Analogue

I have said several times that I like living in Logan Square because of the many good places to eat nearby.  There are several good restaurants, but there are also several bars that serve really good food.  Some of those places though, might be a little hard to find if you don't know where to look.  I went to one of these places, Analogue, recently for dinner and it is very low key.  There is no sign of any kind (not even a beer sign by the door), but there is an address and the building is black, so it isn't completely anonymous.  There is a host station at the entrance, but I came at a time when there wasn't much of a crowd, so there was a sign that said "Please seat yourself".  I sat at the bar because i thought that would be the easiest for everyone.  The space is small, seating about 40 people at tables and a few leather-covered booths.  There is also a larger, round table at the back of the bar that might seat eight.  The interior of the bar is also black but it also includes several mirrors to give the illusion of a larger space.  The lighting is dim, although not nearly as dim as other places where I have been.  The lighting was provided by track lighting.  The soundtrack was indie rock.  We were listening, mostly, to the War on Drugs, when I was there.  As this place is a bar and the head bartender has a pretty good pedigree, I decided to try out one of their cocktails.  I went with a Double Vision which had Beefeater Gin, Lemon, Ramazzotti (a medium Italian Amaro), and Strawberry Black Pepper Syrup.  This was a very good drink and it was fun to watch the bartender make it.  It was tart and sweet with a spicy finish from the black pepper with the herbal and juniper flavors from the gin there but deemphasized somewhat.

The food menu at Analogue is not divided into the standard appetizer, entree, dessert format, in fact, it isn't divided at all.  It does, however, go, more or less, from top to bottom from smallest to largest and finishes with bread pudding at the bottom.  I started near the top of the menu with something that I had never heard of and had no idea what I would be getting.  It was called a Stuffed Mirliton filled with Smoked Mushroom Stuffing and served with Black Garlic Vinaigrette.  After I got the dish, I still wasn't sure what I had.  I could see that the stuffing was pressed into a pear shaped fruit or vegetable and the vinaigrette was spread on the plate.  It was pretty good so I didn't regret what I ordered.  The mirliton itself had a mild taste and kind of reminded me texturally of a potato.  The stuffing had smoky and mushroom flavors and added a lot as far as flavor to the mirliton as did the black garlic vinaigrette.  I looked it up later and discovered that mirliton is also called chayote which I have heard of but had never had.  It is a member of the gourd family native to Mexico and is treated like summer squash.

For my next course, I went with a Po' Boy.  There were a few Po' Boys offered but I had to go with the Cochon de Lait Po' Boy, a Milk Roasted Pork Shoulder with Creole Mustard, Lettuce, Tomato, Pickles, and Mayo served on a Baguette.  The sandwich was pretty big, but it was also pretty good.  The pork was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, the mustard added some spice, the bread was crusty with a soft interior, and the lettuce tomato, and pickles added what you would expect for a submarine sandwich (which is essentially what a po' boy is).

As I implied, the only thing on the menu that could be classified as a dessert was the Bread Pudding so that's what I ordered. It came with Chocolate Chips, Pralines, Rum Sauce, and Whipped Cream.  Despite the fact that the food that I had had had been pretty good, because they only offered Bread Pudding for dessert and the fact that the place is essentially a bar, I really didn't expect much.  I was gladly mistaken.  It was very good and actually kind of decadent.  It was sweet with a lot of flavors, and a very good finish to a very good meal.  While it isn't a place I would go expecting high end cuisine, it is a good cocktail bar that serves good food and I would be happy to return. 



