Corinne - Brunch - Denver

 

My second day in Denver was going to be a travel day, though it was also going to be a beer day, so I wanted to make sure that I had a good meal, before I started anything.  I was going to make a brewery stop before I traveled and while I have no problem eating at a brewery/brewpub, but I was visiting on a weekday and wasn't sure what food they would have available, so I decided to play it safe and visit a restaurant that I knew would be serving brunch.  Located downtown, near the capitol, in a Hyatt, Corinne was very open with a garage door wall opening onto a sidewalk patio.  The dining room was divided into front and back with a rail between them.  The front was attached to the patio and had the bar, the rear is where the kitchen entrance is and it more properly looked like a dining room.  The lighting in the front was natural from the open garage doors augmented with track and recessed lighting.  The lighting in the rear dining room was hanging lighting.  I was seated in the front dining room, though I was seated next to the rail so I could see what was happening in each dining room.  I started with some good medium roast coffee from another local roaster (different from the one used at Ivy on 7th).

For food, I started out with some Avocado Toast.  It was served on Country Bread, topped with Pepitas and Lemon Zest.  The Pepitas added a nice crunch and the Lemon Zest added some tartness to the creamy richness of the avocado.  The country bread was a dense whole wheat toasted to a nice medium.  It was crisp, but not so crisp that it became dry.  It was filling and a nice start.

For my main course, I went with a spin on a Breakfast Sandwich.  It had Chicken Sausage, Pepper Jack Cheese, and Scrambled Eggs on a Brioche Bun with Jalapeno Relish on the side.  Texturally, the sandwich was very soft.  It had a nice mouthfeel, but without the Jalapeno Relish, it was a bit bland.  The relish, basically a Pico de Gallo was very fresh and spicy, but not overwhelming.  It complemented the ingredients of the sandwich and improved it immensely.  I enjoyed my food at Corinne and found it to be a great start to a great day.  

Ivy on 7th - Brunch - Denver

When I travel, the most important meal for me is brunch.  I travel to see a specific area, so I will undoubtedly be doing a lot of exploring, so it's good to start things off with a good meal.  This was especially important in Denver when I planned on doing an all day beer crawl.  I was staying in the Speer neighborhood of Denver and Ivy on 7th was both close, in Capital Hill, and on the way to RINO, where I wanted to go.  When I arrived, I noticed that it looked brand new.  In fact, the temporary banner above the door said NOW OPEN.  When I asked, I found the restaurant had been open for less than 3 months, replacing another wine bar.  It had a nice patio, but I decided to sit inside and learn about the place.  The space was very open  with brick walls, a cement floor, and an unfinished ceiling.  While I could see the dining room from the bar, it was separated by a half wall, I imagine to control traffic around the bar.

 

As I would be drinking, I decided both to stick with coffee with my brunch and to make sure I ate something hearty.  The coffee was a medium roast from a local roaster, Pablo's Coffee, and I really liked it.  For my meal, I had what they called an Ivy Cristo which was a spin on a Monte Cristo, a Ham and Cheese Sandwich served on French Toast.  For their version, it had Local Ham, Apricot Jam, and Brie, on Pressed French Sourdough Toast.  It was both sweet and savory and very gooey.  The fact that it was pressed in a panini press made it compact and crisp and very good.  As a side, I had Seasonal Fruits and Berries.  It included Grapes, Strawberries, Blackberries, Blueberries, and Raspberries which were sliced and tasted very fresh.  It also included no Cantaloupe which improved it immensely. 

My brunch was very good.  The place looked nice, it was very relaxed, and the staff was very friendly.  The food was also very fresh and good and if I return to Denver, this will definitely be on my list.       

Clever Rabbit - Tasting Collective

 

In recent years, I have been looking at restaurants by how they do their vegetables.  Most restaurants you can expect to do steak well,  As well, most places can do good pasta or potatoes and you can find a good burger at many higher end restaurants.  The vegetables at many places are going to be very fresh, but how creative is the dish that they are in and does it keep the focus on the vegetables?  In that vein, I have been interested in going to Clever Rabbit, a vegetable-focused, though not vegetarian, restaurant in Wicker Park and I was very happy when Tasting Collective hosted a dinner there.  Located in a row of bars and restaurants on Division, it does have a great patio with a sign above the patio entrance, but the building is painted gray and the sign/lettering is kind of unobtrusive.  The bar and dining room are done in neutral colors, though there were David Bowie/Ziggy Stardust and LCD Soundsystem prints in the back of the dining room and the soundtrack was classic Pink Floyd.  While I mentioned that the menu was vegetable focused, it followed both in both the food and beverage menus.  The cocktail that I ordered, Spanish Moon, contained, in addition to Prairie Organic Gin, Strawberry, Lemon, Mint, White Balsamic, and Q Tonic, and was garnished with Juniper Berries.  Similar to a standard Gin and Tonic, it was was more tart and fruit flavored with an evergreen finish provided by the Juniper Berries.  I like Gin and Tonics, but with the quality of both the Gin and Tonic used and the fruit added, this amped things up and I really liked it.

