Balena

What makes the perfect dining experience? Is it a delightful menu filled with interesting dishes? Is in an ambiance that instantly makes you feel comfortable and at home? Or is it a wait staff that consistently goes above and beyond to provide flawless service. Balena hits a homerun based on any of these criteria.  Without question, this ranks as one of my top fine dining (i.e. non-ethnic) meals of the year.

Balena has been on my shortlist of must try restauarants for some time now. Balena opened up last spring to much acclaim. The restaurant is basically a joint venture between the Boka Group and Chef Chris Pandel of The Bristol. My expectations were sky-high as I have thoroughly enjoyed all my previous Boka Group meals (Boka, Girl and the Goat, GT Fish and Oyster, Perennial) as well as my dinner at The Bristol last winter.

The restaurant is located on Halsted, just north of North Ave in the old Landmark space.  The restaurant is fairly large and is split out between two levels.  The exposed brick walls are pretty cool. The tables, chairs, flatware, and stemware are all unique and of very high quality. I love the fact that managers leave ample space between tables so you have room to really settle in and get comfortable.

We started out with a selection of breads. There were five breads and breadsticks, and three garnishes. I really enjoyed the pumpkin brioche which worked very well with a fava bean garnish that has a slight south Asian flavor to it.

Peter's Bread, with Garnishes

Next came our Tuscan kale “Caesar Salad”. This was my first raw kale experience and I have to say that it was quite good. The sturdy leaves do a great job of holding onto all the dressing. The dressing was incredible, not a traditional Caesar dressing at all.  The salad was dressed with tonnato sauce. Tonnato is basically a tuna, mayonnaise and anchovy sauce from the northern Italy, near the French and Swiss borders. Tonnato is normally served with veal but I can say that is works very well as a salad dressing.  The dish was topped off with generous portions of pecorino cheese, crisp crotons, and big slices of salty sardines. What a delightful salad!



Kale "Caesar" Salad



After we finished up our salad, it was time for main courses. I had the tagliolini nero, with sea urchin, crab, and chili. The black noodles were excellent. I loved the little chunks of crab meat and the sliced chilies delivered just the right amount of heat. My favorite part of the dish was the sea urchin. It tasted briny and sweet at the same time, it really added another layer of decadence to this already luxurious dish.  To add icing on the cake, our waiter brought a complimentary glass of Vermentino that paired perfectly with the dish. This was a special touch that didn’t go unappreciated.

Tagliolini Nero

Katie ordered rigatoni with a pork Bolognese sauce and porcini mushrooms. This was another major hit. This dish really embodied the term savory.  This is really what I think of when I think of Italian comfort food.

Rigatoni Bolognese

As both Kate and I are diehard polenta fans, we had to include a side of baked polenta. The polenta was perfectly cooked, very crispy on the outside with a smooth creamy inside.  The pieces of polenta were covered in one of the best tomato sauces I’ve tasted in recent memory. All this was topped with Dante, an aged sheepsmilk cheese, and baked. 

Baked Polenta

For desert, we got the Affogato. Affogato is basically a shot of espresso with vanilla gelato. Ours was served with fresh cinnamon donuts which were absolutely perfect for dipping.  I am normally not a desert person that this was unreal. The espresso and gelato were the best I’ve had since Italy. The espresso with melted gelato made for a sinfully rich end to a fantastic meal.

Affogato with Cinnamon Donuts

At the end of our meal, our waiter brought us another complimentary drink, this time a digestif, made with fortified white wine. The wine had a strong licorice smell but went do very smoothly. This was the perfect end to a perfect dining experience. Without a doubt, this was one of my best restaurant experiences of 2012.

La Casa de Samuel

Of all the ethnic cuisines represented in Chicago, Mexican is one of the most prevalent. This makes a lot of sense considering the massive population of Mexican-Americans in Chicago. There are more people of Mexican descent in Chicago than anywhere in the US, aside from California and Texas. We have everything from hole in the wall taco joints to high end places like Topolobampo and Mexique. 

