Grace Restaurant

Chef Curtis Duffy's Grace, one of the most anticipated restaurants opening in Chicago in 2012, finally opened late last year after delays. Located in the ever expanding culinary district in west loop of Chicago, you can easily pass the restaurant if you walk/drive by. Nevertheless, the restaurant has already garnered a few recognition from the press and it was named as one of the best restaurant by the James Beard Foundation.

I was so psyched about this restaurant when I heard it finally opens and I gladly grabbed a reservation a few weeks after it opened.

Amuse Bouche

Osetra Caviar - Meyer Lemon, Kumquat Jam, Chive

To start off the night, I've been offered a caviar course. The saltiness of the caviar is paired with a creamy custard that's mildly sweet. Along with the kumquat jam which provides a citrus sweetness makes this a great start for the evening.

Nairagi - Golden Trout Roe, Pomelo, Thai Basil

For our second course, we are served with the Nairagi (Marlin). It is placed inside a cylindrical ice and we literally break the ice to get to our food, which is always fun to do. The fish itself is very light, and has a smooth texture. The highlight of this course is the coconut pudding that compliment the fish. It's light, refreshing and consist of a moderate Thai basil flavor.

Warm Cucumber - Burnt orange, Idiazabal, Peruvian Oxalis

Our next course is a cucumber course. The cucumber is crunchy and light, goes along with a burnt orange flavored broth. However, I find the broth by itself is a bit too bitter for me.

Scottish Salmon - crispy red cabbage, Citrus Pudding, Marigold, Potato

The Salmon in this dish is superbly cooked. It was moist, light and smooth. The citrus foam added an extra element to the fish as it provides citrus to it. The potato that's wrapped in the cabbage is creamy but consist of a nice chunkiness that I can eat a bowl of.



Grilled Matsusaka Beef - King Trumpet, Salsify, Mashua Leaf

The nicely grilled Matsusaka beef is the way I like it: juicy, tender and nicely flavored. The mushroom is juicy and provides a nice earthiness which pairs nicely to the beef.



Veal Cheek - Red wine braised endive, sunflower seed, black mint

The Veal cheek is extremely tender, which provides a nice heartiness to the evening. The sunflower seed provides that crunch to go with the cheek as soft and crunchy goes together. The endive also provides a nice contrast to the tender veal cheek.



Poached Pear - Elderflower, tamarind juice, bronze fennel 

Caramelized Sudachi - toasted cashew, asian pear, Nasturtium

Think of this course as a very light creame brulee. The sudachi is encased by a crystallized ginger on the top. The sudachi brulee is creamy, yet light and not overwhelmingly sweet. The crunch of the cashew, along with the mild sweetness of the pear make this course a pleasant dessert treat.

Dark Chocolate - raw chesnut, persimmon, lemon mint

Our last course is a dark chocolate course. I've never been a big fan of dark chocolate, but this dark chocolate is actually not too bad since it's not bitter. It's complimented by a mildly sweet persimmon puree and a dense chocolate waffle which make the course a pretty nice bite.

mignardises - dark chocolate & caramel chocolate shell

As the evening end, we are given a little treat before we leave. The caramel chocolate shell is really fun as some light caramel liquid is held inside the thin chocolate shell, one bite and the liquid burst into your mouth. I guess you can say we ended the night with a burst.

The food at Grace is absolutely delightful to have. It's very light, thoughtful and creative. I do at times crave for big flavor through the meal. However, Chef Duffy mentions that he wants to keep his food light but flavorful, which I can understand as not all great food has to be saturated with butter and cream. I would want to return in the summer as I believe the summer season would provide a much better ingredient for Chef Duffy's style of food.

Next Restaurant - The Hunt

Next Restaurant tickets are probably the most sort after reservation in the states and I've gotten incredibly lucky to get the season ticket for 2013. The 2013 series begin with the Hunt, then Vegan, and end with Bocuse D'or. The Hunt, as the title, is centered on game meat and I've been so excited to check out what the crew at Next can do.

The table setting, totally fits in with the theme.

Hen of the Woods - Mushroom, Garlic, Onion

Maitake Mushroom Consume

The soup has a robust mushroom flavor. Yet, it's light at the same time.

Catch of the Great Lakes - Smoked Trout, Walleyes Rillettes, Pickled kohlrabi

The trout displays a nice smokiness while the texture of the fish is nice and smooth. But the most impressive portion in this dish is the Rillettes. It has a nice and consistent creaminess that would get you crave for more. This dish definitely display a nice "catch of the wild" sense to it.

Charcu - Tree - Rabbit Pate, Elk jerky, Boar Salami, Antelope Heart Tartare, Blood Sausage

Rabbit Pate

Elk jerky

Boar Salami

Antelope Heart Tartare

Blood Sausage

Cellar Aged Carrots & Onions

Duck Tongue, Cider Vinegar, Scrambled Duck Egg

The Duck Tongue is actually quite crunchy, along with the vinegar, becomes a nice little bite. The scrambled Duck Egg is obviously salty. However, it is so light that as if you're eating air at times.

