The Publican - Sunday Dinner

For C's birthday this year, (a cold, windy Sunday) we ventured to the west and to The Publican. We've been here several times before and frequent the other establishments in this small restaurant group. The three things you need to know about The Publican are: oysters, pork, and beer. If you said "check, check, check" then you are in good shape!

Our menu was a bit different - Sunday's are low-key, 4-course prix fixe menus, with the option to pair complementary beers. We went with the beer pairing and had a really interesting (and quite delicious) menu:

Oyster & Celery Root soup

- with leeks and grilled sourdough

Grilled Sturgeon

- on top of lentils, Brussels sprouts, and yogurt

Braised Oxtails

- with fingerling potatoes and celery salad

Dessert was an Almond Macaroon with lemon(?) filling, a white chocolate ganache flavored with white pepper and rosemary - sounds strange, but was nice and light and complex!

We were less than impressed with the beer pairings, would have preferred to get our own and drink leisurely (plus, no weird "sweet and sour" beer) but it was a good experience and new for us. They did forget the celebratory reason we were there, but that is a recurring issue for us these past few years. Maybe we like birthday's too much...

Birthday dinner!

Well, I hit the big 2-8 last Thursday and was coerced into eating and drinking and merry making because of it. For several days. It was wonderful.

Due to my overwhelming love of Avec, I requested that we go to Blackbird - the upscale sister restaurant to Avec. C obliged and made us 7:30 reservations...I point out the time only because when we walked in, it was quite empty. Usually, at least in my experience in Chicago, 7:30 is THE time to eat. We are generally later diners (8:30/9pm) and I've noticed that this is against the grain in Chicago. Anyway, when we walked in, we were seated at a nice banquette and our server showed up in a suit (Joseph Abboud according to the menu).

After selecting some vino, we settled in with the menu. Blackbird does that thing where they basically list ingredients: salad of endives, crispy potatoes, basil, dijon, pancetta, and poached egg. Personally, I love this, then there are less questions. But, again, I digress.

I ordered the delicious salad above (and pictured below) and Chris ordered the mussel soup.
I would highly recommend both. The salad comes in this crispy potato fortress and is stacked high with endive and mixed baby greens, sliced potatoes and herbs and topped with a perfectly poached egg. Tableside, they puncture the egg, split the fortress of potato and efficiently "toss" the salad. Every bite was amazing - I took a picture because I was so impressed - yes, I was that girl. The soup was poured in the way du jour with the contents served first and the broth poured delicately around. The mussels were plump and plentiful, though knowing C, the real winner was the broth - sweet, creamy, saffron, with a touch of shallots and wine. He mopped up every last bit of it with bread!

For dinner, I opted for a crispy cod fillet over parsnip puree and sauteed apples. It was a light, yet fall focused dish. I cleaned my plate. The fish was cooked perfectly crisp and flaky, and the hint of herbs (chervil and something I can't place!) added a freshness to each bite. C ordered the wagyu beef which was tender (though tiny) and came with a chestnut/onion thing which was unique...C loves potatoes, we should have ordered some on the side, but he enjoyed it.

The only disappointment (to me) was the dessert. I guess I was expected something with a little more depth...it was sort of like we got fried donut holes with chocolate...and ice cream. Here is there description: milk chocolate fritters with apricots, soy and rice milk sorbet.

All in all, the meal was exceptionally good - the service, the wine, the food, the atmosphere. I can see why it has the reputation it does...I know we will continue to enjoy their restaurants! By the way, when we left, the place was packed - jammed to the gills. So, perhaps all the late diners go to Blackbird?

Union Reunion

It's been a while since we ended up at Union Bar and Grille on Washington Street, so we went last night for C's 28th birthday. We have always liked it there - from the beginning of our relationship (and their opening). On a side note, pretty much every single time I've been there, I've been sick...what gives?

Anyway, we sat down and nearly immediatly had their a-MA-zing cornbread. I would forgo an appetizer because of that corn bread. No, seriously...but I didn't. We decided to share the tuna tartar to start, which they nicely split for us on two petite plates. The tuna was quite different with tastes like smoked salt and a spicy lemon juice. There was minced ginger and garlic and chives, oh my. Topped with (very cute) fingerling potato chips. I honestly was not a huge fan and I absolutely love tuna tartar. Maybe it was the lemon-y ness that threw me off (who has ever heard of spicy lemon?) but it wasn't my favorite.

Our next course arrived before our silverware did (more on that to come) but they were worth the wait. We both enjoyed our entrees - I had the roast lamb and C had the smoked duck breast. There were 4 lamb ribs served with a Jerusalem artichoke and potato gratin, wilted kale, and a mission fig jus. Lovely - I found there was quite a bit extra jus for my taste, though I enjoyed it. C's meal was much different - smoky duck, topped with smoked salt, over an apple chutney and what I've dubbed "spinach and semolina not-so-gnocchi" cakes. He liked it and to me his duck looked perfectly cooked and very nicely presented. The "not-so-gnocchi" cakes were different, albeit misleading, but I'm not sure why they are the way they are...creative differences I guess!

We rounded out the evening with a warm apple crisp with fresh cream and caramel, a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on the side. Simple, sweet, good.

Our service was good, mostly. Our food runner cleared all of our app plates and silverware except my knife. Which was used. By me. She also left if in the place of my fork...another odd point. That didn't totally bother me except that she never came back with NEW forks and knives...so, she then held our food for a minute while someone else had to come and mise-en-place us. It was interesting.

Our water was always full, though no one poured our wine for us. Could be "new american" in service, but I like someone to be attentive to an empty glass.

And, an annoying part for me was there was no candle for C. I get it, he's 28, he doesn't necessitate a candle. He's not whining or stomping his feet on the floor, he orders a "big boy meal", but why did the woman offer one on the phone when I made the reservation? I mean, don't giveth if thou will taketh away! Or forget! Just one of those things that annoys me and should be such a simple, nice gesture but is so often overlooked.

I don't want this review to end on a negative note, so I will tell you that I will go back to Union. I might wait until I am not sick though...if that is even possible!