Nick and I were contemplating Mexican for our latest GFC meeting. He recommend a place called La Casa de Samuel in Little Village. I had never heard of this place but was pretty sure it would be good given its status as an LTH Forum GNR (Great Neighborhood Restaurant). The restaurants location in Little Village threw me off a bit as I had never considered it as a dining destination.. LV is heavily Mexican neighbourhood just southwest of Pilsen. Oddly enough, this is the neighborhood my mom grew up in. Evidently the neighborhood has slowly changed from being predominantly eastern European to being almost exclusively Mexican. La Casa de Samuel specializes in Cuisine from Guerrero state in Mexico. Guerrero is a coastal state known for their seafood as well as wild game from the mountains. This place has a lot of random meats, everything from rattlesnake to bull testicles.

So I hopped on the Pink Line and headed to 22nd and California. We started out with a baby eel appetizer. baby eel appetizer. Aside from a bit of overcooked garlic this dish was completely devoid of any flavor. I tried everything, a squeeze of lime, a dab of salsa, nothing worked. I normally like eel, although I've only had in in the context of sushi, This was a truly horrible dish with absolutely no redeeming qualities. 

 

Baby Eel

After that app, I figured it could only get better, and it did, much much better. We started out with a couple  huitlacoche tacos. Huitlacoche, also known as corn smut, is fungus that grows on corn ears. Originally consumed by the Aztecs, this fungus has a very earthy flavor. Huitlacoche is a truly delicious taco filling. The taco also contained tasty guacamole on a housemade corn tortilla. The tortillas were unreal. I think I would drive back to this restaurant just to buy their tortillas for home use. Really remarkable

Huitlachoche Taco

Next we ordered the venison. These thin slices of venison were lightly marinated and grilled. The venison was very tasty and slightly gamey, I was definitely aware that I was eating the flesh of a deer. It did have very iron-y taste that reminded me of liver. The slices of venison were served with more of their mindblowingly good guacamole and beans. Once wrapped into a tortilla and garnished with a bit of lime juice and fresh salsa, we had a real flavor explosion on our hands.

Venison

Our third course consisted of two orders of baked goat. These goat chunks were cooked on the bone in a savory brown sauce.  The meat was very tender and juicy and had just the right amount of gamey goat flavor. Also, as a little extra treat, there were a few bones filled with tasty marrow to be sucked out. This was the icing on the cake. A great dish, again wrapped in just made tortillas. We were definitely taken aback by being served two orders of this dish. I was pretty sure we only ordered one but there may have been a slight language barrier.

 

Baked Goat

I would highly recommend this place if you are looking to branch out beyond the standard Mexican favorites. I also find it rewarding to check out new ethnic neighborhoods that are a bit off the beaten path. Neighborhoods like Little Village are always exciting to check out and are a great asset for the City.

Cumin

With all the great ethnic cuisines represented in Chicago, for me South Asian always seems to be a bit of an afterthought. It’s not that there aren’t a lot of South Asians living in Chicago. It’s not like there aren’t a variety of restaurants to choose from. The problem is that many of the Indian/Pakistani restaurants in Chicago are clustered on Devon Avenue in West Rogers Park. There is no L line that goes there and the drive is a bit of a pain. Consequently, I don’t get to grab a curry as often as I would like.

There were a few years where Indian was hands-down my favorite cuisine. I love that you really use all your senses to experience it. You smell the fragrant aromas of cumin and turmeric, you see the many shades of yellow and orange in a vegetable korma, you hear the sizzle of fresh tandoori meat brought to your table, and you taste the variety of sweet and savory notes. Traditionally, Indian cuisine is eaten with one’s hands which incorporates one's sense of touch, it just feels good to be so connected with what you’re eating. There is so much variety, from northern Indian meat curries and tandoori breads to southern Indian vegetarian fare cooked with coconut milk.  From dosas to biryanis, there is no shortage of tasty options.

I really started to appreciate Indian food while living in London during my junior year. Being the former capital of the British Empire, there are many South Asians living in and around London. Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis make up a sizable percentage of Greater London’s population. Consequently, there is no shortage of high quality South Asian food. Indian food has become such an integral part of British culture that the national dish of Britain is no longer fish and chips, but Tikka Masala.  After spending a year in London and visiting many times since, I was a bit spoiled.  Chicago has a good variety of places to grab a curry, but not quite on the same level as London.  