The food menu at Clever Rabbit, while vegetable focused was also literally all over the map.  There were dishes inspired by cuisine from all over the world.  We started our journey in Mexico with Summer Squash Sopes with Tempura Blossoms, Black Beans, Honeysuckle, and Cotija Cheese.  The Squash Blossom was delicate, flavorful, and had a nice crunch.  The Black Beans gave the dish some heartiness, and the Sopes themselves were thick and crunchy with a nice corn flavor.  It was a very nice start and a good way to bring anticipation for the rest of the meal.

From Mexico we went to South Asia with Sweet Pea Paratha with Carrot Curry and Goat's Milk Curry.  Paratha, like Naan is a flatbread, though Paratha is fried vs. Naan, which is baked.  The Goat's Milk and Carrot Curries were served together and had a tart and spicy flavor which was very good even without eating with the bread.  The bread was soft and fluffy with a nice hollow inside which could be filled with the curry, but it could easily enjoyed on it's own.

From India we came back to the United States (or France, depending on how far you want to take it).  We were served Chicken Liver Mousse on Rye Shortbread topped with Raspberry Jam and Spruce Tips.  This was a really interesting combination that I would never have thought of, but worked really well.  The rye shortbread provided a firm foundation and a bitter base from the rye that actually complemented the Chicken Liver Mousse.  The Raspberry Jam brought a sweet tartness that brought out the sweetness of the mousse.  The Spruce Tips were sweet, bitter, and herbal and tied everything together (as well as going with my drink).

After our trip back to the United States, we returned to Europe, Italy specifically, for some pasta.  We were served Buckwheat Pappardelle Noodles with Porcini Mushrooms, Spigarello Broccoli (an heirloom broccoli considered the parent of broccoli rabe), and Pepperoncino.  It was very savory and hearty with a nice spicy finish and I really liked it.

From Italy, we returned to the United States to times past for a Meat and Three, a Meat entree served with three sides, though as far as the dish was concerned, it was very Mexican.  In this case, the meat was a Goat Barbacoa served with Fry Bread, Pickles and Radishes, and Braised Greens.  Things could be eaten separately or in any combination, though admittedly, the pickles and radishes were better with the meat.  All of the elements were very good and could make for a very good open faced sandwich, though it would stack high and be a little messy.  I found the best combination to be the barbacoa on bread with the radishes and pickles and the greens on the side.

After our journey we finished with dessert which was essentially American, but there was a bit of a an Asian spin on it.  It was a Cherry Cheesecake with Dark Chocolate, Sesame, and Marcona Almonds.  The Cheesecake was fairly standard, but good, though the Sesame did add an interesting flavor.  It was also served on a very cool rabbit plate.  The food here was very good, the vibe was very relaxed, and the soundtrack, which was vinyl, was pretty great.  I will definitely have to return. 

 

Crepes Et Amis

 

I like to see what there is to eat no matter where I go and that includes when I go to Michigan to visit my family.  My parents live in downtown Midland, Michigan and I noticed a crepe place that I was interested in a few years ago.  It took me a while, but I was finally able to visit Crepes et Amis for brunch the last time I was in Midland.  It's a small counter service space with the kitchen on one side and bench seating on the other.  There are also some tables in the front and a couple of tables in the back, opposite the bench seating and next to the kitchen.  The lights are hanging lights, strung above the bench and chandelier-like over the order counter.  There are also some wall hangings consisting of framed coffee bags and Paris art with a vintage clock in the center.  The entire look is both rustic and very homey.