 

Trellis - Brunch

I have a tendency to lean toward the savory side when I go out for bunch.  I will say though, that for the most part, I do tend to stay on the breakfast side of brunch.  While I will occasionally have pizza for breakfast, I will say that calling pizza a breakfast food is a stretch, most of the time.  My adventure to hit some good and interesting brunch places took me to Trellis this month.  I had been to this location in it's previous incarnation as Gaslight Bar and Grille (although not for brunch) and at the time, it was pretty good in the world of bars and grille.  As Trellis, it has updated the look of the place, giving it a more modern look (while still maintaining a vintage vibe) although it is still a narrow bar with an elevated section at the back of the bar where we sat.  The menu (both brunch and regular) features a selection of charcuterie and cheese as well as oysters, sandwiches and pizzas.  The brunch menu has pancakes, French toast, and eggs, while the regular menu swaps those out for things small plates such as steak tartare, venison meat balls, and fondue.  As we were coming for brunch, it was going to be the eggs, pancakes, and French toast.  I had recently read an article raving about Trellis' Fig Jam and Bacon Pizza so I knew what I was going to get before I even looked at the menu (although looking at the menu did make things a bit more difficult).  Before getting to the pizza though, I did start out with an order of Fruits and Berries.  I was a little worried about ordering this because in many incarnations of the fruit salad, I have seen a lot of canteloupe, a fruit that I am not overly fond of.  Talking to the waitress beforehand, I found out that while there was canteloupe in the dish, there was also a lot of other fruit so it hopefully wasn't going to be a huge issue.  I really liked the presentation as it came in a mason jar and at first glance I saw no canteloupe which made me happy.  The jar was topped with Strawberries, but also contained raspberries, Blackberries, Blueberries, Pineapple, Honeydew, Watermelon, and after some digging, 3 balled pieces of canteloupe.  The fruit was fresh and sweet with a mild tartness as good fresh fruit should have.  Three pieces of canteloupe was fine because I was easily able to eat around them and there was still plenty to eat.

Then came the pizza.  It was a large single serving size that looked like it was hand tossed and cooked in a fired oven.  The dough was both crisp on the outside and chewy and had some nice browning  to it.  In addition to the fig jam, which was spread over the top like a well frosted streusel, and the bacon, which was finely cubed and scattered over the top, the pizza also had Caramelized Onions, Mindoro Blue Cheese, a rich Danish-style blue cheese made in Mindoro, Wisconsin, and was topped with an egg, which you have to have on a breakfast pizza.  I had my egg over hard because I didn't want to deal with the yolk.  The fig jam provided a sweetness which emphasized the sweetness of the bacon, the onions, and the blue cheese.  The blue cheese added a depth of flavor with a nicely bitter finish which played well with the onions.  The egg added a savory finish.

While pizza might not generally be thought of as a breakfast (brunch) dish, in this case it really worked and I liked the way that it was made.  There were a few other things on the menu that really intrigued me so I will definitely have to return, for brunch and for dinner.    

Toft's Dairy

I went to Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio over the 4th of July weekend.  While we went for the roller coasters, we did not stay in the park and no matter how much time you spend there, sometimes you need to eat.  A friend, who grew up in Sandusky, recommended a couple of things to eat while we were there.  The first were the Cedar Point Fries

which I already knew about and loved,  but the other thing was Toft's Dairy.  She had mentioned Toft's Dairy in the past in reference to the fact that their serving sizes were enormous so I was interested and tried to figure out how to plan a trip there.  We noticed that it was west of town so we decided to stop when we were leaving.  While we were at Cedar Point, we also noticed that there was a Toft's Ice Cream and Toft's Custard Shop there.  We had made the decision to stop at the dairy for the full experience, so we weren't going to have the ice cream at Cedar Point, but since the custard was only listed as a mix on Toft's website and we were going to be going for the ice cream anyway, we figured that having the custard at Cedar Point was not skimping.  The custard at Cedar Point (like all food) was pretty expensive.  They offered Chocolate, Vanilla, and Swirl, which is fairly standard as custards go.  I ordered the swirl so I could try both flavors.  While it wasn't anything out of the ordinary, it was light and creamy, as custard should be, and very good.  Those of us that tried it, enjoyed it and while it wasn't the ice cream itself, it gave us a lot of anticipation for the trip to the dairy.

