mikeczyz

Aurora- before you think i'm a complete lush, the gruener veltliner was drank with the meal, as was the champagne. i might have worded it a bit awkwardly. service was very friendly, not formal. server seemed fairly well versed in his knowledge of the food, pacing of courses was even, water was poured...blah blah blah. i liked it. mike btw, i will admit the gummy worm martini isn't for anybody. it certainly is interesting tho....

Good meal at MK. Started with the three house martinis. I recommend the mk splash which tasted EXACTLY like gummy worms, and the passion martini. then had a half bottle of billecart salmon rose. Also had a bottle of gruener veltliner. Amuse was....i don't remember. duck with pommerol, pommery mustard? frisee salad. We started with oysters and caviar. 6 oysters on the half shell with creme fraiche and osetra caviar. While i love oysters and caviar, i don't think they complemented eachother very well. I find that I love to feel the caviar exploding in my mouth and the salinity spreading, but on oyster shooters, it's all lost. Still, how can you argue with raw oysters? Ahi tuna tartare, preserved lemon and russian osetra. Yes, it's as good as it sounds. potato gaufrettes for some texture. Frog's legs pan fried, sweet garlic, parsley coulis, and black truffle vinaigrette Frog's legs were underseasoned. Needed plenty more salt. I guess this is kornick's take on frog's legs with parsley and garlic. Nice and tender. Pan frying gave a little bit of a crisp crust on each leg. Maine lobster bisque with poached maine lobster, cognac and fresh black truffle. Didn't taste much of this... Sauteed maine sea scallop, wild mushroom puree, crisp leeks and black truffles. Nicely done rare scallops. Large, plump specimans. Truffles were nicely flavored Thinly sliced calves liver with stone ground mustard, burnt onions, hickory smoked bacon and aged balsamic vinegar. Yummy! onions and bacon were a bit burnt. Liver was delicious! How often do you get to eat at a restaurant of this caliber and get liver and onions? Highly recommended Cheese plate. Petit savarin, st. marcellin, and brin d'amour. Cake and shake Malted vanilla milkshake with chocolate cake! Wonderfully satisfying Pumpkin cheesecake for the girlfriend. Should mention that we also had the pomem frites with truffle cream. Essentially a mayonaisse with truffle oil, it's addictive. They were flying out of the kitchen. Great room. I will definitely return. mike

Thank you cabrales... mike

Not far from the meyerhoff on Saint Paul Street is a huge strip of restaurants. upscale italian, ethnic, cheap cafes, there's tons of stuff to do. What kind of food are you looking for? Just walk along Saint Paul abotu two or three blocks south of mount vernon square, and two or three blocks above mount vernon square. lots to choose from mike

how far are you willing to walk?

I had fresh grated wasabi here in Chicago at TRU. I found it to be really different from paste, as the fresh was more fruity and floral. It's really really cool! mike

Lady T All mondays work in the month of January except for the sixth. I will be going alone. Thanks everyone for being so gracious to schedule this around my conflicts! mike

Hmm. Metromix.com just posted a 3 star review of Opera. mike

i'd love to go if it works with my work schedule... mike

dude count me in....lemme know the date, i'll try like hell to make it work... mike

Steve- Next time you might consider ordering the 8 course chef's tasting menu at Trio. 5 out of the eight choices you made for your custom menu are already on it... mike I should also add that even though some of the wines at Trio may not be most impressive drunk on their own, when tasted with the food, they make alot more sense. A perfect example would be the Schrock Muscat with the roasted halibut. Sommelier Joe Catterson just picked up chicago magazine's best wine program, so give him a chance before dismissing his choices as 'lame.'

