Smoque – Smoque came highly recommended from friends, colleagues and of course the Food Network. We picked up the BBQ and brought it back home, but the restaurant was not very large, but had a cool vibe. The smell of the BBQ was the first thing you noticed when you got out of the car; it certainly brought the excitement level up a few notches. We sampled their baby back ribs, pulled pork, and brisket as entrees and had corn bread, mac and cheese, slaw, and bbq beans as side items. Everything was of high quality, but the ribs and brisket were the real stars. The smoke flavor was very intense in the brisket, which melted in your mouth. And the ribs were smoked with a nice dry rub and were not fall off the bone tender, but had a nice bite to them. This is the perfect way to cook ribs in my opinion and it let the natural flavors of the meat and smoke shine. Will be back soon, would give it a A- overall.
Urban Belly – Urban Belly is a Korean style noodle shop on the west side of the city. It has a cult following and is well known in the food centric community of Chicago. This was Crystal and I’s first trip there and we were full of anticipation. Unfortunately, I would have to say the experience fell short overall. There were some nice flavors and unique dishes on the menu and certainly part s of the meal were terrific, but too many misses to give it an outstanding review. Urban Belly has a very small menu (4 rice dishes, 6 noodle dishes, and 5 appetizers) and we sampled 3 of the noodle dishes. Dad had the Soba noodles with Bay Scallops, Oyster Mushrooms and a thai basil broth. It had a unique flavor profile that was nice and balanced, but could have used more spice. The seafood was cooked nicely and it also contained a dumpling that reminded me of a matzoh ball. Crystal had the Rice Noodles with Hominy, Kimchi and a pork broth. This dish had the spice that Dad’s soba noodles were missing. The rice noodles were way too doughy for our taste and the spice outweighed any other flavor in the dish. I had the ramen noodles with pork belly, shitake mushroom and a pho broth. The pork belly was the standout in this dish, but the broth and ramen noodles were a little too one note for me. We also ordered the pork dumplings to share and these were amazing. The best dumpling I have ever had, hands down. Overall, an interesting lunch with a few surprises thrown in, but not worth the money. B-.
Perennial -- Crystal and I have been looking for an excuse to return to Perennial since we went for her 30th birthday this January. The menu changes frequently, so we knew we were in for a different experience than what we had in January. The menu was certainly different, but everything was just as delicious as we had remembered. We started the meal off with some cocktails and oysters, which were briny and tasted like the ocean. Delicious! We followed this with a mushroom and asparagus risotto and crostini course. The risotto was creamy, flavorful and expertly prepared. It was probably too rich to have as a main entrée, but as a starter it was a homerun. The crostini was flavorful and topped with very nice ingredients including Serrano ham, manchego cheese and Dauro olive oil. The olive oil was the most pronounced flavor in the dish, but it came together nicely. Our main course was consisted of various seafood prepared with varying techniques. I had the seared scallops served over a pea puree, carrots, and a lavender salad. It was cooked nicely and tasted great, but was more straightforward then the other dished we enjoyed. Crystal had the halibut which was poached and served over this delicious corn, bacon, potato, and lobster salad. The corn dish was excellent and was perfect pairing with the tasty halibut. Dad had the a sampling of smaller dishes for his entrée and they were all equally interesting and delicious. The first dish was a watermelon, heirloom tomato and basil salad. Very fresh and tasted like summer. Second was a chickpeas, octopus, fennel and celery salad. This was a nice Mediterranean style dish that went well with the other seafood we had that night, but brought a unique flavor profile. Dad’s last dish was my personal favorite of the night. It was a deconstructed fish taco, sashimi raw tuna, avocado and this awesome tortilla puree. Basically, it was sushi that had the flavors of a taco, hard to describe without being there, but it was the type of dish that you really had fun with and could tell the chef was doing something special with. Will be back for those fish tacos hopefully soon. A, Overall.
Home Cookin' -- Saturday and Sunday were much more laid back days, we headed up to the farmer’s market by my house and picked up some fresh vegetables and fruits to cook with on Saturday night. We grilled leg of lamb that we had marinated with toasted fennel seed, coriander, cumin, mustard seed, and white pepper along with balsamic vinegar, red wine, and olive oil. We served it with a fresh vegetable ratatouille and the best sweet corn I had ever had (we were eating it raw on the cob at the farmer’s market). For dessert we sliced some fresh peaches, mixed them with butter, brown sugar, and flambéed with bourbon and served over vanilla gelato. A great summer dinner and dessert to close out a great birthday weekend.
Ratatouille with tomato, eggplant, zuchini, onion, and green peppers
Peach dessert before it was prepared
Looks like you had a wonderful weekend with Dad! Very jealous of the peaches and ice cream! Love you.
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