When we traveled to Toft's, there was a little bit of surprise for the fact that it wasn't really in the city.  This makes sense though, because it allows them to be closer to the dairy farms from which they receive their raw materials.  It was on a main road and it was pretty big, so it would have been difficult to miss.    The ice cream parlor looks like a classic ice cream parlor with a list of flavors behind the counter and the ice creams, there were about 70 flavors, behind glass and labeled individually.  The ice cream parlor was white and there were chairs (like old school chairs) against the wall opposite the counter and round tables with parasols under a tent outside.  I was warned ahead of time, that a small may be sufficient so that is what I planned on ordering.  I was having to deal with the loss of my glasses so I didn't notice that you could get two flavors with a small.  It was fine though because it was hard enough trying to choose one flavor because many looked good.  If I had had to choose two, I would have also had to consider what flavors complemented each other while barely being able to see what I had to choose from.  I ordered a waffle cone (although a cup was cheaper and probably easier to eat).  I ordered Muddy's Sea Salt Slam, a flavor honoring Muddy, the mascot of the Toledo Mudhens, the AAA affiliate of the Detroit Tigers.  The ice cream consisted of salty caramel streaks in Vanilla Ice Cream with Chocolate Covered Peanuts.  I really liked this ice cream.  The ice cream itself was sweet and salty as were the peanuts, which were plentiful and were also sweet and salty.  I am glad that my friend warned us just to go with the small, because while I finished my ice cream, there were others that couldn't do it.  Being that this is in Ohio, this isn't a place I will be visiting often, but when I return to Cedar Point, I will definitely push for making this a tradition.

Trenchermen - Dinner

There are several restaurants that I have gone to for brunch and enjoyed that also apparently serve a very good dinner.  Some of the places, in fact, are better known for dinner than their brunch.  Trenchermen, where I went for brunch last year was actually open for dinner for about 6 months before they started serving their brunch.  Having said that, I went their for brunch first and just recently went for dinner.  I mentioned then, that they seemed to really have a handle on savory and have a nice selection of cocktails.  This is true for dinner as it was for brunch.  On the day that I went, they offer a beer and burger special and the place was full with people having that.  While it does sound interesting in theory and the value is very good, the burger that they were offering really didn't do it for me.  I may have to return sometime for the beer and burger special but I was interested in the main menu.  Trenchermen offers a prix fixe where you can order two appetizers, an entree, and dessert which are your choices from the main menu so that's what I did.  While I was deciding on my meal, I started with a cocktail called Alliance Tale.  It was a poor pun and I couldn't figure out any connection to the cocktail, but it was good.  It had Gin, Amaro, Allspice, and Lemon.  It was bittersweet and spicy with a tart finish and actually kind of reminded me of dessert.  It did not, however, make it to my dessert, so I couldn't pair it, but I was not disappointed by that fact.

My dinner started with Octopus which was served with Posole Broth, Masa Balls, Marrow Beans, and Crushed Corn.  This was interesting and quite a surprise.  Posole typically uses hominy and pork.  The corn was there, not exactly as hominy, but similar to corn nuts.  THe pork was replaced with octopus which was pretty different as well.  The octopus was served as small tentacles and seemed to be dried because they were actually pretty crunchy.  They were flavorful and texturally, they reminded me of chow mein noodles.  The masa balls were big, thick, and dense, and actually reminded me texturally of thick tentacles.  The marrow beans were well cooked and added a savory flavor to the broth which was nice and spicy.  This was a small dish (as it was an appetizer), but I would have been happy to eat much more of this.

For my second appetizer, I went with a dish that to me, felt much more like an appetizer.  It was called Tortellini en Brodo and contained Chorizo 'Nduja (a spreadable Italian sausage using pork shoulder, belly, jowls, tripe, and Calabrian peppers), Apricot Chutney, Fennel, Saffron, and Mint.  It was sweet, spicy, and savory, with a minty finish and I really liked it. 

My entree was more meat and was very savory and earthy.  It consisted of a "Sheboygan" Porchetta (a boneless pork roast wrapped in pork skin and stuffed with bratwurst), Mustard Gnocchi, Beer Onions, and Hakuri Turnips.  The gnocchi was very tender as gnocchi is supposed to be.  It was actually about the same size and shape as the turnips although very different in taste and texture.  The turnips being more dense and crunchy with an earthy sweet taste and the gnocchi tender with a slightly sour mustard flavor which paired with the mustard seeds on the porchetta.  The onions were well cooked and tender with a sweet and malty flavor and a slight onion finish.  The porchetta was tender and meaty with a sweet flavor that matched with everything and topped with mustard seeds to pair with the gnocchi.  While it had a lot of sweet, it also presented many other flavors and a wealth of textures and it was a bit of an adventure (in a good way) to eat.

