Powerhouse - Chicago - Chef John Peters

[ronnie_suburban]

I go back a ways with both of the gentlemen I named in the subject lines of this thread, so you may want to just throw this whole thing out the window and wait for the next account, which could be slightly more objective. We're not exactly friends but our paths have crossed numerous times in the course of my food geekdom over the past few years and my interactions with both guys have been consistently positive. So, for me, it's exciting to see these 2 Trio and Alinea alums reunited and running the show together at Powerhouse.

I've actually been somewhat unenthused about finer dining lately but Powerhouse is one place that I really was excited to try. So, when a friend asked me if I wanted to eat there, I jumped at the chance. With the holiday season upon us, I realized that if I didn't get in now (this meal took place on December 12), the opportunity may not present itself again until late January. That was too long to wait. So, braving a lousy upper respiratory infection after an utterly miserable day at work, I made the 90 minute drive in rush hour traffic from Deerfield to 215 N. Clinton and I was happy that I did.

Powerhouse has only been open since late November but from our experience, that was fairly hard to discern. Menu covers and other imprinted items are still being delivered, so heavy-stock paper menus were being used but service was smooth, efficient and friendly.

We started in the bar, which is still coming together nicely. There, we were met by beverage director Scott Noorman who told us a little bit about Powerhouse's plans for a classic cocktail list. Because of the bar's era-specific focus, many of the featured cocktails will be bourbon and gin based. Scott poured a small sampling of a very potent brand of Swedish gin, called Zuidan. It differs from many other gins in that the aromatic elements are distilled separately and blended together selectively. The result was a savory and complexly-flavored gin that, unlike many spirits, actually spurred the appetite.

After a few cocktails -- my friend particularly liked the Sazerac -- we moved to the dining room, which is a completely separate space from the bar, located north of the restaurant's entrance (the bar is to the south). It's a long and narrow space with high windows that showcase the tops of the small trees that line the sidewalk outside the building. Once we were seated in the quiet and elegant space, the progression of courses began. In all honesty, the kitchen sent out quite a bit of food that we didn't order so rather than a full-on review, what follows here is a round-up of the highlights from our meal . . .

Slow-roasted chicken thigh with farro ragout, winter root vegetables and thyme

Wow! I always make chicken thighs at home but I've only once before seen them offered in a restaurant (Sun Wah BBQ). What a great dish! The chicken had a deep, chickeny flavor and delectably crispy skin. It didn't taste like duck but it was just as deep in flavor. Across the board, the textures were fantastic. I loved the earthy farro which was slightly resistant to the bite and the root vegetables, which provided a great foundation for the chicken.

Tartare of Kona kampachi with marinated shiitake mushroom, pickled radish and fennel seed cracker

This dish surprised me with its aggressive ginger note but it was absolutely delicious and the boldness immediately distinguished it from so many other, forgettable tartares. Textures were combined thoughtfully and along with the great flavors, the result was a very compelling dish.

Crisp Berkshire pork belly with curry broth, roasted apple, toasted barley and fresh bay leaf

I thought the flavors in this dish were right on the money. I loved the muted sweetness and acidity of the roasted apple in combination with the rich belly. All the components were handled extremely welll. The succulent pork belly was tender and sticky but not greasy.

Salad of romaine hearts with hard-boiled quail eggs, wild boar bacon, pecorino romano, ciabatta croutons and Alexander's garlic dressing

This salad was terrific. The quail eggs and boar bacon were -- of course -- delicious together and the pickled pearl onions provided a pleasant, sweetly acidic note. The 'Alexander' after whom the dressing was named is, I believe, one of the partners at Powerhouse.

I should mention that I was really grateful to Scott for helping us select a great wine; a 2004 Nicholas Joly "Clos de la Bergerie" from Savennieres, France. Years ago Scott told me that his favorite grape was chenin blanc and this wine made it easy to see why. In this situation, where we were trying to match up with several different dishes, I would have probably opted for an Alsatian Reisling (my default choice in such situations) but this wine was a much better choice. It had a great balance between sweet and acidic, and a delicate complexity that evolved as it continued to open up. It also had an interestingly dark color, which Scott told us was due to the fact that the grapes used to make the wine are allowed to develop small amount of botrytis before they are processed. A great, great choice . . .

2004 Nicholas Joly "Clos de la Bergerie" from Savennieres, France

Sweet onion soup with pickled pearl onions and gruyère-crusted baguette

This course -- a riff on traditional French onion soup -- was sent out by the kitchen and it was very enjoyable. Here, the "fixins" await the soup.

Sweet onion soup with pickled pearl onions and gruyère baguette

Here, the soup is poured. I liked the sweet, pureed soup and again, the pickled pearl onions provided a nice, acidic counterpoint.

Nantucket bay scallops with serrano ham, bitter orange puree, roasted parsnip and mache

I really loved this dish. I have to say that I probably wouldn't have ordered bay scallops on my own but I was very happy the kitchen sent these out for us to try. The components all worked extremely well together in highlighting the delicate flavor and texture of the perfectly prepared scallops.

Red wine-braised short ribs with creamy polenta, maitake mushroom, kale and radish-herb salad

I loved the combination of ingredients, flavors and textures here. The mushrooms provided a nice bit of chew that contrasted well with the tender short rib. The only negative was that it was a tad salty for my taste. FWIW, I have been watching my salt intake lately, so it's possible that it was just my palate which had a problem with the saltiness.

