NYer's Trip Report from Maxwell Street Market to Alinea

[Miss Needle]

Thanks to all of you guys for helping me plan my trip in Chicago. I think we did quite a bit of damage here in our short time. Unfortunately due to time restraints, we didn't explore the neighborhoods as in depth as we would have liked. If you're a tourist with limited time, I would recommend renting a car for a day or so if you have plans to explore neighborhoods outside of the downtown area. I guess there is always cabbing it, but some of the areas seem kind of far from the downtown area that it probably would make more sense renting a car. And if you also cab it, you can also run into the issue of catching a cab back downtown -- while plentiful in certain neighborhoods, it is not always the case in others. There were a few places we went to where we had to take a subway and a bus or buses. Buses don't run as frequently as trains do in some areas, and a lot of trips that probably would have taken about 15 minutes by car ended up taking us about an hour and a half by public transportation. But we did the best we could in the time we had. We visited more neighborhoods than Argyle and Devon, but I'm just listing the food-related ones.

ARGYLE -- neighborhood wasn't as bustling as I thought it was going to be. Hardly any people around, which can be good or bad depending on your view. Good as it was easier to navigate around. Bad because there wasn't much people watching available. I checked out Tai Nam grocery store and found a few products that I haven't seen in NYC. What a great selection of Vietnamese herbs! If I lived in Chicago, I finally got to see in person all the herbs I read about in my Vietnamese cookbooks. I ended up buying a couple of packages of brown rice vermicelli -- while I've seen it in California, I haven't been able to find this at all in NYC.

DEVON -- the Indian/Pakistani neighborhood is a lot more extensive than NYC's Indian communities. Blocks and blocks of sari shops, markets, and restaurants. I went into Patel Brothers. We have two Patel Brothers in NYC, but they're nothing like the one on Devon. The one on Devon is larger, carries more goods and has a homemade pickle station. That was pretty cool. We were walking from East to West on Devon and reached the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood when DH said that we had to go to make our dinner reservation. Drats!

TOPOLOBAMPO - Lunch
CEVICHE SAMPLER -- three ceviches -- tuna with jicama, red chile apricot chamoy salsa, shrimp and calamari with avocado, and a Hawaiian fish in lime (forgot the name). I liked the Hawaiian fish ceviche the most because of its brightness and tartness. I found the tuna to be too sweet and cloying for my taste.
BARBACOA DE PATO -- Gunthorp duck two ways: pan-roasted breast and barbacoa of leg (red chile-marinated, slow-roasted in banana leaves, pan-seared) with rich roasting juices. Black barley, tomatillo-avocado salsa, pickled red onion -- good. Barbacoa was deep-fried to give it a bit of crunchy crust. I understand the rationale for it but think that it dried the meat somewhat. I'm thinking that evening portion is probably larger so it wouldn't dry out as much. But still a very tasty dish.
CUATRO COSITAS OAXAQUEAS -- Oaxacan sampler:sweet corn tamale; mushroom and nopales salad, two shrimp with mole, pork (forgot how it was cooked); I've had nopales many times, and I guess I just don't get it. It's not bad, but it just doesn't do anything for me. The sweet corn tamale served with crema was good. Good complement to the shrimp and pork. Pork was stunning and very flavorful. The mole for the shrimp was delicious as well. I kept dipping the tamal in the mole sauce.
CHIPS AND GUACAMOLE (gratis)-- Very good. Chips were non-greasy and warm. While not traditional, salsa delightfully bright with lime and bits of sun-dried tomatoes and radishes. DH said it was the best guacamole and chips he's ever had, beating this place in NYC where they make their own nixtamal from scratch. I'm guessing that the Frontera chips we see in the markets are nothing like the chips served in his restaurant as they've been sitting around for some time. Luckily, I found the recipe for the guacamole online and will try to recreate this at home. Seems like the secret ingredient was some queso fresco.

