (above).

When I saw "The Royale" on the menu, I first thought of the movie Pulp Fiction and it was something that I had to order simply based on the name.  The sandwich here, however, was nothing like the sandwich referenced in the movie.  I was not disappointed however, because it was a very good breakfast sandwich.  The Pulp Fiction "Royale" was what they said a Big Mac was called in France.  The Royale served at Lula Cafe was a Tamarind Glazed Chicken Thigh with Bread and Butter Pickles, Smoked Gouda, Caper Aioli, Sunny Side Egg, and Radicchio on a Potato Roll.  The Sandwich was served with a side of Sweet Potato Chips.  The sandwich, while it looked really good, did give me pause when it was served to me.  I wondered how I was going to eat it, especially with the liquid yolk.  I did think about puncturing the yolk and letting it run over the sandwich but I figured that that would be pretty messy.  In retrospect, that probably would have been the better choice then putting the sandwich together and eating it as it was as this caused the yolk to explode.  Luckily, my napkin caught the mess but it didn't leave me with much to wipe my hands with.  Despite the mess, it was a very good and flavorful sandwich.  The chicken was moist and tangy from the tamarind glaze.  The gouda provided a little smokiness which played well with the egg and the chicken, and the raddicchio was fresh and crunchy.  The sweet potato chips were crisp and crunchy with the sweetness that could be expected of sweet potatoes.

Lula Cafe is one of my favorite neighborhood restaurants and I am always pleased regardless of the meal I eat there.  We were all very happy with our meals despite the noise of the room.  I will continue coming here and will continue to enjoy introducing friends to the restaurant. 

Stout Barrel House & Galley - Deschutes Beer Dinner.

It is funny to thing about how the craft beer world has grown over the last twenty years.  While there were a few microbreweries, I think that it would have been difficult to have an extensive beer list.  We are now in a craft beer renaissance.  There are breweries all over the country and it is actually pretty easy now to find something that you have never had before if that is your desire.  There are several "beer bars" in Chicago but only a few have food menus of any note.  Stout Barrel House & Galley, a beer/sports bar in River North has a great chef in Chris Curren, formerly of Blue 13, who has created a menu of amped up comfort food. I actually came to Stout Barrel House for a beer dinner hosted by Deschutes Brewery, an Oregon based brewery that has just started selling in Chicago.  The menu and price for 4 courses and 4 beers looked good and I had thought about going so it seemed like a good time to go.  Stout Barrel House is a big space with a bar in the middle.  The floor, furniture, and bar were reclaimed wood.  The banquettes were covered in black leather, and the outside walls were antique brick.  Interior walls were would bent and formed like barrel walls, as were many of the hanging lights.  The dining area was divided between booths and high top tables and there are many flat screen TVs so you have a good view of the game no matter where you sit.  I was seated at a high top two top near one of the large windows which allowed me to watch the goings on on the street as well as having a good view of the dining room.  I let my waitress know shortly after I was seated that I had come for the beer dinner and my first course and beer were brought to me shortly after.  We started with French Onion Soup with Red Chair NWPA (North West Pale Ale) broth.  It was paired with Red Chair NWPA.  French onion soup, when done correctly, can be a meal all by itself.  The broth was very rich and the onions were very tender.  The broth and onions were topped with pieces of bread and melted Gruyere.  The dish was rich and savory with a lot of onion and strong cheese flavors and it definitely got me excited for what might be next.

The next course was Linguini with Mussels and Clams which was paired with Chainbreaker White IPA.  The Linguini was toothsome and flavorful and the mussels were cooked well.  The clams were removed from their shells and were chopped and mixed with the pasta.  For the most part, they were very good but there were a few that seemed not to have been cleaned well and I got some sand.  It was all sitting in a buttery sauce.  The hoppiness of the IPA paired well with the mussels and other than the sandiness of the clams, it was a good dish.

For the main entree, I had a Pork Chop and it was a very nice looking pork chop.  It was served with Capers, Brown Butter, Carrots, Cauliflower, and Brussels Sprouts, with a Pancetta Chip.  It was paired with a Mirror Pond Pale Ale.  The chop was more than an inch thick and tender.  The pancetta chip was very crisp and like bacon and the vegetables were crisp and well seasoned.  It wasn't an exceptionally adventurous dish but it was filling and done very well.  I really enjoyed this but after eating it, I was worried that I wasn't going to be able to finish my final course, the dessert.