I recently met with my old friend Bill at Cumin in Bucktown for dinner.   I’ve been meaning to try this place for a while as it has received Bib Gourmand recognition for the past three years. I figured Bill would be a good person to go with as he has developed an appreciation for South Asian fare as a result of his time in London and India.

Papadum w/ Chutneys

Cumin has two separate menus, one Nepalese and one Indian.  Given that I’ve had Indian a million times in the UK, US, and India, I figured I would try a couple Nepalese dishes.  As soon as we sat down, our waiter brought complimentary Papadum out to the table. Papadum is a thin cracker like snack that is basically India’s answer to chips and salsa. They Papadum came with green chutney made with mint and coriander as well as sweet tamarind chutney. The free Papadum was a very nice touch. I frequently see it in London but find it to be much less common Stateside.

Momo Dumplings

Next we ordered a dish of traditional Nepalese dumplings called momo. This was probably the highlight of my meal. These dumplings were an interesting cross between Indian and Chinese cuisines which makes sense given the geography of Nepal. While the insides were filled with curried lamb, the outsides were all Chinese. We also ordered onion pakora. Pakora is a tradition Indian snack which consists of onions dipped in chickpea flour and deep fried. I was never a big fan of this dish. Cumin’s version was particularly boring and utterly flavorless.

Onion Pakora

For my main course, I had a dish called Namche Bazar Ko Sekuwa. This dish consisted of chunks of boneless goat meat marinated in Nepalese spices and cooked in tandoor oven. The goat was very juicy and quite mild. I also ordered a side of tandoori roti which served as a great utensil to pick up the sizzling chunks of tender goat meat. Overall, the meal was pretty good. It definitely got me excited to try more Nepalese food in the near future.

Nepalese Goat w/ Tandoori Roti

Side note: During my meal I ordered a Chakra, an "Indian" beer. Little did I know that Chakra is not actually brewed in India. This beer is made in New Jersey by an Indian company. This infuriates me. When I order an import, I want it to be imported. This beer tasted like Bud Light. I will have to add this to the list of beers that I will never drink which now includes Becks and Fosters. When I order an Indian beer, I demand the flavor that can only come from being brewed with filthy Ganges water. 

Northern City

A few weeks back Nick and I decided to go out for one of our periodic Good Food Club (GFC) meetings. We were originally thinking about checking out Fat Rice in Logan Square but settled on the convenience of Chinatown/Bridgeport.  There are a number of Northern Chinese places opening up near the intersection of 31^st and Halsted in Bridgeport. We settled on Northern City.

Regional Chinese is hands down my favorite cuisine. For years now, most of the good regional Chinese in Chicago has been associated with Tony Hu and his Lao chain of restaurants. If you wanted Szechuan, you went to Lao Szechuan, if you wanted Hunan, you went to Lao Hunan. All of his restaurants are great (with the possible exception of Lao Yunnan which I found rather unremarkable).  When I heard about a new cluster of northern Chinese restaurants opening up in Bridgeport, I got very excited. I was thrilled to discover good regional Chinese in Chicago outside the Chef Tony vortex.

Northern City focuses on the cuisine of China’s Northeastern provinces, also known as Dongbei or Manchuria. The food heavily focuses on noodles and dumplings; rice is not prevalent in the cold northern climate. Proximity to far-eastern Russia gives certain dishes eastern European touches. Pickling is common and cabbage is prevalent. Nick travelled to northeastern China with his family a few years back so he was a good reference as to what was authentic and what was not.

When we sat down, our server brought out a nice little plate of spicy mung beans with chilies and picked ginger. This little dish did a good job preparing my palate for the flavor roller coaster I was about to embark on.

We ordered five dishes. It must have been opposite day because the entrees came out before the appetizers. First came the cumin lamb. This dish was fantastic. It consisted of spicy paper thin slices of tasty lamb. Lamb is relatively common in Dongbei cuisine. Our other main course came out next, Northern style braised eggplant. This dish struck a good balance between sweet and spicy. The dish included wood ear mushrooms which have an interesting texture and pleasant flavor.