Arctic char with cauliflower, romesco, green beans, hard-cooked farm eggs, chervil and caper sabayon

This immaculately fresh piece of char was cooked perfectly. It was tender and moist with a wonderfully crispy skin. I loved the romesco, cauliflower and fried threads of saffron. The egg and sabayon elements didn't completely pop for me, although I really appreciated the idea behind the pairing.

Crispy-skinned Arctic char

Slow-roasted pheasant with sage stuffing, sweet potato, caramelized brussel sprouts and cranberry gastrique

This tasty and well-conceived dish was essentially Thanksgiving on a plate. The stuffing was perfectly seasoned and spiked with tender nuggets of pheasant. I thought all the components -- including the brussels sprouts and the cranberry gastrique -- worked exceedingly well together. I even loved the sweet potato puree with marshmallow topping (foreground), even though I'm not normally a fan of sweet potatoes.

Sweet potato doughnuts with brown butter glaze, cinnamon sabayon, arrop and pepitos

This was my favorite of the 3 desserts we tried. The dessert menu was devised by Tara Lane (of Blackbird fame) but I don't believe she's actively working at Powerhouse. In any case, I really enjoyed the doughnuts, the pepitos and the arrop, which is, I believe, dried and candied pumpkin. The sauce was also tasty but somewhat grainy. I personally found that element somewhat unpleasant but perhaps it was intentional. In either case, the dish succeeded otherwise.

I think we got a pretty good feel for Powerhouse during our inaugural visit and I definitely look forward to returning. Viewing the menus, there are several appealing and distinctive dishes offered that I didn't get to try, so a return is imminent. Chef Peters' menus do, more often than not, speak to me. This is thoughtful comfort food with a fine dining aesthetic. It's refined but not to the point where it loses its emotional impact. While many of the ingredients are familiar, they're prepared and combined in a most inviting way. If it's possible to 'get one's grub on' and experience fine dining at the same time, Powerhouse seems like a great place to do so.

=R=

Powerhouse Restaurant

215 N Clinton St

Chicago, IL 60661

312 928-0800

Edited January 1, 2008 by ronnie_suburban (log)

[NancyH]

Ronnie - beautiful pictures of a beautiful meal!

[Chris Amirault]

Nice report, Ron. What did the meal cost?

I'm also interested to know more about two courses. Was that onion soup pureed? It looked to have the consistency of squash soup, and I was wondering if it was a photographic effect. Also, what flavor was the foam with those scallops?

[docsconz]

Great report, Ron. It looks to have been a wonderful meal, though not what I would have expected from Trio/Alinea alums.

I suppose that you don't get Nantucket scallops much in the Heartland, but they are truly special.

[jesteinf]

The Wife took me to Powerhouse last night for my birthday and we had a fantastic dinner.

I sort of inadvertently ordered a very similar meal to the one I had at Takashi a couple of weeks ago, so this turned into a bit of a smackdown. I have to say, I think Powerhouse came out on top.

I started with the pork belly. It's gotten to the point where pork belly is starting to become ubiquitous, so there is a greater responsibility on the part of the chef to make this dish really special. At Powerhouse, it's really special. The top of the belly was crisp, and the rest simply melted in my mouth. I can't think of the last time I had pork belly that it actually melted in my mouth (this includes at Blackbird, the home of pork belly). This pork belly dish absolutely destroyed the pork belly I had at Takashi, not even close. The belly was served with two slices of apple, providing the necessary sweet foil, and on top of barley which gave the dish a nice heartiness. The Wife had the bay scallops and Serrano ham which was also awesome.

The kitchen was then kind enough to send out two additional appetizers (I think it's because I told our waiter how much the pork belly rocked). One was a mushroom risotto and the other was the roasted chicken thigh. I'm not really a mushroom fan so I just had a bite of the risotto. The risotto itself seemed to be cooked perfectly, and the rest was tasty (especially if you like mushrooms). Luckily the Wife doesn't eat chicken so I got the chicken thigh all to myself. The skin was nicely seasoned and crispy, and the meat was moist and flavorful. I usually don't order chicken in restaurants, but I would definitely consider ordering this when I go back.

For my main course I had the duck. The typical sliced breast/confit leg dish, but definitely elevated. The slices of breast were a nice medium-rare, and cut thick enough so you actually knew you were eating duck. The plate also had a few chips of crispy skin. The confit part of the dish is actually served in a cobbler. You get a little cast-iron pot with a beet and duck confit cobbler. I thought this was a really neat take on the confit portion of the program. The beets provided just enough sweetness to go with the duck, but also enough of a savory element to let you know you weren't eating dessert. The Wife had an 18oz. steak, ordered before we knew that there would be a bonus course. The steak was very good (cooked a little under the ordered medium-rare, but that's ok), but let's just say I'm going to be having a nice sized steak for dinner tonight.

For dessert we went with the sweet potato donuts, which were just as good as advertised, and a banana/peanut butter thing (I can't remember exactly what it was called). Basically, it was a banana mousse served on top of a peanut butter cookie on top of a milk chocolate sauce. To put it over the top, there was some nice melted marshmallow on the plate to go with it. The banana/peanut butter dessert was comped.

Service was fantastic. Our server James (who we've also had at Custom House and Alinea) is a real pro and always does a great job.

Prices didn't seem out of line with other comparable restaurants. Total bill for a bottle of wine (about $90), two appetizers, two main courses, and one dessert was $210 after tax but before tip. Had we been charged for the other dessert, it would have added $9.

I will definitely be back.

Edited February 10, 2008 by jesteinf (log)