Valhalla in Chicago

We went to Valhalla in Chicago for my birthday. It was outstanding. There’s a slowly cooked beef breast that’s truly incredible. In my opinion, red meat — steak especially — at these type of Michelin aspiring fine dining places is usually unexceptional. Feels like something they do by rote and often it isn’t particularly noteworthy. Their beef here was amazing, a nice tender cut in a zesty broth. There was an innovative French onion latte where the broth was an incredible Parmesan foam. The tomato dishes were fantastic, especially the caviar one — though my partner thought it was too salty. Not everything was perfect: While the white curry broth was great, the noodles themselves were unremarkable. They were probably too thick to absorb much flavor, but perhaps a wavy or thinner noodle could make the dish perfect. It also featured a carmelized roasted mussel that was a unique preparation and added a great subtle crunch to the dish. The order of the courses was a little confusing as it bounced back and forth between meat, seafood, veg, hot, and cold seemingly without rhyme or reason. Dessert was great too, but I’ll say something I’ve probably never said about any dessert: the Pavlova portion was too large. It was a surprising amount of work! And the layoff could’ve been a little better. My favorite places in Chicago are Smyth and Cariño and Valhalla competed well — creative, carefully crafted, well-executed dishes that each shine in a unique way without being part of a single overall theme or genre. Variety is the spice of Valhalla.