Back to Bonsoiree

SPOILER ALERT: This meal was seven courses. This post is going to be long.

I visited Bonsoiree for the first time for a Valentine’s Day dinner two years ago. It was an eight-course meal – and it was truly amazing. And the restaurant was BYO, which made it even more amazing because that makes enjoying fine dining so much more affordable. I’d never experienced a fine dining restaurant that was BYO before boinsoree. At the time, the unassuming little restaurant was brand new – but Jeff and I knew we had stumbled upon something great.
Since then, Bonsoiree has been awarded a Michelin star and has received hordes of accolades from local press, as well as reviewers on Yelp (4.5 stars) and Open Table. Consequently, you now have to make reservations months in advance if you want to dine there on a Friday or Saturday. The tiny but elegant spot has a max of 17 tables, which also contributes to the difficulty in securing a reservation. But once you’re in, you’ll know it was worth it. The space is beautiful. The lines are simple and clean, the décor is minimalist without being stark. Creativity, an eye for the aesthetic and attention to detail is reflected in all aspects of the experience: from the space itself to different kinds of dinnerware on which the various courses are served.

On Sundays, you commit to four or seven courses and the menu is fixed. Always. However, the host calls a couple of days prior to your reservation to see if you have any dietary restrictions or allergies – and if you do, they are happy to make accommodations and tailor your menu accordingly. Jeff and I kept it real and committed to the seven-course menu. (We didn’t realize that the courses for these two meals are not necessarily the same, but you should be aware that they may be. We thought that the seven-course menu just featured three additional courses. That’s not necessarily the case.)

Our first course was an unbelievable lobster bisque. But this was no ordinary lobster bisque. It came complete with crab, escargot (never had that in a soup before!), pumpkin caramel, a few pieces of caramel corn and some ground sumac. Somehow all of those crazy elements worked together and it was truly fabulous.

Our second course was a salad comprised of winter greens, golden and red beets, house-cured salmon, candied lemons, walnuts, ground pistachios, daikon (a type of Japanese radish) and lemon vinaigrette -- topped with half a white anchovy. The sald was an interesting blend of flavors and textures. I enjoyed it, but left half my anchovy. I mean, generally, I’ll eat them, sometimes those suckers are just too salty for me.
Our third course was seared pork belly with grilled Wagyu beef. It was served on a wooden board, with smears of a white chocolate barbecue sauce, drops of a wasabi mustard and a half gooseberry. Combined, all of the flavors were incredible. The gooseberry was an interesting foil to the rest of the flavors and provided a nice burst of cool in case you underestimated how much wasabi was loaded into that mustard. All in all, I loved this dish. (Sorry the photo for this was simply too dark to bother including.)

Our fourth course was both Jeff’s and my favorite: grilled Barramundi served atop melted leeks, with hanzu butter, tomato salt and edamame. (Barramundi is a mild white fish that’s making its way onto more and more menus. It’s a sustainable choice that I highly recommend. If you like halibut or mahi mahi, you’ll like Barramundi.) The fish and its accompaniments were served in a dish that looked like a hollowed out half log. Naturally, the engineer in Jeff was fascinated by what it was made of. Naturally, I have no idea, but it was a very cool-looking presentation. The dish was absolutely outstanding.
Our fifth course featured lamb loin and lamb sausage in a spicy ginger sauce, served atop a melange of mushrooms and with a potato concoction that had multple creamy layers. It kind of reminded me of a really neat au gratin, housed in something that reminded me of the exterior of an omelette. Very interesting course. Tasty, but not my favorite.Our sixth course was a palate-cleansing umami mushroom ice cream with a hint of thyme. It was an interesting twist on all of these ingredients, as I’d certainly never had them combined before. Though it seems kind of strange to have the savory flavor of mushrooms (tasted almost like truffle) combined with the cold, creamy texture of ice cream and the lemony pop of thyme, it wasn’t bad. I wouldn’t choose it at an ice cream parlor, but that’s not the point. It did its job and cleansed my palate.
Our seventh course was dessert. We’d noticed the couple next to us feasting on an amazing dessert earlier, so we were pretty excited about the prospect of something involving beignets and chocolate sauces. Suffice to say that when ours arrived, we were a little surprised: it was cheesecake made with exploratory cheese, topped with panna cotta and fresh strawberries, served aside a salted strawberry coulis, some crystalized honey – aaaaand a candied brussels sprout. What?!
There are a few things that come into play here. Jeff hates cheesecake. Period. I am also not a huge cheesecake fan. But on top of all of this, they also incorporated the one (literally the only one) vegetable I cannot force myself to like, no matter what is done to it. I’ve heard it all and tried it all. I don’t care how you’ve roasted it; it doesn’t matter that it’s been slathered in butter and cooked with bacon. Each time I try one, I still hate the bitterness that invariably comes along with any and all brussels sprouts. Despite this, I tried the candied brussels sprout. And I was not shocked to discover it tasted exactly like a dried out, semi-sweetened brussels sprout. Boooo.