Sturgeon & Caviar - crispy potato skin

This perfectly cooked sturgeon is accompanied by a creamy sauce with caviar. This is probably the best version I've had thus far as all components compliments very well each other. The creaminess is balanced by the lightness of the sturgeon while the potato skin add that extra element of heaviness into the dish. Bravo indeed!

Woodcock Jolie - Huckleberries, Shaved Black Truffle, White Chocolate

Pressed Squab - The breast, Heads & Leg

The breast is juicy, flavorful and tender. The flavor definitely highlights the bird and doing it justice.

Pressed Squab - The body

Foie Gras Steel Cut Oats

Fallen Leaves & Kidney - Parsnip, Seaweed, Pumpkin Seeds, Edible Bark, and Grated Purple Cauliflower

Bison & Bearnaise - Bison Rib eyes

The last of our savory consist of cooking the bison rib eyes on a very hot rock. Pushing the theme even further. The bison rib eyes is actually quite tasty and tender. I'm actually surprised by the tenderness of the bison, as I thought I was eating a beef tenderloin. As such, the two thin slices get consumed rather quickly.

Marrow Cream Brulee

The first of our dessert. At first, I thought it was bone marrow. However, it turns out to be creme brulee. The custard is creamy, sweet, but light. Perfect way to start our first dessert course. I actually considered luging, but that idea was quickly shot down by my friend, unfortunately.

Maris Otter - Pearl Barley with various condiments

Tire D'erable - Maple Syrup

The Maple Syrup is poured on top of an ice tray and you wrap/pick it up with a stick, eating the dessert hunter status. It's definitely a very creative way for us to wrap up our last course.

I have to say the game meat genre has definitely been conquered by Chef Achatz and the Next crew. The display of the game meat, the presentation and the taste of it is incredible. As always, I'm looking forward to my return for the Vegan and see what they can come up with.

GooseFoot

Recently, Chicago Tribune named Chris Nugent as their chef of the year in 2012. Lucky for me, my reservation at Goosefoot comes a few days after that was announced. Hence, I was definitely excited to try Chef Nugent's creation.

One of the best thing at Goosefoot is their BYOB policy. Most restaurants at this level would have wine pairing and charge you if you bring your own alcohol, but not at Goosefoot as there's no wine pairing at the moment. Funny fact though, they can open the bottle, but they can't pour the alcohol for you. So it's straight up a Pour Your Own Bottle type of restaurant! 

Now onto the food....

Golden Beet/ Goat Cheese/ Parmigiano Reggiano

Lobster/ Scallop/ Licorice Root/ Curry

Start off nicely is this beautifully cooked scallop combined with the robust lobster bisque curry. The curry is simple, light but rich in flavor. A great start.

Shrimp/ Preserved garlic/ Rosemary/ Parmigiano Reggiano

Chestnut soup/Alba Mushroom/Potato/Truffle Essence

The chestnut soup brings upon a rich and creamy texture, combined with the earthly truffle foam, creates a nice orchestra of warmth and homey feeling. The potato and mushroom provides a nice munch, which enhances the experience.

Loup De Mer/ Leek/ Yuzu

Duck Braest/ Spiced Beluga Lentils/ Ginger/ Compressed apple

Angus Beef/ Heirloom carrots/ Goosefoot/ Cumin/ Shallot jus

This beef is beautifully cooked: Tender and juicy. Combined with the mild sweetness of the carrot puree, the beef's saltiness is balanced out. Surprisingly, the savoriness of the beef becomes lighter as well. 

Crispy Goats Milk Cheese/ Lemon Balm/ Red Pepper/ Balsamic Vinaigrette

The light crispy crust of the goat cheese combined with the vinaigrette provides a light, yet delicious, cheese course. The goat cheese is so light and airy, it makes gorging this cheese a guilt free pleasure.

Pomegranate & Olive Shooter

Pear/ Armagnac/ Cassia/ Pine

At times, you're at a loss of words to describe a course. This course is exactly that: it's just delicious. The pairing of mousse of Pear, Armagnac and Cassia creates a simple delicious course. 

A little espresso before our final dessert.

Chocolate/ Passion Fruit/ Coconut/ Ice Wine

To the final dessert, this chocolate course provides a nice chocolate flavor with a mild sweet passion fruit mousse, along with the light coconut cream becomes a symphony of gastro-music. Mmm-Mmm-Good.

A little gooseberry as our parting gift.

I came into Goosefoot with a lot of excitement and expectation. But this meal total blows me away. I was intrigued by the depth of this meal: The creativity, the blend of flavors, the correct balance of savory to light and the warm and depth of the food. I'd have to say that it's refreshing to have a chef who can create this kind of meal. Chef of the year? Chef Chris Nugent definitely deserves it.