The savory side of the menu was full of some nicely complex dishes full of different textures and flavors, the dessert continued that theme with a Matcha Semifreddo (literally, half cold, a frozen dessert combining two parts ice cream or gelato and one part whipped cream) with Bee Pollen Brittle, Sesame Sauce, Strawberry Sorbet and Fresh Strawberries.  It was sweet, a little tart from the strawberries, a little bitter from the sesame sauce and the Matcha (tea) and very enjoyable to eat. 

I really enjoyed dinner here.  The food was hearty, complex, and full of surprises.  The service was very good even as busy as the restaurant was and they were happy to answer questions.  I will definitely return because there is more on the menu to try.

Dinner Lab - Heterarchy

I was again invited to an underground dinner hosted by Dinner Lab recently.  This dinner was part of a chef tour in which they brought 10 chefs to 9 cities and the chef that was liked best overall would get their own restaurant in one of the cities that they toured.  The chef for this dinner, Jacob Cureton, was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, but he spent much of his culinary career in New Orleans in such places as Cuvee, Johnny V's, Emeril Lagasse's Delmonico, and Bacchanal.  The food that he was serving was inspired by the food he grew up eating in Alabama and Louisiana.  His restaurant concept was called Heterarchy which is defined by Wikipedia as a system of organization where the elements of the organization are unranked.  I read this in the context of restaurant organization as a system where there is no single leader.  Personally, I am not sure how this would work in a restaurant organization, but I wish him luck if he gets the opportunity to try it.  The space where we had our dinner was a partially rehabbed building that was formerly occupied by the Salvation Army.  The space we were in was enormous and open and the five tables that we were using for dinner were practically swallowed by the space.  The ceiling was unfinished as were the columns holding the ceiling and there was some damage to some of the walls, but the hardwood floor looked as if it had recently been refinished.  The finishing/serving area was open and close to where the tables were so we could see what was going on if we were interested and the bar was situated in one corner of the space.  There is a separate prep kitchen that is actually a kitchen where the cooks can actually get started.

Our first drink, before dinner, was a spin on an Arnold Palmer using tea-infused vodka and lemonade.  While it was creative and definitely Southern, it was also a bit too sweet for my tastes which seemed to be a recurring theme with my alcohol.

We were seated and served our first course which was Cured Cobia and Duck Liver with Sugar Snaps (Peas), Popcorn, Chili Oil, Spring Onion Puree, and Crispy Shallots.  For the most part, I really liked this.  There was a wealth of flavors and textures in this and the chili oil added spice.  I wouldn't have thought that cobia and duck liver would have gone together, but they worked.  As the cobia was cured, it had a texture that was a bit more firm than would normally be expected.  The duck liver seemed not to be the fattened duck liver that would be foie gras, but it still had a relatively mild flavor.  The peas were fresh and sweet, the crispy shallots were like mini onion rings and added a little crunch.  Eaten with everything else, the popcorn added some crunch, by itself though, it was popcorn and I would have been happy without it.  With this dish, we were served a cocktail that they called Death From A Buzz which had Gin, Honey and Cucumber in it.  Gin is my favorite liquor, and I do like honey and cucumber, but the cucumber overwhelmed everything else.

For our second course, we were served a classic combination in an interesting way.  The menu listed the course as Summer Root Vegetables with Charred Eggplant, Pan-Seared Black Eyed Peas, Chevre Crumble, and Fried Herbs.  What the course was was essentially a beet and goat cheese sandwich with black eyed peas.  The beets were both solid and pureed, the chevre was firm, and the kale was crispy.  The black-eyed peas were on the bottom and added some depth of flavor.