Cumin Lamb

Next came out our apps. We ordered northern dumplings, pork pancake, and Korean cold noodles. The pork pancake was unreal, one of the best Chinese appetizers I’ve ever had, and I’ve had a few. This dish came with two excellent condiments, one was a salty soy based sauce and the other was basically chili oil with chili flakes. The northern style steamed dumplings came out next. They were good, I can’t remember offhand what the filling consisted of.  I mainly remember the dumplings as being a good vehicle for the chili and soy based condiments. The cold Korean noodles were another hit. This was a cold noodle soup with a hardboiled egg, fermented cabbage, and pressed meat. The dish was more sweet than spicy. This dish got me even more excited for an eventual trip to Korea.

Korean Cold Noodles

Overall, I was very satisfied with my Northern City experience. I always appreciate an authentic feast for a reasonable price. I’m really happy to see a great place like this opening up outside Chinatown proper. And as much as I respect him and his concepts, it’s nice to see an exciting regional Chinese restaurant in Chicago not owned by Tony Hu. Service was a little off but that comes with the territory when you are the only white people in the restaurant. Most importantly, it was great to know that authentic Dongbei cuisine is represented in Chicago.

Kate's Cassoulet

Last week, my lovely fiancée Kate made a delightful cassoulet. We were discussing what to do for Sunday dinner. We were thinking something in the Crockpot. I’m not sure what made me think of it but I mentioned the possibility of a cassoulet. Cassoulet is a southern French slow cooked dish made with white means and a variety of meats.

Kate's version included pork shoulder, bacon, and chorizo. The chorizo was an interesting twist, obviously not part of the traditional recipe, but really really good. Another twist was the addition of garbanzo beans. Normally the dish is made with only white navy beans.  The garbanzo beans were a pleasant surprise I was not expecting. Overall the dish was amazing, so tasty, so porky, so savory, so satisfying. Kate served the dish with crusty French bread.

I've had cassouelets in the south of France and at French restaurants in Chicago; this one might just be my favorite. The fact that Kate was able to perfect this dish on her first try was amazing. I had to remind myself that I was in Chicago and not Toulouse. I am so lucky to be engaged to such a wonderful cook! The picture below does not do it justice but trust me, it was phenomenal.

Steaming savory goodness

Blackbird

On Saturday Kate and I met our good friends Kirk and Mary Kate for our annual holiday season dinner. We decided on Blackbird in the West Loop. After having  enjoyed all Paul Kahan's other restaurants a number of times (Avec, Big Star, Publican), I was excited to try the flagship.

Blackbird is in an interesting space on Randolph.  It is in one long room, all white with some large modern art pieces decorating the wall. Tables are packed in and the ambiance is chaotic. 

We started out with cocktails. I ordered a London Calling. This was a Pimms based cocktail. Pimms is a British gin based liqueur. This was mixed with house-made cucumber soda and garnished with a cucumber. I love cucumber based drinks and this one really hit the spot, very smooth and refreshing.

London Calling

Bread service was good, it consisted of a multi-grain bread slice and some of the sweetest butter I've ever had. Next came an Amuse Bouche of Hamachi (Yellowtail). This was a nice touch, a tasty little piece of fish.

Bread Service

Amuse Bouche

Next we ordered three appetizers. Roasted pork belly with shredded beets. This was tasty, the tanginess of the beets matched well with the rich fattiness of the pork belly. Next was a king crab dish. The crab was poached in butter, very rich and flavorful. We also had an appetizer of sweetbreads which featured an unidentified ingredient that was very reminiscent of crumbled graham crackers.