While I starting to fill up, I was going to make an effort on finishing my dessert.  I had a Chocolate Lava Cake with Blueberries, Blackberries, and Coffee Ice Cream.  The plate was sprinkled with powdered sugar and the beer paired with it was called a Black Butte Porter.  The pairing worked extremely well.  It was very dark and had a lot of coffee flavor to it.  The ice cream tied the cake and the beer together well.  It was really good but it was too heavy and I couldn't finish it.  I did finish the beer though as it was pretty good.

I really enjoyed my dinner hear.  The food was good and the service was fairly attentive.  This isn't normally a place that I would normally go to.  It has a sports bar vibe to it and I am generally not a sports bar person.  In addition, while my service was good, I have seen many notes about poor service and management when things get busy and late at night.  I might go back here but it would be a special event.       

Reno

Reno is not in Nevada.  It even says that on the floor of the dining room.  While it does have a rustic look, as might be expected to be found in Nevada, it has an unfinished ceiling, hardwood floors and tables, chairs of wood and wrought steel, and antique brick walls, the restaurant is located on the square of Logan Square next to its sister restaurant, Telegraph.  While it is one restaurant, it wears two completely faces for Breakfast and Lunch, and Dinner.  For Breakfast and Lunch, it is largely a coffee shop, serving flame-roasted bagels, bagel sandwiches,  pastries, and Stumptown Coffee.  For dinner, it becomes an Italian and Pizza joint, using their brick oven to make great, semi-Neapolitan-style pizzas.  They are very different but they sounded good so I came twice to try both versions of Reno.  For my breakfast, I started with a Snickerdoodle Muffin.  Snickerdoodles are cookies covered in cinnamon and sugar and generally have a cracked surface.  A snickerdoodle muffin is the same thing in muffin form.  The outside was cracked and crispy and the inside was soft and fluffy.  It was big, sweet, and nice, and I would be happy to eat it again. 

For the main part of my meal, I had to have a bagel as that is what they are advertising.  They have six types of bagel: Sesame, Everything, Olive & Herb, Poppy Seed, Cheese, and Pumpkin Seed which are flame roasted.  You can get a variety of schmears or jams or have it made into a bagel sandwich which is what I did.  I ordered an Everything Bagel (which has, as you might expect, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, pumpkin seeds, and herbs).  The sandwich was a standard breakfast sandwich with cheese (in this case, aged cheddar), scrambled eggs, and sausage.  The bagel was crisp and chewy with a slight smoky flavor although it doesn't quite have the chew of a boiled bagel and the sandwich that was built inside it was pretty good.  I really liked these bagels and I will definitely be back for them again.

For dinner, it becomes an Italian restaurant/pizzeria.  I was quickly seated and ordered.  The pizzas did look good but I was by myself and I wasn't going directly home.  I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to handle an entire pizza and I had no desire to carry a pizza box around all night.  I instead, went the standard restaurant route and ordered appetizer/side, entree, and dessert.  For my start, I ordered Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Red Cabbage, Tasso Ham (a spicy, slight cured piece of pork shoulder), and Chestnut Vinaigrette.  I like Brussels Sprouts but this was ridiculously good.  It looked like coleslaw with ham which, in a manner of speaking, it was.  It was crisp and spicy and the vinaigrette provided a creamy nuttiness.

For my entree, I had more pork.  I had Rigatoni with Pancetta, Guanciale, and Bacon with Amatriciana Sauce (a tomato based sauce using guanciale and pecorino cheese) and fresh Pecorino Cheese.  The Rigatoni was cooked perfectly.  It was smooth and slightly toothsome and there was pork in every bite.  I really liked this and would happily enjoy it again.

For dessert, I went with the Apple Crisp with Cinnamon Ice Cream.  This is a fairly standard comfort food dessert but prepared really well.  The crisp was wood fired and was served warm.  The Cinnamon Ice Cream was obviously served cold with a caramel sauce spread over it.  The crisp was crisp and a little tough to get through to get to the apples.  It was all crunchy, chewy, and sweet.  The apples were slightly tart and crisp and the ice cream provided the sweet, spicy, and cool.  I really enjoyed this and would definitely have it again.

I have enjoyed my trips to Reno (not Nevada) and will definitely be back.  They are very casual, relaxing, and make some great food.