BLACKBIRD -- dinner; tasting menu
GREEN GARLIC BISQUE WITH LOUISIANA FROG LEGS, DUCK SAUSAGE, BLACK GARLIC AND MALT VINEGAR -- delicious, and wished I had more
CHILLED CUTTLEFISH NOODLES WITH GREEN GARLIC, RED ONION JAM, TROUT CAVIAR, NASTURTIUMS AND BUTTERMILK -- DH liked it more than I did; thought it needed more flavor, especially since noodles were very cold, which blunted the taste a bit
LAMB COUNTRY PATE AND PICKLED LAMB'S TONGUE WITH FRESH RICOTTA-RYE CANNELONI, RHUBARB, COCOA NIBS AND LOVAGE -- great; especially the combo of rhubarb with the lamb as it cut into the fattiness
Instead of tasmanian sea trout, asked them to swap with WOOD-GRILLED CALIFORNIA STURGEON WITH ENGLSH PEAS, BRAISED PEANUTS, CRISPY BACON AND BOURBON CARMEL -- should have stuck with sea trout, especially since girl next to me said "wow" about 10 times during that course. Sturgeon was overcooked, wasn't really into braised peanuts. I'm not a huge fan of boiled peanuts, but thought I'd give the braised peanuts a try, especially as the judges were wowed by Top Chef's Stephanie Izard's finale dish of braised pistachios. Just not my thing, I guess. I didn't taste any bourbon carmel and there was not enough bacon to match the sturgeon.
Instead of lamb which was on the tasting menu, they gave us GRILLED WAGYU FLATIRON STEAK WITH FENNEL, PINE NUT, SMOKED RUBY RED GRAPEFRUIT AND ANGOSTURA BITTERS. It wasn't tender at all (probably because of the cut). I have had wagyu beef in many high-end places (including French Laundry) and have not been impressed. During that course I actually made a comment that I was thinking I didn't like wagyu beef in general, and it's probably due to my taste buds as opposed to the restaurant not preparing it properly. But my visit to Alinea totally changed my view about wagyu beef.
LEMON BALM SORBET WITH GALIA MELON, OLIVE OIL, AND BLACK WALNUTS -- I liked it and thought it was very refreshing. DH thought it tasted like lotion, and wasn't too fond of it.
RICOTTA FRITTERS WITH RHUBARB, CAMPARI AND PINE NUT ICE CREAM -- Excellent. Could have ate a full-size dessert of this.
WHITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE WITH KUMQUATS, GREEN TEA STREUSEL AND CARA CARA SORBET -- Good, but was wishing for more of the ricotta fritters

HOT DOUG'S
Even though we were aiming for earlier, we got there around 11 something in the AM (damn transportation issues). I've heard that there's usually a 20 - 40 minute line if you don't get there at opening times during the weekend. Well, we ended up waiting about an hour and a half. I think one of the reasons why the wait was so long was that there was a Cubs game. That, and I think a lot of people don't really know what they want when they reach the counter. First (and only) time that somebody complimented me on "ordering well." I finally understood the rationale of the rules of the guy at Soup Kitchen International (Seinfeld's Soup "Nazi"). I've read several reports about how you can't tell the difference between the REGULAR FRIES and DUCK FAT FRIES. I just had to order both of them and try them side by side. First of all, they look different. Regular fries are cut thicker, and the duck fat ones are cut more like shoestrings. When I tasted them side by side, I could tell the difference. The duck fat fries has a "richer" flavor. However if I wasn't eating them together, I have a feeling I wouldn't be able to discern the difference between the two. And when I put ketchup on the fries, I couldn't distinguish the duck far fries from the regular ones, even when consumed side by side. My preference is for thicker fries -- hence, I liked the regular ones better. But if you've never had duck fat fries before, I'd recommend getting them to get that out of your system. Otherwise you'll be always wondering, "Is it really different? Am I missing out on something?" Personally, I think fries in lard are much tastier than duck fat fries. With lard fries, there's a clear distinctive porky goodness. Duck fat -- I taste it more in duck fat roasted potatoes, but the flavor is not as prominent in french fries. All right -- enough pontificating about fries. On to the sausages. I'm not a huge hot dog fan, so the hot dogs didn't even enter my realm of possibilities. I ordered the JERK PORK SAUSAGE WITH SPICY PASSIONFRUIT MAYO AND SMOKED GOUDA. It was delicious. Not the super spice that I'm accustomed to with jerk seasoning, but still good. It was topped with a huge amount of shredded smoked gouda. I would have preferred the gouda melted. DH ordered the BACON AND JALAPENO DUCK SAUSAGE WITH BLOOD ORANGE MUSTARD AND SHAFT'S BLUE CHEESE. That was insanely good. The smokiness of this sausage was beautiful. A bit too much blue cheese as it kind of obscured the taste of the sausage, but you can always take some off.