 

Crepes et Amis specializes in crepes, both sweet and savory, but they also do waffles and pastries (and coffee).  While there were several waffles that looked good, as it was my first time there, I wanted to focus on the crepes.  I got two crepes, one sweet and one savory.  I also had a cup of coffee from a local roaster that was pretty good.  The crepes were thin and easy to cut, but they also held together well enough to hold its fillings.  My sweet crepe was the Banberry, which had Bananas, Strawberries, and Nutella, and was drizzled with Nutella and Powdered Sugar.  It was sweet with a little tartness from the strawberries and the Nutella added a sweet and chocolatey nuttiness that tied everything together.  My second Crepe was called Good Morning Paris, and it was a perfect Breakfast.  Inside the the delicate crepe was Smoked Ham, Scrambled Eggs, Swiss Cheese, Brown Sugar, and served with an Orange on the side.  While I will generally order both sweet and savory dishes for brunch, this was both sweet and savory in one.  The crepes were really good.  The space was very friendly and welcoming, and I will be sure to return. 

All Together Now - Brunch

 

If you look around Chicago, you will find many ethnic groceries with an attached cafe.  There are also many bottle shops where you can buy beer and wine that also have an attached bar, locally known as a slashie.  To a lesser extent, you can also find restaurants that also sell packaged foods (normally gourmet).  Last year, a place opened up in Ukrainian Village that was both a bottle shop/bar and a cafe/gourmet packaged goods store.  Called All Together Now (and originally Brothers & Sisters), it aims to fulfill many of your quick food and drink desires.  The front is a glass fronted storefront and walking in, the first thing that you will encounter is the Cheese and Cured Meat display counter.  There is a counter behind the cheese and meat display with a cash register on the left, where you place your order, and seating to the right for drinking and dining.  There is a beer refrigerator opposite the counter with a lot of local beers and wine shelves on either side of the beer refrigerator and around a pillar in the center of the room.  Aside from the counter seating, there are tables in the back, next to the beer and wine and a large communal table in the front, where we sat, that was made from a large log.

 

As I mentioned, you place your order at the cash register and pay up front.  You then find a seat with your beverage and your food is brought to you.  It was a warm day when we went, so I went with an iced coffee from Ruby Coffee Roasters.  It was a Central American blend with a medium roast and flavors of chocolate and citrus and a little inherent sweetness (I don't add cream or sugar to my coffee).  It was very good and I think I ended up having a couple of cups.  While I was waiting for my food, I decided to take a look at the cheese and saw something that excited me a lot.  When I was at a fine dining restaurant earlier this year, on their tasting menu one of the courses included a grilled cheese sandwich made with Tomme Cheese which was the best grilled cheese sandwich that I have ever had.  When I saw that All Together Now had Tomme Cheese in their display case, I had to try it again, so they cut me a small sample.  Tomme Cheese is a hard French Swiss-style Cheese made from Skim Milk.  It is light, but despite the lack of fat found in other cheeses, it does have a lot of flavor.  While this wasn't as good as the Grilled Cheese Sandwich (and Fermented Tomato Soup), it was good and brought my memory back to the sandwich.

 

Normally for brunches I will tend to order a sweet course and a savory course.  In this case, I actually ordered two savory courses, though admittedly the first did have some sweetness to it.  I had what was essentially an Open Faced Beet and Goat Cheese Sandwich that was a special.  It had Golden Beets, Heirloom Tomatoes, Chervil, Chevre, and Blue Cheese, on a thick slice of some very good Country Bread.  One of my friends dining with me had another Open Faced Sandwich.  This was Creamed Eggs over Toast with Pork Fat Collards, Pickled Pearl Onions, Lemon, and Aleppo Pepper.  It looked and tasted good, but I liked mine better.  Beets and Goat Cheese seems to be a natural pairing and this worked very well.  I liked the bitterness that the blue cheese added as well.  While I did try to eat this by hand, I quickly saw that that would not happen because everything would fall off the bread, so I enjoyed it with knife and fork.

My main course was a Breakfast Sandwich.  As with most breakfast sandwiches, it was built with an egg, meat, and cheese on an English Muffin.  For this one, the meat was Underground Meats Sorpressata, the cheese was Aged Cheddar, and it was finished with Fresno Chile Aioli on a Housemade English Muffin.  While fairly standard, the ingredients used were very good and resulted in a very good sandwich.  While All Together Now is very casual, the service and the food and drink that they both sell and serve are very good and it is a good option for a stop when I am in Ukrainian Village.  