 The next course was very definitely Southern.  It was a Corn and Groundnut Stew with Shiitake Bacon and Boiled Peanuts.  The groundnuts in the groundnut stew were peanuts, so this was a very peanuty dish.  I was a little confused as to what shiitake bacon might be but it turned out to be shiitake mushrooms fried crispy like bacon which added a crispy texture.  Boiled peanuts have a slightly different flavor than do fried peanuts which most people are used to.  They have a more bitter peanuty flavor and don't have the salt that most peanuts do.  I have had ground nut stew before as an African dish, and while this was not bad, it needed something like the spice found in the African groundnut stew.

The last savory course was Coriander and Sumac Crusted Venison with Pickled and Roasted Carrots, Blueberry Infused Butter, and Kohlrabi.  While this is not a complaint, I generally do not think of venison as a Southern meat even though deer are found throughout the United States.  The blueberries, carrots, and kohlrabi as well, make this feel like a very midwestern dish.  In any case, I liked many things about this a lot.  The venison was perfectly cooked, the spices with which it was crusted added a bright and fresh flavor.  The carrots and blueberries were firm and fresh and everything tasted good, but it could have done with a little less sauce. 

Immediately before dessert was served we were brought a small glass of champagne with slightly macerated strawberries.  I figured that it was to be paired with dessert (especially since champagne was listed as one of the dessert elements), so I waited for dessert.  We were served a Chocolate Panna Cotta, with a Vanilla Muffin, Dried Strawberries, and Sour Cream Sherbet.  There were many things that I liked about this.  There were chocolate chips in the shortcake that tied it to the panna cotta, the sour cream sherbet was good on its own.  The strawberries with the sherbet and muffin made it like a strawberry shortcake and also tied it to the strawberries in the champagne.  While I liked the edible parts of this, the champagne kind of fell flat (pun not intended).

I enjoyed my experience at this dinner.  The staff were friendly and professional, the space was entertaining, and I liked the chef.  While I did like the food and wish the chef much luck in his future endeavors, I do think that his menu could do with a few more tweaks.    

Smalls Smoke Shack and More

The size of a restaurant has little to do with the quality of food that comes out of it's kitchen.  I have been to some small places that put out some good food, but I think I may have recently found a definite competitor for the smallest restaurant in town.  The place has a very apt name, that being Smalls. Smoke Shack and More.  Located in Albany Park, it is a counter service restaurant with six counter seats (which are different counters than the order counter).  The room is a light brown with the counter, the seats, an order window (where orders come out), a drink refrigerator, and that's about all.  There was a sign written on a brown paper bag by the counter that listed the specials in addition to the menu above the order window.  I went there thinking that I wanted some barbecue and making my standard barbecue order so I could compare it (half-rack of baby back ribs) but then I saw the Brisket Bibimbap.  I really like bibimbap and I thought if I ordered it, I could get an idea about both their barbecue and their Asian food so it would be a win-win.  With the bibimbap, I ordered one of the vegetables on special, the Long Beans.  While I had heard of long beans, I had never tried them, so that's what the order would be.  The order came out on a metal try like what you might expect at a barbecue place with the long beans in a Chinese takeout box.  The bibimbap was separated into it's component parts, as bibimbap is generally served, with the fried egg on top of the rice.  With this Bibimbap, it included, in addition to the Soy Maple Sesame Glazed Brisket (which was also sprinkled with Sesame Seeds), Carrots, Bean Sprouts, Garlic Fried Rice, the obligatory Fried Egg, and Korean Chile Paste.  It was also served with a small side of kimchi.  I am used to seeing a little green and Daikon Radishes in Bibimbap, but I suppose it depends on what's available.  I did taste everything separately before combining it all and everything did taste fine on it's own, if a little plain.  Eaten together as it's supposed to be though, it was very good.  The brisket was shredded and was sweet and tender with soy, maple and sesame flavors, that played well with the garlic flavor of the fried rice.  The carrots and bean sprouts were very fresh and crisp, and the egg was well fried.  The chile paste was thick and spicy and had what I thought was a peanuty flavor, but after a little research think that it may have been the fermented soybeans.  While it was pretty spicy, mixed with everything else, it was toned down.  It provided a spicy finish to a flavorful dish without being overwhelming.  The Kimchi that was served on the side was fairly standard kimchi composed mostly of cabbage.  It was sour and spicy, but still pretty good.  For the Long Beans that I had ordered on the side, I had never had them before, so I didn't really know what to expect.  I had heard of them, and I knew that they were eaten in Asian cuisines, but as far as texture and taste, I was clueless.  I had read that like their name implies, they are very long.  Wikipedia states that they grow to about eighteen inches.  When served, they looked like haricot verts (French green beans that are slightly more slender than regular green beans).  They were cut into more manageable size pieces and not served long which was fine because I don't know that it would have been that fun to try and eat a whole long bean.  Texturally, they were like also similar to green beans, but they had a flavor more similar to asparagus.  They were very good and a good complement to the bibimbap.  I really liked my lunch here.  The food was an interesting combination and I will definitely return or at least stop for take out to try more of the menu.  