However, I do find myself hating cheesecake less and less each time I try it, and will certainly say that as cheesecake goes, this stuff was excellent. The ingredients were clearly high quality and the flavors worked well together. If I was a true cheesecake fan, I’m sure I’d have been in heaven. But I couldn’t stop wondering…

Where was the chocolate? What happened to our beignets? And then we heard the server tell the people who’d since sat down at the table beside us the difference between the four- and seven-course menus: the seven-course menu featured three more courses, but the portions were smaller and it included a different dessert. FAIL. Epic fail. Why hadn’t we asked? Why hadn’t we thought to mention an aversion to cream cheese? We could have had beignets and chocolate!

Oh well. Over all, the meal was stupendous and even my least favorite course was pretty darn good. I mean, I ate all of my cheesecake. And Jeff forced himself to eat most of his, too, because he knows from experience that if you don’t eat the vast majority of any of the courses, the server will ask you if you didn’t like the dish and offer to bring you something different. (Last time we went, we couldn’t finish all of the Kobe beef carpaccio in one of the courses and our server was very concerned that we’d been unhappy with it.) And the only thing Jeff hates more than cheesecake is the thought of offending a chef.

All of that said, Bonsoiree, we'll be back! Hopefully next time we'll find beignets and chocolate!

Bonsoiree is located at 2728 W. Armitage Avenue, between Washtenaw and Fairfield. 7-course "no menu" tasting is $75; 4-course "no menu" tasting is $45. Sundays only.

Grahamwich is OPEN!!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, thank God. After two long years of limbo, Grahamwich finally opened its doors on Wednesday! Sadly, I was frantically preparing for a business trip, so I couldn't get there on opening day.

However, I do plan to visit next week and promise a full report. And lucky for me (less lucky for my wallet), Grahamwich is located just one short block from where I work! At 615 N. State, between Ohio and Ontario, I can confidently say that it will become a lunchtime favorite of mine.

Sandwiches by Graham, truffled popcorn and flavored sodas, you will be mine. (Don't worry, I promise to actually take some pictures here...)

Has anyone been yet? If you've already made it over, let me know how it is!

Cafe Bernard

An old client of mine used to speak very highly of Cafe Bernard, so I'd been meaning to give it a whirl. I finally decided to pull the trigger on Friday, when Jeff and I were looking for a place to have dinner in Lincoln Park.

All in all, it was a very solid dinner experience. The ambiance is interesting. The interior reminded me of an old French farmhouse. It's dark and open and the tables and chairs have a rustic quality that I actually enjoyed. The restaurant, though it's French cuisine, doesn't feel overly chic or stuffy. The experience reminds me more of dining in the South of France, rather than Paris. I couldn't help but think of the experiences Peter Mayle describes in his books, which I absolutely love. (Check out A Year In Provence, Encore Provence and Toujours Provence if you love hilarious memoirs from a British ad man who up and moved from London to Southern France to fully realize and embrace his love of food and a slower way of life.)