The Table

Midland, Michigan is home to the corporate headquarters of Dow Chemical Company.  One of the largest chemical companies in the world.  With Dow being the biggest employer and Midland being a fairly small town, the importance of chemistry can be seen in many places.  As an example, the hotel in downtown Midland is named the H (as in Hydrogen).  At the H, there is a restaurant called Cafe Zinc, a cocktail lounge called Bar Oxygen, and the fine dining restaurant, The Table.  As I was in Midland recently, I decided to visit The Table and try it out.  The dining room has a.very open floor plan with parquet floors and chandelier lighting.  The walls used a frame design that reminded me of an old French mansion.  There were also free floating dividers on each side of the room.  We were seated in the center of the room on a table with white tablecloths.  Our waiter was excellent.  He gave us a few minutes after we were settled before coming for drink orders and telling us the dinner specials.  He returned for our orders when he brought our drinks and was very good at answering questions.  While we were waiting for our appetizers, we were brought an antipasto plate which contained several items that were very fresh and flavorful.  The plate included prosciutto, asparagus, mozzarella, and coppa and it was all very good.  For my appetizer, I got a Foie Gras Brulee.  It was served with toasted baguette slices and fresh strawberries.  I like foie gras but I had never thought of having it bruleed.  To brulee something is to roast it with a flame on top, largely with a flame thrower, to caramelize and crystalize the top.  The crust on top was light.  There isn't nearly as much sugar in foie gras as there is in the custard that is used to make creme brulee but it was caramelized and slightly scorched.  It was creamy, rich, sweet, and doesn't nearly have the irony taste that can be found in beef liver.  In short, it was very good.

For my entree, I went with the Branzino, or European Seabass.  It was served with Jamon Iberico, Figs, Mushrooms, and Sweet Potato Puree.  The fish looked to be pan fried and was very tender.  The fish had a light flavor.  It was slightly sweet and not at all fishy.  It had been boned although I did find a few pin bones while I was eating it.  All of the sides/garnishes that were served with the fish were sweet and went well with the fish although I don't know if I would say that they went well together (especially the figs and the mushrooms).  While there were a few things that could have been better about this dish, overall it was very good.

For my dessert, I had an item whose name escapes me.  I will say though that it was very good.  Part of the name was Canela which means cinnamon.  They were mini pound cakes (with cinnamon) sitting in a chocolate sauce, topped with powdered sugar and served with a homemade whipped cream on the side.

I did enjoy my dinner here.  The space was beautiful, the service was excellent and the food was mostly excellent.  I will say however, that while it was good, it was also very expensive, and while I am glad to have gone there, I am not sure that the value received was completely worth the price.



   

Sprout

While there is something to be said for being on Top Chef, unless you win, it doesn't help a lot other than name recognition.  This was especially true in the early seasons of the show.  Dale Levitski finished in second in the third season of Top Chef.  While he was fairly well known in the Chicago scene, having worked at Blackbird in it's early days and replacing Grant Achatz at Trio, when it came to finding money to open his own place, it wasn't happening.  When Sprout opened about 5 years ago, it was trying to do a completely organic menu including a $100 veal chop.  This didn't play exceptionally well and it struggled for about two years before they hired Levitski, who was working Front of the House at Sola at the time.  When he started, he decided to go with a 3 course Prix Fixe menu for $60 which he used to introduce people to his food.  While the menu is still divided in three parts, the names are a bit ambiguous and it's a little difficult to tell what might be appetizer, entree, and dessert.  There is also a 10 course tasting menu which I went for becaause I figured that it would give me an opportunity to try more of his dishes.  While I waited for my first dish, I looked at the dining room which was actually divided into two rooms.  Both rooms were fairly small and could seat about 30 people each.  The room that I was in looked like it was a patio at one time.  The walls and floor were white stone and the ceiling was pyramidal with a skylight at the peak.  The furniture was wood topped with a black metal frame and there was a repeating theme of a stylized sprout on the menus and on the wall art.  When my first dish arrived, the Amuse Bouche, I thought it looked cool but I wasn't exactly sure how I was supposed to eat it.  It was a Rabbit Rillette on a large spoon (like a pate) topped with Red Borage, sitting on a Mustard Creme Fraiche, and served with Basil Powder.  All of the individual pieces tasted good and many of the pieces tasted good together but I was never able to get everything together.  While I liked the artistry of this, it did make me a little nervous for the rest of the meal.

The next dish though, helped to allay my fears.  It was the soup course and while it had much of the artistry of the amuse bouche, it was easier to figure out how to eat.  It was a peppery Potato Soup with Microgreens stuck to the side of the bowl with Creme Fraiche, and Olive Oil Croutons that were hidden in the Greens.  This was excellent.  The soup was creamy and peppery, the microgreens added a fresh vegetal flavor, the croutons were a surprise crunch, and the creme fraiche provided a nice tartness to finish the taste.

