Restaurant Week Review: Blackbird

Blackbird is foodie heaven, if there ever was one. Named in most places as a foodie destination, and recognized in several awards across the county, I felt like the last person on earth to make my way here. It's safe to say my expectations we're high, and sadly, disappointing.

First Course: garbanzo bean soup with falafel, pickled asian pear, caramelized egg yolk and sumac
AND seared diver scallops with pears, brussels sprouts and powdered sauerkraut
Review: The garbanzo bean soup with falafel was amazing, with the deeply rich soup and heavy falafel contrasted with the pickled asian pear and caramelized egg yolk. I'm biased though, because I consider falafel one of my favorite foods (is it bad to admit my favorite falafel is the $2 one from Taste of Lebanon... still?). The soup was one of the best parts of this meal. The scallops we're decent, but definitely not my first choice. What the heck is powdered sauerkraut?

Second Course: atlantic cod with flageolets, pink lady apple, fried pumpernickel and winter herbs AND butternut and ricotta tart with black trumpet mushrooms, quinoa and wakame
Review: My personal choice was the butternut squash and ricotta tart. Anything with a tart is usually fine by me, with this tart's crust made with what appears to be the wakame. So creative! The rest of the dish was so-so, with the butternut and ricotta flavors too mild to enjoy, although the toasted wakame made for some interesting saltiness. The atlantic cod was a better choice, with the crisp skin with the pumpernickel making for a delightful texture and taste.

Third Course: vanilla parfait with satsuma, campari and almond AND chocolate ganache with  tahitian vanilla gastrique and parsnip ice cream
Review: The chocolate ganache was pretty standard. That is all. The vanilla parfait, was vanilla.

The Service: The whole night, I kept asking my dinner date, "do you think the waiter hates us?" Our waiter was only at our table to take our order and hardly returned for anything else. It also appeared to be some sort of hierarchy/seniority between the waiters and busboys. More than once I saw a waiter push a busboy in the back shoving them forward while they were waiting for patrons to clear the space. I get that there are hierarchical "ladders" everywhere, but that doesn't mean one person shouldn't be treated as an equal. UGH, annoyed.

The Atmosphere: This is probably going to put me in the "old person" category but why the hell is it so loud in there? Either due to the music, pour acoustic space planning, or the obnoxiously loud cat lady seated next to us, it was near impossible to share a conversation with my dinner date. Half way through our meal, we just gave up and either mouthed the words or just remained silent. By the time I left Blackbird, I was craving conversation so much, my friend and I ended up talking non-stop for the next 30 minutes.

Chicago Restaurant Week runs from Feb. 18 - 27. Blackbird is located in the West Loop at 619 W. Randolph.

I have a problem.

... Dear reader(s), I have a problem. I am addicted to smoking. No, not tobacco or other illegal substances, but the act of smoking foods... drooOOOoolll~~

[**cricket**cricket**]

Sorry! Spaced out thinking about all the yummy smoked foods in the world. Every summer, my uncle invites us over for a carnivore fest where he smokes every known meat/fish known to man. I mean, if he smoked a piece of cardboard I would probably eat it, all a part of being a Glut with Guts, right? But I digress...

Last night I had dinner with my Friend Z.H. at the much anticipated Girl and the Goat. I must say, Stephanie Izard... you are awesome. (And an equally great kudos to Interior Designer Karen Herold!)

As I walked through the doors, the sultry smells of smoked food enveloped me, welcoming me into a comforting dining experience. Hello, Girl and the Goat, our meeting has been long awaited. All the hype I've heard has drawn me here tonight.

Although we arrived promptly for our 6:30 reservation, we were asked to wait in the bar area as tables cleared up. Having a reservation, the wait was un-wanted to say the least, but we dutifully waited approximately 45 minutes for a table.

GG definitely has a great wine and beer selection. Having read that the Grenache wines were the new "it" drink (to replace merlot), I opted for a glass of Artazu Artazuri Garnacha 2007 Grenache Wine. Now I understand that every restaurant prices glasses of wines for various reasons to cover various expenses and overhead costs, but I'm always curious at what makes restaurants charge what they do. For example, a glass of the Artazu I had at GG was priced at $10 a glass (approximately 8oz.), yet market price for a bottle (so, not the wholesale price at which it was probably purchased) is marketed as $13.49 a bottle. Just an interesting thought.

Artazu, 2007, Grenache

The wine itself was sweet, not what I was expecting from a grenache, but a match for the crisp skate. Here's a sampling of what we ordered:

Crunchy Bread and Onion Butter and.. Sage Aioli? w/"special ingredient"

Beet Salad w/anchovies and avacado

Smokey Goat Fat Back w/Biscuits and Pickled Sweet Onions

Crisp Skate with Calamari and Tomato Aioli

The meal was.. ok. I unfortunately don't have pictures at the moment but Z.H. ordered the soft shell crab which was phenomenal! The crab was fried, but not overly so. They maintained the shape of the crab, still completely removing the shell. The succulent crab sat on a bed of corn and potatoes. So delicioussssss :)

In close second would be the crisp skate with the calamari. Everything was in perfect balance with each ingredient. Each stayed true to it's purest form, but combined created a masterpiece of a dish.

Everything felt a bit sub-par. The fat back spread was hyped up so much, but when it arrived.. it really wasn't what I was expecting. It was flavorless, except for the flavor of "this is pure fat and horrible for you". Which really wasn't too appetizing. The biscuits were cold and looked like they were thrown onto the plate. The waiter who dropped this off exclaimed, "I just had a bite of this in the kitchen, it was delicious!" and indeed, one of the biscuits APPEARED like they had been bitten into. haha Although I'm sure it wasn't intentional.

Then there was the $4 bread with onion butter. Something that should have been very simple, and it was indeed appetizing! However, as my friend took a bite of her buttered bread, she also discovered within it a quarter-sized chunk of plastic. The waitress and manager quickly rushed over and apologized, a true measurement of service quality. We were "taken care of" very well.

All in all a great experience. More photos from Z.H. to come! :)