Flat & Point

 

 

There are many barbecue joints in Chicago.  Most don't do a single style, but at least most of them now smoke their meat.  A new restaurant opened up in my neighborhood, that, while they serve meat from a smoker, and use a variety of sauces to go with the meat, doesn't call itself a BBQ joint.  Called Flat + Point, which refers to the to sides of a piece of brisket, they don't refer to themselves as a barbecue joint because, as the chef said, there are only two slabs of rib from each animal and there is a lot more than that from each animal that they also serve.  The outside of the space looked very modern.  The inside has hardwood furniture and floors and an open kitchen with wood stacked in front where you can see the smoker.  I came, with Tasting Collective, for a 6 course whole animal dinner, the animal, of course, being a pig.  Before dinner started, I started things off with a Mezcal Negroni.  Negronis are generally a gin cocktail, made with Campari, Vermouth, and garnished with an orange peel.  While I like gin, I generally tend away from Negronis because I am picky about the combinations and they will frequently come out too bitter (for me).  I have never met a Mezcal Negroni, though, that I have not liked.  The sweetness and smoke from the mezcal makes the drink more than just bitter and I like it a lot.  This was very good and a nice start for a meal that would have lots of smoked meats.

 

 Our first course was a charcuterie plate, which is a logical and easy way to use offal.  Our plate included a Head Cheese with Pig Ear, Noes, Jowl, Feet, and Tail, Pork Loin, Pickles, Hard boiled Eggs, Barbecue Sauce, and a Seeded Lavash (Cracker).  I had had head cheese before, it 's basically a pressed meat that includes leftover parts.  This was pretty good.  The loin was very tender and everything tasted very good.  The Lavash was delicate but flavorful and went well with the charcuterie. 

The second course was the salad, but it was also similar to a Bruschetta.  It was Pastrami Tongue Endive Salad with Candied Walnuts and Chive Vinaigrette.  The endives were served as single pieces with the tender pastrami tongue on top.  The walnuts provided some sweetness and a crunch and the vinaigrette added some sour.

Course three was pasta.  It was a Pork Shoulder Canneloni with Pork Jus, Mushroom Duxelle, and Pea Shoots.  It was kind of funny when the dish came out, with the color and shape of the pasta, it reminded me of a plate of bones topped with greens.  Despite what the menu said, I thought we were going to have a marrow dish.  Duxelle is a dish of minced mushrooms and herbs cooked down to a paste.  With the pork shoulder being pulled, it looked like everything inside the pasta shell had been through a grinder (which contributed to the look of a bone and the thought that we would be eating marrow).  In any case it was all very flavorful and I liked it a lot.

Our next course featured pork (like every other course),  though it wasn't a major part of the dish.  It started with Creamy Polenta topped with Grilled Asparagus and Crispy Pig Skin.  Polenta is interesting.  It is simply boiled corn meal with butter, similar to grits, but it seems to come in a variety of textures.  This polenta was firm, about the texture of oatmeal, and very flavorful.  The Asparagus was plentiful and very fresh.  The Pig Skin was broken into small pieces about the size of croutons and sprinkled over the top, like croutons, that added to the flavor.

By the time our entree arrived, we were starting to get full.  It looked a little overwhelming, especially after all that we he had so far eaten.  The meat was a roulade that was actually a Porchetta that was made with everything, Pork Belly, Ham Sausage, Liver, Kidney, and Fat Back, and served over Shredded Rutabaga (done in a sauerkraut style) and Apple Butter.  While everything on this plate was eaten, it definitely went slower than the early plates.

When we reached dessert, it was like a challenge as to whether we would be able to finish it or not.  When our plates arrived, the challenge was readily accepted.  We were served Pork Fat Brioche Chocolate Bread Pudding with Dulce de Leche.  This was very good, but pretty heavy, and I was glad that I was able to walk here because riding my bike would have been uncomfortable.  I really enjoyed my dinner here and am glad that it's really close.  I will definitely return with friends.        

Mon Lapin - Montreal

 

Part of the reason that I wanted to go to Montreal in the first place was to visit the most well known restaurant in Montreal, Joe Beef.  As it is the most well known restaurant in Canada, it is also very difficult to get a reservation.  They take reservations three months in advance which are gone very quickly and I was unable to get one.  Eater Montreal, said that Joe Beef has become very tourist focused and to go instead to Mon Lapin, a Wine Bar by Joe Beef, which is located in Little Italy (as opposed to Little Burgundy which is where the other restaurants in the Joe Beef group are located) and does not take reservations.  This sounded like a good idea because I would have to take a subway to get there and it would let me explore another neighborhood.  I decided to get there when it opened both because I could much more easily get a seat and I was going on my last day and would be leaving early on the next day.  The subways were pretty cool.  They were bigger than those used in Chicago with multilevel stations.  It actually reminded me of the Tube system in London.  I arrived in the neighborhood early and explored a little.  Located on the other side of Mont Royal from Downtown, Old Town, Little Burgundy, and the port, it's smaller and looks more residential than the downtown area.  Mon Lapin is in a storefront on a main road and has a large front window and a nice patio to the side.  The inside is small, a little rustic, and bistro-like.  There is a small granite-topped bar in the rear that overlooks the kitchen where I decided to sit.  I sat to one side, next to a selection of French Liqueurs using things like quince and cherries, but the one that caught my eyes was the tomato liqueur.  They all sounded interesting, though I did not try them.

