Popped in to John's Food and Wine for a birthday reservation last night and was really impressed at what the team here is putting out. At 115/pp for a tasting menu this is up against some of the "cheaper" 1* menus in Chicago like Sepia.
Course 1: cold lobster salad – what a fresh way to kick off a meal. Large, meaty chunks of cold lobster in a great charred leek aioli with a smattering of fresh herbs. Each bite was a bit of a choose-your-own-adventure in what herbs to include. Light champagne that was paired to welcome us was refreshing.
Course 2: scallop mousselline – I could drink this potato beurre blanc and be perfectly satisfied, but the scallop was a great textual contrast to the charred cabbage that surrounded it. Only gripe here was that cutting the cabbage was a tad frustrating
Course 3:Agnolotti – I've never been a huge sunchoke guy, but the way the sunchoke and espresso flavors work together here is something that feels like black magic. The porky broth at the base of the dish grounds it. Nice texture on the pasta here.
Course 4: duck w/ date fudge and shaved foie Gras – loved every part of this dish, the date fudge, charred cabbage and shaved foie were incredible accompaniments to the sizeable portion of perfectly cooked duck. Big fan of the temperature interplay here with the chilly foie and the charred cabbage.
Course 5: toasted yeast ice cream – the star of the show, an absolutely delicious dessert that fired on all cylinders. The salty, almost honeynut cheerios ice cream plays remarkably well as a salty background to the sweet banana dulce de Leche and banana cake that lies beneath. Loved the crispy wafers as a textural component.
I was concerned when I received an update that John's was moving from 8 to 5 courses early this year, but am glad to say I don't feel like anything was missing here. All courses went for the fences and all were sizeable and hard to rate VS one another. I still have to come back and try the ala carte menu as the burger they have for lunch is calling my name.
Regarding the rest of the wine pairings – I thought they were stellar! There was a pear cider that blew me away.
by InRetrospeckt