ELIZABITES

It was exactly a week ago when I was lucky enough to experience Next restaurant for their Escoffier at the Ritz menu, Paris, circa 1906. It was the kind of meal that more than met every expectation I had formed from the hype, and bits and pieces of the tasting menu continued to pop into my head all week long. Was that blue foot chicken we ate? How did they fill a perfect circle-center of toasted bread with foie gras? Did they really use an antique duck press to make gravy? Will I ever get to try truffle-topped egg custard foam that again, ever? It was sinking in. The eight-course meal was fantastic, and while my photos, of course, don’t do the experience justice, I’ve posted the lot below. People asked me if the servers dressed in clothes from the era (no), if the restaurant design went back in time too (uh, no). If it was super-formal (surprisingly no). The space is chic, low-key, modern and beautifully lit. Servers wore modern garb, explained everything in fascinating detail and were refreshingly funny and light-hearted. A kitchen tour punctuated the evening (no shots there, sorry!) and a failed attempt at getting into the connecting Aviary bar, but what came before was pure brilliance. Rumors of Asian Street food circa the 2050s have swirled for the next menu, but the kitchen staff was pretty tight-lipped. They are beginning to toy with spices and flavors of the future, but for now (or the next two months)..it’s all about classic escoffier dishes…
We started with the gougères, the original “cheese puff” said our waiter, and they were just that, warm and crunchy on the outside, gooey on the inside.

Next came the stunning hor’s d’oeuvres tray. Presented as a homage to buffet and tray-style dining of the time, it was filled with tiny bites of quail eggs with anchovy, brioche with foie gras and apricot jam, crackers topped with pork rillettes, and that egg I mentioned before. A hallowed out egg was filled with a warm, rich and wonderful egg custard topped with truffle. We wanted to lick the shell..and have seconds. And the combination of sweet apricot jam smothered over foie gras stuffed brioche pretty much put us over the edge.

Next came a lovely turtle soup, a dish I hadn’t had before that was a like a light but meaty and flavorful consommé.

The following course celebrated the sea, and crayfish, with a crayfish-stuffed mushroom, delicate perfect piece of sole, sole roe and a sole-stuffed crayfish all resting in a rich, briney sauce normande we quickly sopped up with housemade bread served on the side.

The suprêmes de poussin was next, a beautiful, juicy triangle of blue foot chicken with an almost poached cucumber maki stuffed with chicken mousse. I truly love a good piece of chicken, and this course took poultry to a whole new juicy level, so much so it almost overpowered the cucumber bites.

After a lovely piece of chicken, we were ready for the a stunning piece of duck, or leg and sliced, fanned-out breast for which the duck sauce was churned from the whole duck (bones and all) out of an antique duck press. Each juicy, intense slice melted in our mouths, and the fall-of-the-bone leg meat was divine, and a fragrant bunch of thyme sprigs tied everything together.

Along with the duck came the most luscious combination of cheese and a pile of thinly sliced potatoes I’ve ever experienced. Gruyère cheese was the star of the ultra-rich dish topped with a layer of perfect golden crunch conducive to a cold Chicago spring.

Chicken, foie gras, duck, potatoes and cheese..no one said classic French cuisine was light. A palate-cleansing Salade Irma came next with asparagus, greens and a nasturtium blossom.

It was the perfect segueway into dessert, a light, refreshing bombe ceylan with a cocoa shell, and frosty hint of mint and coffee, cookie bottom and rum-soaked cherries. It was fresh, light, slightly unexpected, and had all the right textures.

The meal ended with mignardise, our favorite being the salted caramels and beet jellies served on an elegant silver tray..the perfect way to end a legendary meal I will never forget. Now to see what year, city and flavor adventure the team has planned next…Next, 953 W. Fulton Market

Ah Tizi Melloul. I remember your weird genie-in-a-bottle room, your modern Middle Eastern fare, your dim lighting and stark white tables. I remember the place, but don’t particularly miss it, especially now that GT Fish & Oyster Bar has taken over that coveted River North corner.

I loved chef Giuseppe Tentori’s dishes when I first had them at Boka, everything so beautifully presented, immaculate oysters and seafood, brilliant combinations..so I knew GT was going to rock it when it opened. A visit there this week blew my mind, as expected, with a balanced and seafood-heavy menu of small plates, and a refreshing, cool vibe that was a lot East Coast beach house, a little nautical-chic (think the Maritime in NYC) and very summer clam-bake cool. It’s pretty much always packed, naturally, but my companion and I sat quite comfortably one of the (full) white wood oval communal dining tables with a cluster of drift wood, candles and old ball jars as a lovely centerpiece—the best On the Table yet.

From there it was all about the menu, fresh oysters—from Blue Point to Fire River—served with house cocktail sauce, cold dishes like ceviches, smoked salmon, tuna poke, and hot dishes like a lobster roll, crab cakes, clam chowder, fish and chips and stuffed squid. Dishes are medium-sized, easily sharable and you’ll want one of each. But first we settled on the Baja shrimp bruschetta with silky smooth avocado mousse topped with pink grapefuit wedges, jalapeño, toasted pistachios, cilantro and shrimp. It flaunted the full array of textures from crunchy bruschetta to ultra-whipped mousse, yet still melted in our mouths with every bite.

From there we went to the barbecue eel with wasabi, potato and octopus salad. I tasted more creamy diced potato than octopus in the salad, but the eel was delicate and delicious with a sweet barbecue glaze. An interesting combo of hot and cold..salty and sweet.

From the hot side of the menu we dug into the grilled mahi tacos with achiote, smoked crema and perfectly grilled, juicy fish on a soft flour tortilla. A perfect summer snack (now if the weather would just…grrrr.)

But the winner of the night was crab agnolotti, a stunning dish of yellow curry agnolotti pillows stuffed with Dungeness crab and resting in a light coconut broth with boy choy, sliced maitake mushrooms and topped with black tobiko. An elizabite-of-the-week worthy dish, it was colorful, inspired and fantastic.

On to dessert, the peanut butter chocolate situation on the menu was a no-brainer, and this tempting combo crunchy praline with soft peanut butter mousse topped with salted peanuts and chocolate soil didn’t disappoint. The praline section was a bit tough to cut through, even with the strategically placed knife, but with a little maneuvering, we managed to dig right in.

My Pavlovian ordering reaction kicks in when I see “peanut butter-chocolate,” and, OK, well also “Key lime pie,” and GT’s version was an awesome layering of custardy lime pie, graham cracker crumbs and brûléed marshmallow fluff. The jar presentation is a bit overdone these days, but this dessert was lovely, and once we got the nerve to bust right on through that perfect swirl of golden brown fluff, it was on.

Oy, the lobster roll! The oysters! The mussels! There was so much more I wanted to try, but alas, another visit will happen soon, and as we move into summer, I can’t wait to see what else is on tap at GT. GT Fish & Oyster Bar, 531 N. Wells.