Pork Belly

Sweetbreads

King Crab

 With a variety of appetizers under our belts, it was time for entrees. I ordered the wood grilled sturgeon. The fish was perfect, juicy and tender. While the sturgeon was flavorful, I was not totally convinced the fish was wood grilled asI didn't pick up on any flavor indicative of wood-grilling. On top of the fish, there were a ton of "onion noodles" covering the pieces of fish which tasted like pickled onions. There were dollops of a buttermilk sauce on the plate, a nice touch that added a pleasant creaminess to the dish. The presentation seemed to be a bit sloppy with excess liquid running all over the plate. The dish was quite good overall, great fish with decent garnishes. I could have used a bit more buttermilk and a little less onion. Or instead of having piles of onion on top of the fish, maybe a bed of onion puree would be a bit more subtle.

Sturgeon

Kate ordered a dry-aged strip loin served with polenta. The beef was perfect, very juicy and tremendously flavorful. The polenta was great, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Strip Loin, Polenta

I'm not normally a desert guy but Blackbird has a very highly regarded pastry chef. I figured it would be irresponsible not to order desert. I ordered a goats milk cheese desert served with poached quince and fresh honeycomb. The sweetness of the honeycomb paired perfectly with the intense creaminess of the cheese. I was also able to try a bite of Kirk's sweet potato ice cream which was very reminiscent of pumpkin pie.

Goat's Milk Cheese, Honeycomb, Quince

 Overall, Blackbird was a real treat. The service was attentive, the atmosphere was hectic, and the food was interesting. I would recommend Blackbird to anyone who appreciates fine dining and has an occasion to celebrate.

Michelin Star

Pho Xe Tang

On Saturday Kate and I decided to head up to Argyle Street for some Pho. I've been enamored with Vietnamese cuisine ever since I was able to visit Saigon for a few days back in 2008. Chicago has a number of authentic Vietnamese places, mostly clustered around Argyle Street in Uptown. Most of these restaurants are quite authentic and serve food that is hard to distinguish from what you'd find on the streets of Vietnam.  I've had the chance visit a number of local Vietnamese places and Pho Xe Tang is the best.

Pho Xe Tang has a terrific variety of dishes. They have one of my favorite appetizers, Banh Xeo. Banh Xeo is a crispy rice flour based pancake stuffed with bean sprouts, roast pork, and shrimp. They also have excellent congee (rice porridge) and high quality banh mi sandwiches. 

Our Saturday brunch was all about the Pho. The classic Pho includes sliced beef, well done brisket, well done flank, soft tendon, bible tripe, meat ball. The soup is based on an incredibly flavorful beef broth with star anise. I am not normally a tripe fan but it works really well in this soup. The tendon is also delightful, so soft, it literally melts in your mouth. One of my favorite parts of ordering Pho is the wide variety of condiments and garnishes. You get a plate of bean sprouts, fresh mint, limes slices, cilantro, culantro (also called saw tooth herb), and sliced jalapenos. You also have a variety a sauces to customize your bowl to your taste. In my opinion, the most important is the fish sauce which gives the broth an interesting flavor twist. If you love condiments and customization, Pho is the dish for you.

Pho, with garnishes and Vietnamese Iced Coffee in background

I also ordered a Vietnamse iced coffee which is made with condensed milk. Very sweet and sinfully rich.

Andy's Thai Kitchen

A few weeks ago, my sister Lizzie was home for Thanksgiving break. We decided to go out for some crazy ethic food. We settled on Andy's Thai Kitchen in Lakeview. ATK just opened and is known for being very authentic. This was very exciting for me as 99% of Thai restaurants in Chicago have the exact same menu.
Finding one with unique food I've never had before was a real treat.

Lizzie and her boyfriend Kevin picked me up at my office and we were off to Lakeview. The food was incredible. It was extremely authentic and seemed to focus heavily on Northern Thai cuisine. Many of the dishes would be much more at home in Chang Mai as opposed to Bangkok. While the food was ethereal, the service was the worst I've experienced in recent memory.

I'll start out by talking about what was good, the cuisine. We started out with with a lovely papaya salad called Som Tum Poo Plara. This was a standard shredded papaya salad with a spicy dressing. It also contained dried shrimp had an interesting texture and strongly concentrated shrimp flavor.  It was garnished with blue crab in shell which seemed to be more for decoration than anything else, the meat was next to impossible to extract. The waitress warned us that it was a "stinky" salad due to the inclusion mudfish curd. The curd definitely added a gamey, fishiness to the salad that worked very well.