L20; DINNER; 4 COURSE PRIX-FIXE
It was really a stunning dining room. While I probably would prefer to live in a place more "homey," I could totally picture myself hanging out here for a while. The tableware and flatware were truly exquisite. We ended up getting seated at the white marble slab table (the rest of the tables were dark brown). The servers were very good, perhaps a bit too fawning for my preference, but you could tell that they were really trying. They're very ambitious. Unfortunately, a few things failed on the execution.
AMUSE-BOUCHE OF SHRIMP -- Sorry to use such an overused, non-descript word, but all I can say is yummy! I was really hopeful for things to come
AMUSE-BOUCHE OF HAMACHI -- Delicious as well
RAW -- FLUKE WITH PLUM, HIBISCUS, AND FRIED GARLIC -- bit too tart and fried garlic too overpowering; fluke is such a mild fish that I thought the accompaniments were way too aggressive for such a delicate piece of seafood
RAW -- ESCOLAR JAMON, ESPLETTE -- delicious; kind of a cross between ham and smoked salmon; could have eaten a larger portion
WARM -- FOIE GRAS, ASPARAGUS, RHUBARB, CRYSTALLIZED BUTTER, BEE POLLEN -- came in cotton candy ring; a revelation for us; cotton candy wasn't all about show as the sweet fluffy cotton candy was a good foil for the rich, creamy foie gras.
WARM -- KAMPACHI, YUZU, TAPIOCA, BLACK LIME -- Fish was definitely overcooked. For seafood restaurant of this caliber, I was really surprised to see this. I was starting to think that perhaps there were regional differences or preferences as to how people preferred their seafood cooked here versus my home city as my sturgeon at Blackbird was overcooked as well. But I then remembered the artic char the girl had next to me at Blackbird was cooked to what I view as "perfection." So I just think they screwed up.
MAIN -- PORK BELLY WITH TRUFFLE AND POTATO -- potato were towers filled with a bit of cheese; two of the towers were bordering on undercooked, but one was flat out undercooked. It was still that transluscent raw potato color in the middle. Pork belly was roasted and seared to get a crust. I thought it was pretty tough, but DH thought it was fine.
LOBSTER ROYALE -- LOBSTER FOIE GRAS, RAW OYSTER -- $40 supplement; Lobster was overcooked. Boy, I'm having some bad luck with seafood so far. It took some effort to cut with knife. You shouldn't have to saw through your butter poached lobster. It was served in a red wine sauce.
REFRESHER COURSE -- MEYER LEMON SORBET -- very tart and a perfect palate cleanser.
DESSERT -- BUTTERMILK SORBET, RASPBERRIES, WITH FLECKS OF GOLD -- Delicious, refreshing, well balanced
DESSERT -- CHOCOLATE MANJARI FILLED WITH CARAMEL FLAVORED CREAM SERVED WITH ESPRESSO ICE -- surprising; there were pop rocks amidst the espresso ice. This dessert was truly a delight.
MIGANRDISE -- CANNELLE -- perfect. I liked this more than Pierre Herme's in Paris where it seems to be the gold standard for cannelles.
MIGANARDISE -- CHOCOLATE TERRINE. It was truly the perfect level of sweetness. So rich and scrumptious. They cut this tableside for you as it probably would look a bit unappetizing if one were to receive a plate of dark brown smear. With the tableside presentation, you understand the context of it.

