Open-faced breakfast burger with grass-fed beef burger, cinnamon-raisin french toast, canadian and applewood bacon, maple syrup, sharp cheddar, and sunny-side-up egg
Why it’s this week’s Best Bite: I’ve blogged about my sweet-savory brunch dilemma before, and it remains my most difficult decision on any morning menu. So if there’s a dish that combines both in one, you can bet I’ll be ordering it. Only available on the weekend Farmer’s Breakfast menu, this open-faced burger immediately reminded me of a gourmet, locally sourced, next-level McGriddle (in a good way, of course). It packs three kinds of meat – canadian bacon, applewood bacon, and the grass-fed beef patty – plus cheddar and an chive-flecked egg, all atop a slice of syrup-soaked cinnamon-raisin french toast. While it’s certainly decadent, the portion is still manageable and satisfied every brunch craving at once. The setting is just as pleasant: from the cheery red door flanked by fresh tulips to the farm-themed decor throughout the restaurant, I felt right at home.
A weathered red door and fresh tulips at the entrance set off the farm décor
Best Bite: Technically, I had two out of the three available options as my third course: a slice of cake that was gooey and sweet, just as it should be, and a revelatory dessert cocktail with round flavors of vanilla and lemon that were superbly balanced with bitters. In fact, that course was representative of the whole meal. All the dishes were thoughtfully composed, but the cocktails ended up stealing the spotlight – I tasted three others made with in-house spirits, each one more complex and interesting than the next. At a distillery, though, I’m perfectly OK with that pattern. See full menu (third course is outdated).
Gooey butter cake and The Travel Agent dessert cocktail, with CH vanilla-infused rum, limoncello, lemon, and peychaud’s bitters
Other notes: The sweetness and spices in the butternut squash soup reminded me a lot of this one, adapted from a Rick Bayless recipe – which was definitely a good thing. For the gravlax entree, buttery salmon was cured with CH gin, which added citrus and floral notes, and beets, which gave it a burgundy hue. The fish, joined by lemon, dill, and a cracker-like flatbread for crunch, was a perfect complement to the cocktails. I really loved the space, too, from the glowing bar and fiber-optic lighting to the clear view of the gleaming stills and other equipment.
Butternut squash soup with creme fraiche
The details:CH Distillery, 564 W. Randolph St., Chicago.
Each day in December, I’m celebrating the rest of the best bites (and sips) that I didn’t get to blog about in 2013, posted in chronological order. Browse all of this year’s Best Bites, or look back at 2012’s Best Bites.
English breakfast with bacon, eggs, baked beans, griddled tomatoes, and toast
Why it’s another 2013 Best Bite: While this humble breakfast doesn’t attract the same attention as Au Cheval’s legendary burger, I was just as impressed by how flawlessly each component was executed. These aren’t just scrambled eggs, but impeccably fluffy, just-buttery-enough scrambled eggs; not just bacon, but thick-cut, well-peppered bacon with considerable heft. My favorite part was the blistered griddled tomato, which was juicy, salty, and meaty enough to almost act as a protein on its own. Time Out Chicago did a great breakdown of what goes into this dish.
Parm #2 sandwich with breaded chicken cutlet, basil tomato sauce, fried sage, and mozzarella on a Franks n’ Dawgs roll
Why it’s this week’s Best Bite: Whenever I’m at a Randolph Street restaurant and have extra time, especially if I’m with someone who’s new to the area, I’ll wander into nearby Publican Quality Meats, the café and butcher-shop sibling of The Publican across the street. I love browsing all the artisanal pantry items that line the shelves and gazing longingly at the deli case (I have to remind myself every single time that no, I still don’t need to buy four of the ready-to-bake stuffed dates from Avec to eat at home). PQM also makes outstanding sandwiches, and a friend and I decided to finally dine in and savor the last bit of patio weather. The clear favorite was this take on a chicken parmesan sandwich, with richly flavored marinara, melty mozzarella, and crispy sage surrounding the chicken cutlet. And it was a genius move to put it all on the same spongy split-top roll that’s used at gourmet hot dog joint Franks ‘N’ Dawgs – a toasted repackaging of an Italian classic.
Skuna Bay salmon with braised peanut, strawberry, chimichurri, spiced beef, and shallot yogurt
Why it’s this week’s Best Bite: Just under three years ago, you would have found me constantly refreshing OpenTable.com, waiting for the restaurant page to first become available so that I could make a reservation for the night of my birthday at Girl & the Goat, the much-anticipated restaurant by Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard (in case she isn’t a household name for you already) that was finally going to open. That dinner remains one of my all-time favorites in Chicago: experiencing all her outlandishly flavorful food for the first time, sipping surprise birthday champagne, and getting to chat with Chef Steph herself at the end of the meal. So could future visits live up to that first one? My answer this weekend was a resounding yes.
You know your meal is off to a great start when you’re spreading coffee butter onto warm bread and drizzling blueberry vinaigrette on top. And then you bite into a squash blossom rangoon, a fleeting seasonal jewel that’s stuffed with creamy crab and fried in airy tempura batter. And then you’re chowing down on what you immediately know are among the best green bean and cauliflower dishes in existence, each with layers of salty and spicy and sweet, and then savory empanadas filled with the tender goat meat that’s incorporated into enough dishes to merit its own menu section. And then the salmon, which you ordered partially because the server told you the fish was flown in from New Zealand and partially because you can’t believe that salmon could really work with strawberry and beef and peanut and yogurt, could it? But of course it does, all of the distinct components tangled together in the best way. And then there’s the chicken. You’ve come to expect at this point that it will be unlike any chicken dish you’ve had before, especially since the server explained it would be brined to order, glazed with maple-y goodness, and baked in the wood-fire oven. And indeed, you can’t stop talking about how good this chicken is, not to mention the soft, buttery naan and remarkable ramp goddess dressing that come with it. You’ll order dessert without question.
I think you get the point here. The service is outstanding, the atmosphere feels special yet free from pretension, and all the little details come together for ultimate consistency. So set a date 6–8 weeks in advance, make a reservation, and get ready for a meal to remember.
Squash blossom rangoon with crab, chive yogurt, and toasted almondsSauteed green beans with fish sauce vinaigrette and cashewsGoat empanadas with romesco and radish-endive slawWood-fired Walter’s chicken with asparagus, rhubarb, and “ramp goddess” dressingThe Lake Effect cocktail with Journeyman rye, F.E.W. gin, Koval chrysanthemum honey liqueur, and lemon