Som Tum Poo Plara

For my main course I had the Kao Soy. This dish is one of the most popular dishes in Northern Thailand, their answer to Southern Thailand's Pad Thai. It is a soup like dish made with deep-fried crispy egg noodles, pickled cabbage, shallots, lime, and ground chillies. All these ingredients are served in a spicy coconut curry broth. The dish was delightful. The flavor combination was extremely unique and powerful, unlike anything I've ever had before.

Kao Soy

Where the food was amazing, the service was unacceptable. It took about twenty five minutes for the waitress to acknowledge our table.  I definitely value food quality over service but this place really pushed the limits of what I can tolerate. Once we ordered it took another 45-50 minutes for appetizers/salads to come out. I understand that they prepare each dish to order from scratch. I also understand that quality takes time and is worth waiting for. Still the ridiculous pace of the service was unreasonable.

I will be returning to ATK. The food was amazing and I'm not aware of another restaurant in Chicago that executes authentic Northern Thai cuisine on such a high level. I'm hoping the poor service was due to temporary under staffing. If the service does not improve on my second visit, I don't think ATK will be included on my regular rotation.

Yusho

(Disclaimer: Please excuse the theft of pictures from Yusho's website, I didn't take pictures as I didn't know I was starting a food blog.)

A few weeks ago Nick and I decided to head up to Logan Square and try Mathias Merges' new casual dining spot, Yusho. Chef Merges served as executive chef of Charlie Trotter's before opening up this yakitori inspired hot spot. Given the Chef's fine dining background and the restaurants Asian inspired theme, I was very excited to give this place a try. I had very high expectations for this place as it was named Eater's restaurant of the year.  Unfortunately, my experience didn't match my admittedly very high expectations.

We started out with chicken skin served with Japanese mustard. The mustard was very nice but the chicken skin was flavorless. The next dish that came out (20 minutes after the chicken skin) was the grilled tofu with chrysanthemum and pineapple, also unremarkable. Another lackluster offering was the gobo root. The Gobo root itself was very fibrous and quite hard to chew.

2x Fried Chicken

The highlight of the meal was the 2x fried chicken. These were three extremely juicy chicken filets, heavily breaded and deep fried twice. The best part of the dish was the intense lime flavor. I have a feeling the chicken was marinated in lime juice, had lime incorporated into the breading, and was garnished with fresh lime juice.

Beef Tongue

Other highlights included the beef tongue (which was inexplicably brought out twice) and the blood sausage (served with an Asian steamed bun). The octopus and sweetbreads were also delightful.

So as far as the food, there were many amazing dishes and a few that I didn't find very appealing. The main problem with Yusho is not the food but the service. When I sit down ready to pay good money for a nice meal, I want a waiter immediately. When I order a dozen small plates, I want them brought out one at a time, spaced out properly. There were often long delays after a dish was served, only to have three brought out at once. In addition, a number of dishes were brought out twice. This is unacceptable. Yusho needs to work on coordinating their service if they want to be a long-term success in Chicago. If the management at Yusho is confused as to why they didn't receive any recognition from Michelin this year, I can explain it in one word: Service.

Welcome to my blog!

Why am I starting a food blog? Over the past few years, a significant part of my leisure time has been spent talking about food, cooking food, eating food, etc.  I have made a concerted effort to try as many restaurants as possible. In a city like Chicago, no matter how hard you try, you can barely scratch the surface. I have dozens of restaurants on my "must try" list. Getting to the bottom of the list is next to impossible because once I check one off the list, three more open.

This blog will mainly serve as a vehicle to chronicle the cavalcade of fantastic food experiences I am fortunate enough to enjoy. There are so many great meals I thoroughly enjoyed but can never seem to remember. Where did I have that excellent sunfish ceviche last spring? What were the highlights of my first meal at Purple Pig? What is the point of trying all these terrific restaurants if I can't remember them?  Hopefully this blog will help to ameliorate this horrible problem.