i grew up in alaska fishing for salmon, so this thread really interests me. we used to never call them coho's, it was always silver. same with chinook vs. king. always called them king salmon. i still remember the best fish i've ever had was a silver we caught, my mom fileted it, squeezed a bit of lemon, a little butter, salt and pepper, put it over the campfire in a aluminum foil pouch and we were eating it 10 minutes later. amazing how tasty REALLY fresh fish can be.... mike

nesita- at trio's current prices, i doubt most northwestern students can afford to eat there! mike

lizziee- Steve's dish was a dessert, not an appetizer. mike

did it work? mike

mlpc- I've also heard that the servers make a straight salary, and their incomes are not suplemented by tips. mike

awbrig- Don't take me so seriously! you're right. I learned TONS from my experience at TRU. and i did eat tons of things never before eaten. i'm always grateful for the opportunity to try new things. mike

yah, this is what i'm talking about. if i had the money, i'd just go out and buy a pound of each and sample them all to taste teh differences. maybe if i didn't waste my money at places like TRU, then i might be able to save enough to make it happen! heh heh mike

Awbrig- Maybe I did get osetra. I don't know those caviar's well enough to know the little differences between each.

Awbrig- SOunds like your visits to TRU have been a little better than mine. The food is colorful certainly, whimsical maybe, but wonderful? I don't agree. Where was the option to upgrade to beluga caviar? I did not know there was such an option. Cabrales- The staircase can be viewed at: http://www.chicagochefs.com/clients/Tru/page_4.html My staircase was (in descending order) osetra caviar, trout roe, wasabi infused flying fish roe, whitefish roe, egg white, egg yolk, minced capers and red onion. On my little plate was the creme fraiche, and toasted brioche points. They give you quite a large serving of each caviar. I was able to get a good three or four dollops of each roe onto the toast. Very generous serving size.

anyone ever notice that when you go to his webpage and veiw the current menu, it says that an 18% service charge is added to each check. does this mean tip is computed for you? i don't like this idea at all. not one bit. mike

mlpc- yah, i know what you mean when you say you left unimpressed. i mean, i don't feel bad about the money spent, but i won't go back anytime soon. which leads to your question. i haven't had a chance to eat out taht much because i just moved here. i do plan on visiting many of the places you mention. spring is high on my list. maybe tomorrow if i get the night off. i do think tru's service is excellent in the fact that they're amazingly well practiced. watching them simultaneously pour water on a six top was pretty cool. like a pack of vultures swooping in for the kill. it's jsut so impersonal. so robotic. i'll take personality over practiced perfection anyday. so many restaurants to try, so little time... mike