Our waiter was wonderful and helped us pick out a nice French wine. It was a Rhone that worked well with both of our entrees, robust enough to stand up to Jeff's entree, but not so full-bodied that it overwhelmed mine. The bottle was a Chateauneuf-du-Pape Domaine Jerome Gradassi, but I'm afraid I can't remember the year. Sorry, winos!

For my entree, I decided to try their signature dish, the grilled North Atlantic salmon in a Cabernet Sauvignon sauce. It was quite tasty. I've never had fish in a red wine sauce before and I actually really liked it. The sauce had just a hint of sweetness that played well off of the richness of the salmon, which was impeccably cooked. The fish was served with some grilled baby Yukon Gold potatoes and a mixture of veggies (carrots, green beans, zucchini) that had most definitely been cooked in butter. All of the elements worked very well together to create a hearty meal perfect in the rustic setting. All in all, I was very happy with my meal.

Jeff tried the roasted rack of lamb in a rosemary au jus. Rosemary au jus is brilliant; it works so well with lamb. The combination was absolutely perfect and served with some whipped potatoes and a buttery mix of vegetables similar to mine.

For dessert, we stepped a little out of our comfort zone by ordering the white chocolate mousse with berries. While we're very familiar with chocolate mousse, neither of us had ever had a white chocolate one. It was delicious. Definitely sweeter than a conventional chocolate mousse, but perfectly paired with the tart blueberries, blackberries and strawberries all layered into a parfait glass. Like the donkey in Shrek, I love me some parfait.

Cafe Bernard is most definitely worth a stop for a good rustic* French meal that's not at all pretensious. I'm very glad I finally went!

*Alas, Cafe Bernard is so dark and rustic that none of my pictures came out. Sorry, peeps. Better luck next time!

More Restaurant Reviews Coming Soon

Hi, Mega Biters:

Sorry for the hiatus. The new job and a bout with the flu have taken a toll on my restaurant-touring abilities of late. But I'll be back in action this coming weekend!

Super excited for my return to one of my very favorite restaurants in the city, bonsoiree, which I'll be reviewing for the very first time. (And I'll actually take some pictures... much to Jeff's inevitable dismay! He loves it when I draw attention to the table.)

Tomorrow night's still up in the air: I'll either be trying Cafe Bernard or Vintage 338.

Promise to keep you in the loop with new posts next week!

Have a great weekend -- hope you're enjoying all the holiday parties!

Shrimp Scampi with Angel Hair and Asparagus

I dine out so often that I sometimes forget I'm actually not a bad cook. However, a new work schedule that involves a lot more hours, but with a more flexible schedule means that I find myself working from home more than I'm used to. As a result, I'm home for lunch -- with no time to run out for anything. This means that I need to be able to whip something up from what I already have at home fast, like "in between conference calls" fast.

Fortunately, I'm a big fan of improvisation in the kitchen. Today, I found myself thinking about a nice batch of fresh asparagus that I bought on Monday night and hadn't used yet. What would I do with asparagus at lunch -- without running out to buy a nice piece of fish or chicken to serve as a main to my traditional side veggie?

My mind wandered to the bag of frozen pre-cooked shrimp I'd purchased at Trader Joe's a couple of trips ago. Need to use that, too. Bingo. Shrimp scampi with asparagus! I absolutely love Barilla Plus pasta, which is a multigrain pasta that has more protein and fiber than regular pasta. I much prefer the taste and texture of this pasta to 100% whole wheat pasta -- and since it's made from a blend of grain and legume flours, I find it to be more filling as well. For this reason, I always have at least a box or two on hand in our little pantry. (Ask Jenny. She loves how I dominate our Lazy Susan.)

