Now, let's move onto the food.
Crispy Snacks - Onion Glass, Flax Crisp & Kale dust, Fish-n-Chips
Our first course comes as a 3 bites of crispy treats. The Onion Crisp is packed with exceptional flavor in the form of grilled onion. The Flax Crisp is my favorite one out of these three as the seed provides a nice nutty flavor. The fish-n-chips is exactly what you think it is, a fish N chip, it's nicely infused with a smokey fish flavor.
Juniper Jump - Hendricks Gin, Cucumber, Lime, Rosewater, Hibiscus, Orchid
This is one of my favorite dishes of the evening. The transparent jelly is actually Hendricks Gin, which by itself, is mildly sweet with a dash of rose flavor while the cucumber lime sphere adds in the citrus. Along with the Rosewater snow and Hibiscus, this combination turns this dish into a light, floral, refreshing and delicious bite.
Soup - Tsar Nicoulai Caviar, Potato, Tomato, Chips, Green Pea, Milk, Pollen
This dish is inspired by Jake's childhood. A creamy potato soup is topped with potato and tomato chips, adding the crunchiness. Along with the pea, other vegetable and a small amount of brine from the caviar, makes this a nice creamy soup with a crunch!
Salad - Beetroot, Shallot, Quail Yolk, Fromage Blanc, Lettuce & Herbs
The nicely dressed salad has a bit of roasted flavor, which goes well with the Fromage cheese puree. The highlight here is the beet, as it's taken in the forms of macaroon shell. One of the diner actually calls this a beet macaroon salad.
Coconut - Tom Yum, Finger Lime
Another one of my favorite of the night. This simple dish is a deconstructed Tom Yum soup, coconut noodle and lime caviar. The noodle has a creamy coconut flavor that carries a little chew with it. When eaten, the lime caviar constantly pops in your mouth, adding a little bit of citrus one at a time as you eat this dish. It's a lot of fun and very delicious.
Flavors of the Sea - Faroe Island Salmon, Trout Roe, Veta La Plama Phytoplankton, Dashi
This dish is a tribute course to Charlie Trotter, as Jake worked in his restaurant before. The Salmon is probably one of the best salmon I've had in Chicago. It's sweet with the right amount of fat in the fish. In addition, we had a salmon bone consommé to go along with this, which was a wonderfully flavored fish soup. I do, however, has to mention that the sushi rice here is just a bit too big for my personal taste.
Catalina Island Uni - Yuzu, Bluegrass aged soy, Maple Syrup, Brioche, Sea bean
A nice buttery and sweet Uni goes together with a crumbly brioche. The star here is actually the yuzu foam. It's made with maple syrup, which forms a harmony of sweet and citrus.
Veal Sweetbreads - Crème Fraîche, Horseradish, Pomegranate, Begonia, Apple
This excellent sweetbread is juicy and flavorful, along with a crunchy skin. Combined with the mildly sweet pomegranate jam, it becomes a very nice savory bite and it doesn't feel heavy.
Taffy - Tamarind, Eucalyptus
A little tamarind taffy to help cleanse our pallet. The chewy tamarind reminds me of a dry plum texture. An interesting bite.
Hudson Valley Duck - Umeboshi, Long Bean, Ash-baked Eggplant, Red Shiso, Plum
This dish has a really great duck flavor as it's covered with duck bacon dust, airy eggplant, a nicely seasoned long bean and a fried duck tongue, which makes this a very ducky dish. My duck breast was very well seasoned, however, it's slightly undercooked for my liking. But this dish still has really great flavor and it definitely was a crowd-pleaser.
Hudson Valley Foie Gras - Seckel Pear, Red Onion, Daikon, Mustard
A nicely seared foie combined with a sweet pear makes this a great sweet and salty combination. Along with the diakon and grilled onion, this turns out to be a very nice bite.
Sweet - Dark Chocolate, Banana, Blood Orange, Bourbon Maple, Pretzel, Yogurt, Bubble Gum Hyssop
A very complex, yet delicious chocolate dessert. A mildly sweet chocolate is combined with maple ice cream and a blood orange "glass". I also like the pretzel crumbs that goes along with the chocolate as it adds texture. This dish reminds me of a orange chocolate ganache.
Salty - Pecorino 3 ways
I think this is the first time I've had cheese after sweet. But it's an interesting concept. The Pecorino cheese is done 3 ways: Crisp, Fondue and Foam. When eaten together, this becomes a very nice cheetos, just with a pungent cheese flavor and it's pretty tasty.
Caffeine - Chicory, Cardamom
To end the night, we were served with a Chicory coffee moose. It's light and has a nice coffee flavor, although not very strong but it still tastes really good.
I've heard good things about Sous Rising and I am really impressed with the level of food at 42 Grams.They are creativity, playful and tastes good. The balance of all the fore-mentioned is definitely key and I think that's what makes this meal at 42 Grams great. As the restaurant continue to refine their menu, it will definitely be a great addition to the Chicago dining scene. I definitely look forward to my return meal in the future.
The dinner club type restaurants are on a roll in Chicago! How do you think this compares to EL idaes and Elizabeth?
ReplyDeleteI've never seen foie gras served with a creamy sauce. Seems kind of heavy. Did that work?
In terms of food, I personally think 42 Grams and Elizabeth are more similar to each other as both chefs worked at Alinea (both Jake and Iliana worked at Alinea while Phil worked at Charlie Trotter). El Idea is a bit different but they are all great food.
DeleteThe foie gras plate was pretty good and it wasn't heavy at all (as it was a pear sauce). However, Jake did mention that we got too much sauce in that dish and probably will adjust the ratio when he serves that dish again. In my opinion, the dish can do without the sauce but I enjoyed it both ways.