Tweet ...Let's Eat - Brunch

I will admit that when I choose a restaurant whether for brunch or for some other meal, I tend to rely on online buzz.  I will listen to opinions of friends occasionally, but if I haven't really seen much online, I may be a little skeptical.  This was the case when I planned a brunch at Tweet ..Let's Eat.  Some friends recommended it and while I knew that it was associated with Big Chicks Bar, a very popular gay bar in Uptown, but that's all I really knew.  I was told that Tweet was very popular, that it took no reservations and was cash only, so I warned the people that were joining me and I planned for a visit a little earlier than I usually plan my brunches.  I arrived a little early and confirmed what my friends said, that it was a very popular place.  The fact that we went on Father's Day may have contributed to the crowd, but I saw enough people that didn't seem to be or be with parents that I would guess that it's popular in any case.  I also saw that it looked rather small, or at least has a small storefront.  When I entered, I saw that while the patio was small and the entrance was narrow, it did have two rooms and was fairly deep.  The room was set up with banquette seating on both sides with a walkway between the two sets of tables.  The banquette was wood but it did have throw pillows which did add some comfort.  The walls were covered with pictures, both photographic and painting that are curated around the notion of space, interior, exterior, urban, and rural.  The images were very good and it was interesting to look at all of them.  When we were seated, we were greeted with a plate of Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake that was sprinkled with Powdered Sugar.  The cake was moist, sweet, and had a lot of chocolate chips.  I am sure that it would have been very good with coffee had I actually ordered coffee.  I ordered a breakfast cocktail which I enjoyed.

We made our orders and found that all of our dishes came with a Fruit Salad.  The fruit was very fresh and sweet, but I would have enjoyed it much more had it not included Cantaloupe.  Other than the cantaloupe, the salad included Pineapple, Strawberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Honeydew, and Watermelon.  With the variety of fruit, the salad was a joy to eat and if it didn't have cantaloupe, I would have really enjoyed it. 

Between the coffeecake and the fruit salad, it was unnecessary to get a sweet to pair with my savory main course.  So on to my main course, the menu was pretty big, and included, in addition to the standard eggs, pancakes, French toast, skillets, and omelettes,  hash, a variety of quiches, and a good selection of breakfast burritos, which is where I went.  I ordered a Numero Ocho also known as the Dirty Man.  It was a meat lovers burrito that contained Chorizo, Ham, Bacon, Scrambled Eggs, Onions, and Hash Browns.  It was topped with Cheddar Cheese and Cilantro, and served with Creme Fraiche, Pico de Gallo, and Salsa.  The tortilla, if not made in-house, was fresh and it was stuffed.  Unfortunately, for the first several bites, all I got was scrambled eggs and hash browns.  I thought at first, that I had the wrong burrito, but I eventually found it on the other side and it was much better with the meat.  The salsa did have some spice, but it was not exceptionally spicy and it did add flavor to the burrito, as did the creme fraiche and the pico de gallo.

I really enjoyed my meal here.  The space looked really nice, the art was nice, the staff was very friendly, and the food was good.  I was surprised that it stayed so far under the radar online and have to think that the crowds are locals.  In any case, it was very good and would enjoy returning.