So here's how I made a healthier version of a restaurant quality meal in under 15 minutes. (Caveat: this doesn't include the time it takes for water to boil.) I started boiling some water for pasta. I planned to use 1/4 of the box, so I just boiled enough to fill about 3/4 of a medium sauce pan. (Cooking's an art, not a science... which is probably why I'm not horrible at it.) I put the pasta into the pan and followed the directions (cook for 6 minutes) on the back of the box.

In the meantime, I busted the frozen shrimp out of my freezer, learned that a serving is about seven shrimp, put eight in a strainer and ran cold water over them for about 5 minutes.

While my shrimp were "quick defrosting," I put a saute pan on the stove and threw about a tablespoon of olive oil in it. I crushed a clove of garlic and then minced it finely before tossing it into the pan with the heating olive oil.

I moved my shrimp out of the way and set to work with a handful of my asparagus bunch. I broke the ends of the stalks of my asparagus off (just take the bottom of the stalk and see where it breaks -- you don't want to eat the very bottoms) and gave them a good rinse. After patting them dry, I threw them into the pan with the olive oil and garlic for a quick saute.

By now, my pasta was done, so I went ahead and drained it. I dumped most of the water out, but saved some in the pan with my pasta, which I just poured right into the colander housing my (still not 100% thawed frozen) shrimp. Once I drained any excess water, I put the pasta and the shrimp into the sautee pan. (I put a tiny bit extra olive oil in the pan with the asparagus first, right before adding the pasta. Literally, less than a teaspoon.) Then I mixed everything together, making sure that the pasta got some of the olive oil. I grabbed a fresh lemon, cut it in half and squeezed the juice from both halves over the pasta. After adding a few turns of fresh ground cracked pepper and some fresh lemon zest, my meal was ready to eat.

Now, in the future, I'd probably swap about half the lemon juice for some dry white wine on hand. (I'd definitely recommend this if you don't love the tart flavor of lemon as much as I do.) But since I'm mostly a red wine drinker, I didn't have any white wine on hand and I was doing this off the cuff. Adding a tablespoon or so of butter to the sauce would also make it richer and cut the acidity, but since I do eat in restaurants so often, I try to keep my cooking at home on the healthier side. However, the butter would be a good way to plus the sauce up a little.

Definitely no need to follow this recipe exactly -- just thought I'd pass it along as fodder for inspiration the next time you find yourself wondering "what exactly am I going to eat?" Shrimp scampi. Delicious, fast -- and totally doable.

*Caveat: I am not a professional chef. The extent of my "formal training" is a few classes at The Chopping Block. I continue to learn to cook mostly by cooking with good cooks whenever I can, trying tons of new dishes in restaurants, figuring out what flavors work together and understanding what I like.

The Most Wonderful... Cocktails... Of The Year

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone, but alas it has. Just under 365 days to wait until that feast-filled holiday comes around again. Sigh.

However, the upside of Thanksgiving's passing is that the holiday season is now upon us! This means that it is once again socially acceptable to drink Baileys on the rocks. (The Queens girls and I eagerly anticipate this time of year... drinking Baileys on the rocks when we're all home for the holidays is a longstanding tradition that makes bartenders look at us quizzically since we're not actually old ladies, but it's one that we continue to honor anyway.)

Fortunately, Baileys doesn't insist on bombarding us with commercials teaching us how to craft this simple concoction -- Disaronno, I'm looking at you. If I see one more "Disaronno on the rocks" cocktail-crafting commercial, I'm going to poke someone's eye out. Take a glass. Add some ice. Pour in a shot (or two or three) of Baileys. There you have it. A Queen of All Saints cocktail favorite. No mixology commercial necessary.

Ahh, but I digress. While I can't deny that simple Baileys on ice is one of my favorite cocktails, it's just one of many fun and festive seasonal libations available this time of year. My dear friends at Food Babies have put together a list of some of their favorite holiday cocktail recipes here. I highly recommend checking them out and trying at least a few. Tis the season!