Wow
I had lunch today at Au Cheval and while the burger (with egg and bacon) was good I was not blown away. The chicken caesar salad with a mix of romaine and spinach that I had with the burger was quite good.
Dinner was at Smyth and I unfortunately went in with high expectations that it did not live up to.
Here was the menu:
The food wasnât bad, but there were dishes that didnât work, cooking mistakes, and plating/utensils that didnât work together. Of the first few bites the standout was the sweet corn donut, which was a mega bite. It doesnât hold a candle to Katoâs donut, but it was still a damn good bite.
After that the next banger dish was the crab custard except it was served in a deepish square dish with a long spoon so you couldnât get to the corner nor lick out the corners because of the depth. The custard was fantastic and I wanted every last bite, but there were 4 corners that were just inaccessible with the provided utensil.
The avocado & pistachio I did not think worked at all. Avocado should be served room temp or hot to let all the fattiness shine through. This dish was ice cold so the avocado had almost no flavor at all. Just a fail of a dish in my book
The lobster was cooked well in that dish, but it was not warmed through which could not have been intentional. Not great.
The trout was cooked very well, but I did not taste any truffle and there definitely wasnât a porridge on the plate. There was carolina gold rice floating in liquid beneath it, but you did not get to enjoy the beautiful flavor of that rice that was swimming in liquid.
The lamb presentation was pretty cool and I desperately wanted to love it, but the fat on the lamb wasnât rendered properly and the first little lamb bite they tell you to eat had some dehydrated fruit on it that immediately got stuck in your teeth and was impossible to get down your throat.
They did slip in a burger and fries from downstairs at The Loyalist which was quite good. The fries come with some pickle juice which did not make sense to me, but actually worked quite well.
The melon & garden palette cleanser was actually fantastic and had a wonderful assortment of textures in the bowl.
The aged banana was probably my favorite dish of the night. Not sweet at all, but rather a really great umami forward dessert.
And to top it all off they pull this horseshit with the checks:
Customer Copy:
Merchant Copy:
Those assholes tried to sneak in the service charge and just hope the customer doesnât notice and tips on the total. I asked what the service charge covered and the server said it was healthcare for front and back of house so fair enough, but this sneaky shit is whack.
Oh well, not a place Iâll return to when there are so many other options in Chicago.
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Went to the loyalist and rose Mary in Chicago this week. Thought both were mediocre. The cevapi at rose Mary was a sad excuse for a great dish.
Birrieria Zaragoza was exceptional though! Goat cabeza for the win.
Also, went to my buddyâs restaurant Feld which has been dragged endlessly on the internet. It was honestly really good, Reddit and the infatuation be damned. Might post about this meal!
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Thatâs seriously f*cked up. Thanks for taking one of the team and the warningâŠ
Mind sharing whats going on with Feld? I only heard about it recently then many people started hating on it.
Uh what? The service charge is one of the first things mentioned on Tock when you make a res, and again in the confirmation e-mail
Nope, it is not in the confirmation email, but I do see it in the reservation reminder email.
I think the infatuation is dogshit and they gave it a very poor review for using too many tomatos. But Nagrant, who I DO trust said itâs one of the worst meals heâs ever had.
That saidâŠI still want to try it. I like the way the menu sounds.
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So the long and short of it is that Jake Potashnick became a bit of a TikTok star as he chronicled the buildout of his dream restaurant, a hyper-seasonal, constantly evolving tasting menu (read different menu each night in the style of Ernst in Berlin.) At the same time, he put a huge target on his back.
Early reviews were not good to very bad, but a subsequent Reddit thread devolved into a brutally negative attack on Jake / Feld and a sort of groupthink desire for this place to fail. Itâs also filled with a ton of comments that are just not true about his professional cooking career.
Anyway, we had a delightful meal there! From what I know of the Chicago fine dining scene, Feld is quite the opposite, which is why I think it has landed so poorly there. If you go in anticipating Smyth or Alinea, Feld will be quite the shock. Dishes were hyper-seasonal and had a Japanese/California bent to it, in that the point of the dishes was to highlight the ingredients themselves. So yes, in the peak of summer we had lots of corn, lots of tomato, lots of melon, along with a pretty exquisite Santa Barbara spot prawn.
Your mileage may vary, of course, but we had a really good time. Give this place another few months for it to really start firing on all cylinders and I think itâll be a great addition to the Chicago scene.
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Birrieria Zaragoza is so good. Itâs been a standout there for more than a decade.
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Just finished an obscene amount of delicious food at Zahav for just $85. The food is easily on par if not better than Saffys or Bavel for probably half the cost. You get everything at the top, all of the mezze, and then I went with the lamb shoulder. Not a single bad bite all night. Itâs a must hit if you are ever in Philly.
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Had a very Philly experience today at Angeloâs. The line moved super quick to order, but come to find out thatâs only because you place your order then pay when you pick it up. They quoted 30m which was a decent wait but not too bad. Fast forward 45m and I have no text that my order is ready. I walk up to the guy who has been yelling outside that âif you donât have a text your order isnât readyâ and ask if 45m is about standard for that moment. He says yeah just wait for the text. I check back in 20m later and he says the same thing about a text. 15m later I get in the ordering line and finally make it up to the same guy who took my order and heâs like oh yours is ready. No apology, no discount, no nothing. I pay and fuck right off.
The cheesesteak was damn good with cooper sharp, but the hot longs were a bad idea as they just drowned out/masked all the other flavors.
The upside down pie wasnât bad, but I can get a better square pie at Prime Burbank.
All in all Iâd have been fine with a 30m wait but 90m was too much so thumbs down from me.
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Aww man I am sorry for that experience at Angeloâs. Glad you had a great meal at Zahavâs though! Are you still going to be in Philly?
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It felt appropriate for the city so all good. I take off tomorrow AM but if thereâs a late night spot you dig I have time tonight.
Open to anyoneâs suggestions in Toronto, Boston, Seattle, Atlanta, Miami, Houston, Austin, or Vancouver though.
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miami â sandwicherie, lagniappe, and yambo
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Austin â Hestia or Olamaie; third choice = Odd Duck
Miami â LâAtelier de Joel Robuchon
Iâve been to all these places solo. They all have counters except Hestia, and Hestia has plenty of tables.
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Love Hestia and Emmer and Rye.
And Birdies.
Burger, fries, chicken sandwich (not pictured) from Honor Bar on S. Beverly. Itâs not the best burger in the county, but it is the most consistently great. I canât say anything that Bon Appetit magazine hasnât said already. Itâs just a great spot. Two people without alcoholic drinks, we got out the door for $66 + 12 tip.
Welcome to Hillstone, America's Favorite Restaurant | Bon Appétit
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