Once a month I treat myself to a nice meal and I’m usually go over to Rootstock, my local spot.
I work at the bodega down the street and the chefs and staff come in often, and earlier this week Keagan (one of the main chefs) mentioned that their lobster special was really good and once I saw their IG post of it I knew I had to go and try it.
When I got there I also saw that they had a peaches dish that sounded great but I didn’t want to splurge too much, turns out the staff heard my enthusiasm and they sent me one (🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 to the staff)
Also, I didn’t know how the summer squash was going to be but it’s that time of year where everything is in season and bursting with flavor so I thought why not? and man it did not disappoint!
The kitchen team is really firing on all cylinders, putting out some of the best and most approachable food in the city imo. If you have the ability to go, I really cannot recommend Rootstock enough. Apologies to those who want to keep Rootstock under the radar (I’m kind of one of those) but people need to experience what this team is putting out.
Thank you to Keagan, Nate, and all of the front and back of house staff at Rootstock. Y’all are amazing.
- Chino
Dish 1: Peaches and stracciatella, cucamelon, tart cherries, candied pine nuts, berbere, mint
Notes: the peaches were so ripe and sweet and the creamy stracciatella paired so well with it. The mint and candied pine nuts gave it nice texture and pops of herby goodness that went really well together. Peak summer.
Dish 2: Grilled summer squash, marinated dragon beans, green garlic toum, sumac, oregano, pine cone honey
Notes: WOW. Holy cow the squash, these tiny little green guys, they were perfectly cooked, kissed with charcoal, cooked through but with a little bit of bite left in them, paired with the toum from heaven and the sumac/oregano combo gave the dish a nice punch of citrus herbiness that made it feel like you were walking through a garden. SO SO GOOD.
Dish 3: Stuffed lobster tail, shrimp mousseline, grilled sweet corn and pepper relish, smoked potato, grilled scallion, bonito cream
Notes: THIS TASTED LIKE I WAS AT A SUMMER COOKOUT IN MAINE! Ok the main course, it was everything I expected and more. The lobster/shrimp mousseline was of course the star of the dish, sweet, tender and cooked perfectly. BUT the grilled corn and pepper relish really aligned it to summer cookout vibes and the cherry on top was the grilled scallion with the char! that solidified that feeling of you’re at a cookout in Maine, there’s fresh lobsters on the boil, corn on the cob on the grill, you can smell and almost taste the charcoal cooking and then the pepper relish and bonito cream bring it back to Chicago high caliber cooking with some whimsy and character. Worth every single hard earned cent.
by jle058
Dining and Cooking