 

There was a chalkboard on the wall to the left behind me that listed the wines by the glass that were available.  I started with a dry white that had a very fruity aroma, though a dry flavor and it was very nice.  For food, I decided to go with the tasting menu.  Items on the tasting menu were also on the a la carte menu, but I figured that the chef would better be able to put a meal that flowed well, than would I, so I let the chef drive.  The food menu was very vegetable heavy, and in fact, the only meat that I had was in the first course.  I was served Radishes with an Eel Cream Sauce and a very large Razor Clam with Asparagus and topped with Pork Belly.  The Radishes were very fresh and crisp and the eel cream sauce complemented the spice of the radish well.  The best way to eat the razor clam was with both the asparagus and pork belly, though admittedly, that was a little difficult.  Every part of it was very good.  The clam was briny which complemented the saltiness of the pork belly.  The asparagus was also fresh and crisp and gave this part of the course some crunch.  I saw quickly that things were going to be very fresh and crisp.

For the second course, I was served Shrimp with Lovage (an herb similar to parsley with a celery flavor) and Cucumbers.  In the center of the dish there was a plastic skewer that skewered all three elements together.  The shrimp was very fresh, tender and sweet, and the lovage and cucumber added texture and a green vegetal flavor.

Course three was probably the most savory and was a favorite.  It consisted of Snow Crab with Tagliatelle topped with Bread Crumbs and Chives.  The pasta was perfectly al dente with a lot of tender and flavorful crab.  The bread crumbs added a little texture and flavor and tied everything together.

 

   I was ready for another glass of wine with my fourth course.  It was a Red Vinho Verde, which is actually called a Vinho Tinto.  Like other Vinho Verdes it was bright and light.  It isn't exceptionally complex, but it's a great table wine.  As it is a red, it does go well with more savory courses.  With my Vinho Verde, for my food course, I was served Halibut with Fried Nettles.  I had had and like halibut before, but I had never had Fried Nettles (nor nettles at all, for that matter).  The Halibut was light, moist, tender, and flaky.  The nettles had a texture similar to kale and a flavor similar to spinach.  With the light flavor of halibut, the nettles definitely added some flavor, though the butter also helped.

For course number five, we went back to the vegetables and, in fact, back to the Asparagus.  I was served Fresh Grilled Asparagus with Ramps.  While asparagus has a strong flavor, grilling actually concentrates the flavor.  Ramps are a type of wild onion that are in season in May.  They have a flavor that is kind of like a cross between garlic and onions and it went well with the asparagus.

Course number 6 actually surprised me a bit because it was essentially a salad.  I am aware that serving salads first is an American tradition and other parts of the world, France specifically, will serve it after the entree.  That doesn't mean that it still didn't throw me off a little.  I was served Lettuce with Bacalao Sauce and Salmon Roe.  Bacalao is a dried and salted cod, so with the salmon roe the dish was pretty savory.  It was very good, but it was a salad.

Pre-dessert was a Cheese Course.  It was a Louis Dor Hard Cow Cheese served with a Sour dough Cracker and Honey.  The sourdough was thin and crisp and was easily breakable into smaller pieces.  the cheese, had a nice sour salty flavor similar to cheddar, and the honey added a nice sweet finish.  It was enjoyable enough that I would have eaten the cheese even without the cracker or honey.

To finish things off, came a dessert that both was very seasonal and referenced Canada.  Called Maple Flan with Fried Rhubarb, it started with a nice firm flan topped with a lot of Maple Syrup.  If that would have been it, it still would have been very good.  Maple complements the sweetness of flan well.  I have had Rhubarb both fresh and baked in a pie with strawberries.  It is very sour, though cooking does reduce that.  Frying it made it more tender and added a little sweetness to the sour.  It was very good, I liked it a lot and it was a very nice finish to both my dinner and my trip to Canada.