The next dish was the fish course.  It had a lot of elements and it was kind of busy but every element was very good.  It was a Striped Sea Bass fried skin-on, Edamame Greens, Malted Brown Butter, Faro, French Fried Ramps, and Pork Belly, and was garnished with radish slices.  This was another one of those dishes where I was puzzled where to start.  The fish was well fried.  It had a nice crust and was very tender.  The French Fried Ramps and Pork Belly was set opposite the fish and was also very good.  The other elements were very delicate.  They did taste good by themselves but they worked better as an accompaniment to the fish or pork belly.

After the fish came a dish that was based on Bouef Bourgignon.  The beef was a Braised Beef Cheek that was fork tender.  It was served with Carrots Two Ways, as Roasted Baby Carrots and as Carrot Chips, and with a little Creme Fraiche to fill out the taste.  This was amazing.  As I said, the beef was fork tender, but it was also very flavorful.  The roasted baby carrots were tender, of course, and the carrot chips had a nice crunch to them, but the chips were surprisingly flavorful as well.

After four dishes, while I had liked the look of every dish, I had only completely liked every other dish.  If the trend was going to continue, I should have expected a dish that was beautiful with elements that tasted really good but did not, in the end, come completely together.  This dish broke the trend and it was in fact, one of my favorites.  It was Filet Mignon with Fried Shallots, Grilled Bok Choy, and Worcestershire Barbecue Sauce.  It was a high end spin on Texas barbecue.  The shallots were everything that you might expect in good onion rings.  They were crunchy and salty on the outside and soft and oniony on the inside.  The filet mignon was cooked medium rare and was very tender and juicy and the bok choy maintained it's fresh crispness while adding a nice grilled smokiness to it.

I am not sure the order made sense to me but the next course was a salad.  I am sure many people would have liked this salad because all of the elements were fresh and crisp and the dish was very flavorful.  The green in this salad was Bibb Lettuce, it was topped with Macadamia Chips, and Fennel, served with Asian Pear, and sprinkled with Licorice Root.  The creamy vinaigrette was served on the side and while I am sure it was very tasty, I don't remember what it had in it.  Every part of this salad was fresh and crisp and the licorice root provided a nice spice to the dish but as I really don't care for pears, I have to call this a fail.

The next dish was a very creative cheese course.  There was a wedge of Goat Cheese in the center framed by Candied Walnuts and Figs, which was all set with a Golden Squash Puree.  It was a simple dish that was artfully presented.  It presented both sweet and savory both of which paired well with the cheese.

Generally with multi-course meals, there is a palate cleanser served between the entree and the dessert.  Sometimes it is counted as a course, sometimes it is not.  Many times it is a sorbet.  In the case of Sprout, a palate cleanser was served between the last entree and dessert and as everything that was brought to the diner was counted as a dish in the 10 course meal, this counted as a dish.  The palate cleanser was a Grapefruit Sorbet topped with Red Flower Petals of some sort and paired with a Sauternes.  There are many things I could say about this.  It was made well but there really wasn't any element of this that I liked.  I like grapefruit but for whatever reason, the grapefruit flavor was too strong.  The flavor of the flower petals did go with the sorbet but I didn't like the way it felt.  The Sauternes was very sweet.  Sauternes are supposed to be very sweet but for me, it was too sweet.  I understood the idea of the dish but I didn't care for the execution.

The dessert was beautiful.  It was a Chocolate Tart Shell filled with Mascarpone Powder and topped with a Graham Cracker Cookie and Chocolate Ribbon.  There was a smear of Housemade Caramel off to the side.  It actually kind of reminded me of a S'more.  Together everything was very good although with the mascarpone powder, you did have to be a little careful.  At one point, it felt like I had swallowed some dust and I started coughing a little.  It tasted good but it was also a little irritating.

The last course was the equivalent of the after dinner mint.  It was a Financier Cake and a Grapefruit Gellee served with a sprig of fresh mint.  It was a simple presentation for a couple of simple bites which were prepared perfectly.  The Financier was light, spongy and buttery, with a nice almond flavor.  The gelee had a nice grapefruit flavor (as opposed to the sorbet) and while it wasn't quite as firm as a gummy candy might be, it did kind of remind me of that..  It was a nice and simple end to a very complex meal.

While I didn't like every dish that was presented to me at Sprout, I will say that part of that was my own personal preference and not the execution of the dish.  I found the dishes very creative and visually stimulating even if they didn't completely come together on the palate.  There are other dishes that I saw on the menu that I thought sounded interesting so I may very well come back.