Okay. Let's get this over with. I had very, very mixed feelings about TRU. I was going to write this last night after dinner condemning the place, but I decided to let it wait and see how I felt after I gave it some thought. I'm gonna start with the menu of what I had with notes when applicable. I had WAAAYYY too many courses to give a detailed description about all of them, so I'm goign to leave it to the readers to ask for further information Amuse #1:Truffled Goat Cheese Gougere Amuse #2: Pear and Thyme Sorbet in Parmesan Cone Grand Amuse Bouche: Rabbit in Aspic with Saffron Aioli, some carroty marshmallow thing with a worthless beet glaze, slice of fluke sashimi over seaweed salad, pomegranate and clove shooter. Carroty marshmallow thing was a carrot flavored lump of something that had the texture of a marshmallow. Strange. Didn't like the fluke sashimi. It was warm. I dunno about y'all, but I don't like warm sashimi. Makes me think of a bacterial breeding ground. Tramonto's Caviar Staircase: I'm sure you all know what this is. Alot of fun to mix and match everything. And I've always said...you can never have too much caviar. Chef's Sushi Plate, Soy Reduction, Fresh Wasabi: Fantastic. Five different sushi preparations, and I had never had fresh wasabi before. Terrific. So different from wasabi made from the dried powder. The sushi's were hamachi nigiri style, crab and avacado rolls, citrus cured salmon with trout roe, slice of ahi tuna (not toro), and uni, with a piece of grapefruit and hijiki seaweed on a shiso leaf. Seared La Belle Foie Gras, 2 Ways (on the same plate. Square plate was divided diagonally with a line of veal jus, two preparations were on opposite sides) #1 Lentil puree, French lentils and pickeled red onion #2 Macerated Lingonberries, Braised red cabbage and veal jus I liked number two more, but don't get me wrong. foie is foie. It's always good! 2 Demitasse Cups: #1: Lobster bisque with a spoon of lobster ceviche. Ceviche was lobster with a brunoise of bell pepper, onions, a bit of jalapeno with citrus to cure lobster. #2 Porcini mushroom soup with truffles. Once again, number two was the winner. Rouget, tomato tarragon broth, raviolis stuffed with artichoke, white anchovies, and picholine olive. Steamed Wild Turbot smeared with a truffle-foie mousseline wrapped with spinich in a truffle fume: Needless to say, fantastic dish. soooo good. They said the white truffles were from the himalayas. anyone know anything about himalayan truffles? I loved the texture in the dish. Firm fish, light mousseline and the spinach. Labelle Farm Seared squab breast, black trumpet mushrooms, swiss chard, fava beans, black truffle mushroom puree, pinot noir reduction. Braised beef short ribs, parsnip puree, red wine braised shallot, fried salsify, brussel sprout leaves,natural jus. as a whole, i was very disappointed wiht the two meat dishes. i felt very little thought had been to what the meats would be paired with. you could basically give the squab the beef's accompniaments and vice versa. i should add that slices of truffle were placed between the slices of squab. braised short rib was a little dry, and lacking the flavor i generally associate with short ribs. not beefy at all. very disappointing. Cheese course: three stick out in my mind, an alsatian cow's milk meunster served with caraway seeds, a cheese called petite savarin, and a goat's milk blue. the goat's milk blue was very mild as far as blues are concerned. lot's of fruit, nuts, sundried tomato, olives. nice cheese cart. Red plum shooter. heavily laced with vanilla bean Dessert Collection: On one side, a chocolate and white caramel tart. don't ask me what white caramel is. i couldn't get a straight answer otu of my server. on the other side of the plate was a warm white chocolate and brioche bread pudding. yes, it was a good as it sounds. both dishes were tied togeter with a vanilla creme anglaise and mint oil. Lemon apricot souffle. delicious Gale's miniature root beer with turkish coffee ice cream. I loved all the desserts. I'm thinking about returning for the dessert degustation. seriously. pastry chef gale gand's fame is well deserved in my opinion. mignardises and tru lollipops: a cart is wheeled to your table and you're allowed to choose. i had a raspberry and almond tea cake, chocolate and peppermint truffle, sour cherry jelly, and a peppermint lollipop. fun stuff. okay, here's my summary. i really enjoy the fish preparations at tru. i felt they were much stronger than the meat dishes sent to my table. there is an option for a seafood chef's degustation, so i will consider that next time. the two foie preparations on one plate was really generous of the kitchen. so were the truffles that were liberally sprinked on some dishes. i paid 135 pre tax and tip so i considered my meal to have good value, if such a thing can be said about a 135 buck meal. packed on a monday night. this place is making some serious dough which makes me wonder why the hell they don't have better silverware. it's terrible. it belongs in a high school cafeteria or a prison. it's really that bad. horrible. i also did nto care for the service. soul less. while they did everything technically correct, and there seemed to be an army of them on the floor watching over everything, i never once felt being cared for. maybe as a single diner i covet the diner/waitperson relationship a little more than others, but not once did i ever feel that an effort was made to create a more personal connection. it definitely does NOT deserve the label as best service in the city, or for that mattter best restaurant. It seems to me that TRU wants to be thought of as a hip, happening place but the food doesn't really live up to that. I mean, squab breast with red wine reduction? You can get that anywhere, same wiht a mediocre braised beef short rib. Sushi? not so revolutionary. Neither was the lobster bisque, and the only thing revolutionary about the caviar staircase was the actual glass staircase. I find it kinda hard to put into words how i feel about tru, so please ask questions. I feel a little bit bad because it's obvious they put some external effort into making me feel like a valued guest (i'm staring at my take home menu, autographed by tramonto and gand which is titled "TRU Welcomes [my name] From [the restaurant where i work at]" If only so much effort were put into table side service. a smile everynow and then wouldn't of hurt either. my biggest gripes are with the service as it was a stink that lingered throughout the whole meal. food definitely had it's ups and downs, but at these prices, i expected much more. okay. enough from me. thanks for reading this far...questions? mike p.s. Forgot to mention, some dishes were underseasoned also, servers could not always answer my questions without having to go back and ask.

i am all insanely jealous of those of you that have had this grape menu. mike

sounds like you got shafted...