I've read there's no pastry chef. Amazing! While perhaps not as adventurous as Alinea (no test tubes), I thought the desserts were outstanding, and preferred it to Alinea and all of the other desserts I've had here. Oh, and we had the best butter we ever had, period. DH's gold standard was the butter he had the first time we ate at Bouchon Bakery. He hasn't been able to find butter that met that standard ever since (even at future visits to Bouchon Bakery or Keller's other restaurants). I was starting to think that he built up his gold standard butter experience so much in his head that he would never be satisfied. But I was wrong as he proclaimed he found a new gold standard for butter. It was really rich and delicious. Cultured and lightly seasoned with salt, it was the perfect foil for the bread. It's not like we eat a whole bunch of butter, but we almost finished the huge serving of butter that they put out for us. The milk bread and rosemary croissants they served there were truly wonderful. The standouts for me at L20 were the bread service and the desserts. They're aiming really high, but kind of falling a bit behind with the execution of the other dishes.

NAHA; DINNER; THREE COURSE- PRIX-FIXE
It turned out we actually had an extra dinner free. We needed to be somewhere later that evening, so I wanted to stay close to the River North where we were staying. Quickly browsed through the boards at the hotel, and got a few suggestions. Naha had an opening for the time we were looking for.

YUKON POTATO GNOCCHI, BRAISED OXTAILS AND LOCALLY CRAFTED LONZA HAM WITH YOUNG DANDELION GREENS, MARCONA ALMONDS AND SHAVED BROCCOLI -- The gnocchi was too gummy. I don't think it had to do with the execution. I think it was because of the potato. Personally, I think that russets would have been a better choice. The ham was really delicious.
LAKE ONTARIO "SMELTS" LIGHTLY FRIED WITH LEMON, PARSLEY AND "SALTED" CAPERS, "PIMENTON DE LA VERA" -- Not very greasy and well-fried. There must have been some miscommunication with the server because we asked him if the heads were included (our favorite part). He said they were definitely included but we didn't receive them. Not sure whether he was wrong or whether he thought we didn't want the heads. Nevertheless, it was really a great dish.
A SPRING FARM PLATE OF ROASTED QUAIL, "FRESH BACON" KUROBUTA PORK BELLY, "CODDLED" DUCK EGG AND LA QUERCIA "LARDO" WITH RED THUMB POTATOES, MELTED LEEKS, BULB ONIONS, TUSCAN GREENS AND TARRAGON -- What L20's pork belly was missing, Naha's pork belly had. It was tender, rich with a slightly crispy skin. Everything went really well together.
WHOLE ROASTED "DRESSED" SQUAB,FOIE GRAS AND CRISP POTATO CAKE SCENTED WITH ARMENIAN ROSE PETAL MARMALADE AND LICORICE ROOT, FRENCH BREAKFAST RADISHES, YOUNG TURNIPS, PINK PEPPERCORNS AND STEVIA -- Interesting they were using stevia. First time I've ever encountered that in a restaurant. I guess they were using stevia just as a sweetner because I couldn't detect the bitter undertone that stevia leaves have with all of the other ingredients. They might as well have been using sugar. Squab was perfectly cooked. Stunning dish. While it was a huge-ass portion, we finished it all.
THE NAHA "TURTLE" SUNDAE OF BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM, CANDIED PECANS AND RICH CARAMEL -- I'm a huge fan of turtles so this dessert appealed to me. Very simple and brought me back to my youth.
PARFAIT OF SPRING RHUBARB, BUTTERMILK PANNA COTTA, LIME GRANITA AND VANILLA "ESPUMA," WHITE CHOCOLATE AND ALMOND GRISSINI -- Very light and a good contrast to the richer Turtle sundae.

MAXWELL STREET MARKET
Wow! Quite a huge market. Our eyes were bugging out, but as we had reservations at Alinea later that evening, we had to be quite prudent in our choices. There was a huge line at the churro stand, but we had to take a pass on that this time. My Spanish isn't very good, but the people there were so nice in trying to accommodate us. For example, one of the guys didn't call out our number but just gave it to us as he probably thought we didn't understand numbers in Spanish. This is what we ended up eating:
TAMALES OAXECENA -- CHICKEN TAMALE IN GREEN SAUCE; DH actually liked it; He hates tamales but ate this one with gusto. He said it was the best tamale he's ever had
LA PAZ -- QUESEDILLA WITH TONGUE -- Our favorite thing we had at the festival. The tortilla was so flavorful and everything went together really well.
RICOS HUARACHES -- BEEF CARBON -- I've been reading about this and heard it once described as a must-have. Well, maybe a must-have for him, but not for me. It was good, but way too greasy for my taste. I wouldn't get it again, and we were not able to finish it.
EYEBALL TACO -- Never had eyeball before, and was slightly nervous. It was very getlatinous -- like cow's or pig's feet except fattier and funkier, with some sinewy tendon; OK, but not really my thing as I thought it wasn't very flavorful. Needed more salt.

ALINEA -- THE TOUR
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/6226...

GIORDANO'S -- LUNCH
I visisted the location near Millenium Park. I pre-ordered it about half an hour in advance on the phone. Got the small STUFFED SPECIAL. Sorry to say I was really disappointed with it. I don't think they cooked it enough -- it was barely lukewarm. I was actually able to eat it with my hands as it was cold that the cheese was congealed. We had to catch a plane soon. Otherwise I would have sent it back for them to reheat it. Way too many onions and peppers and not enough sausage and mushrooms. If I had known distribution was going to be so lopsided, I would have ordered a sausage and mushroom pizza. Each slice had only one small piece of sausage and one piece of mushroom. Rest were all peppers and onions. Top crust layer was gummy. I brought the leftovers home on the plane and ate it the next day. It tasted much better when it was heated to the proper temperature, but I was still not crazy about the ratio of onions and peppers to the mushrooms and sausage. And even with the second heating, the top crust was still gummy. Think I prefer deep dish over stuffed.

PASTERRIA NATALACINA -- Great pastries; think the guy's may have some form of OCD or OCPD, which may be the reason why his bakery items are so good. DH said that when I picked up a package of cookies to get a better look at what was in it and returned it to the proper place, he would immediately go to the cookies that I put down and move it a couple of centimeters so it was EXACTLY as he would have liked it to be displayed. While that behavior may be considered odd by most people, people who display these rigidities are generally perfectionists, and it was evident in the goods that I ate. Balance of items were very harmonious. While I'm not a huge fan of Italian desserts (more of a French patisserie gal), I still enjoyed what I had -- PINE NUT BREAD AND CASSATA AND CASSATINE.

JUICE BAR AT EQUINOX -- To counteract all the fatty, sugar damage I was doing to my body, I had some veggie juice at the juice bar at Equinox in the mornings. Thanks to Ms. Chow for that suggestion. My body is thanking you!

Thanks again to all the Chicago hounds here for helping me with this trip! Chicago is such a beautiful city, with a whole bunch of great eats. DH (having traveled to Chicago in the past numerous times) had this misconception that Chicago was predominantly a steak and potatoes town (probably because he went to a whole bunch of steakhouses when he was here). We were both thoroughly impressed with all of the culinary offerings your city has. And one of my favorite things was the delicious smell of chocolate that wafted over certain sections of downtown. I thought I was crazy until I found out that there was a chocolate refinery plant. And, yes, I have read that the smells will disappear in the future. I'm just glad to have experienced it.

[BRB]

What a great write-up. Sounds like you ate pretty well here. Sorry about the really long wait at Hot Doug's. I might have been the one to lead you astray there, but true, on days of Cubs games the wait is typically much longer.

Interestingly, I just had my third meal at L.20 and I have to say that the 12-course tasting menu far exceeds the 4-course in my opinion. The 12-course was outstanding, and my two four courses excellent but not as good. It just seems that maybe the kitchen is mostly focused on the tasting menu and the presentations are more harmonious and thought out. I also had the foie gras dish you mention, and while I loved the flavor, I thought they could have dialed down the cotton candy a bit. But anyway, none of that excuses the mis-steps they committed during your meal - that shouldn't happen.

But it sounds like you hit quite a few very good restaurants on your trip here - glad you enjoyed.

[cimui]

*gasp, gasp, gasp* water...

hehe. this is about to be THE longest post i've ever read soup to nuts, or in this case, "Thanks" to "it", breaking the record that kevin h. had just set. i'm 5/8 of the way through this post. it's great! it reads like a novel. i love the long aside about regular v. duck fat v. lard potatoes!

my basketball buddy, luke, and i used to put pop rocks in our sodas (and milk). wish we'd gotten to putting it in espresso ice before L20.

onward, soldiers...

[cimui]

Oh brava, Miss Needle, for all those meals eaten and shared in writing! Great warmup for my dinner. I'm completely famished after reading this! ;)

I also usually think of Chicago as a steak and potatoes (and hot dog) town, and have all sorts of bad, irrational associations related to having visited almost always in the windy, wiiiiindy winter and/or been stuck in O'Hare for ung_dly amounts of time. You and Kevin's writeups make me think that I could deal with a few hours in O'Hare in exchange for just a few of these meals.

Well done. Thank you, again!!!!

[uhockey]

Superb - thanks for this.

[mountsac]

what a trip! thanks for the post.
what was the butter used in L2O that impressed your friend so much? was it echire or was it homemade?

[ms. chow]

Excellent write-up Miss Needle. Sounds like you had quite an adventure here.

[Querencia]

An easy option for getting around Chicago is public transportation. A pass will cost you around $5 per day and can be picked up at major supermarkets. See CTA website. For example, the Argyle Street Vietnamese neighborhood has a Red Line EL station smack-dab in the middle of it. No need to rent a car. And yes, cabs can be hard to find outside of downtown. Take the EL, subway, or bus as the natives do.

[Miss Needle]

Thanks for your kind words! Hmmm... BRB, interesting about the tasting menu at L20 versus a la carte. That could certainly be the case. If I had known, I probably would have opted for the tasting. But we were eating so much on this trip that I wanted to simplify it a bit. And cimui, the poprocks in soda and milk sound like a cool idea! I may try it at home if the mood strikes. Mountsac, the butter at L20 was housemade. I believe the Alinea butter was housemade as well, but we both preferred L20's -- not to say that Alinea's butter wasn't good. It was delicious, but didn't have the complexity that L20's butter had. And, Querencia, we did pick up the weekly pass at Jewel. It definitely saved us a lot of money. But I did find it really time consuming to travel from, let's say, Maxwell Street Market to Devon. The trains weren't too bad, but there are areas that the trains don't service. I hate taking buses in NYC, and I still hate them in Chicago. We ended up missing buses and waiting for over 20 minutes for the next one. In a trip that calls for multiple trains and buses, one can spend quite a bit of time traveling.

[ms. chow]

I'll add to this observation about L2O. I've only had the tasting menu the few times i've been there, both at the main dining room and the tatami room. The experiences overall have been outstanding. I wonder if they are still trying to hit their stride with the 4-course format, since there are more variables than the tasting.

Miss Needle, kudos to you. Despite all the CTA hassles, you managed to have such a wide-ranging experience here. From Maxwell Street to Devon, i don't even do that with a car.