TRU - Chicago

[ronnie_suburban]

I have to brag and have no one to brag to, so I thought Egullet would be the place.

In 3 months and 19 days, to celebrate our 5th anniversary, hubby is taking me to Tru.

*swoon*

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I hope -- and suspect -- that you'll have a wonderful time.

Please let us know all about it . . . the countdown begins now

=R=

[mhadam]

I have to brag and have no one to brag to, so I thought Egullet would be the place.

In 3 months and 19 days, to celebrate our 5th anniversary, hubby is taking me to Tru.

*swoon*

←

I hope -- and suspect -- that you'll have a wonderful time.

Please let us know all about it . . . the countdown begins now

=R=

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Sorry, i didn't think about adding my note to this thread. I'm so excited!!! I was giggling on the phone when making the reservation

[ronnie_suburban]

Sorry, i didn't think about adding my note to this thread. I'm so excited!!! I was giggling on the phone when making the reservation 

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No apologies necessary. Unfortunately, our Search feature needs at least 4 input characters to function properly, so I'm not sure this thread would have been easy to find. That's why I added "Gand and Tramanto" to the subject line of the thread; so it would come up in more searches.

I really loved my experience at Tru earlier this year. I still think about the lobster and truffle risotto I had there constantly

=R=

[mhadam]

I'm not sure if we should order the Prix Fixe or one of the Collections. Thoughts? advice?

Husband said we can do whatever I want. And driving home isn't an issue as we will be at the Drake.

So excited, nervous, scared, eager and it's 3 months away!!!!!!

[jesteinf]

I would suggest going with the Chef's Collection. Put yourselves in Rick and Gale's hands and enjoy the evening.

[mhadam]

I would suggest going with the Chef's Collection.  Put yourselves in Rick and Gale's hands and enjoy the evening.

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Thanks!

[ronnie_suburban]

I would suggest going with the Chef's Collection.  Put yourselves in Rick and Gale's hands and enjoy the evening.

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I couldn't agree more -- although, it is a LOT of food.

=R=

[jesteinf]

I would suggest going with the Chef's Collection.  Put yourselves in Rick and Gale's hands and enjoy the evening.

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I couldn't agree more -- although, it is a LOT of food.

=R=

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That is 100% true. My girlfriend and I went for our first anniversary a few years ago. I got the Chef's Collection and I believe she had the Vegetarian. When our waiter asked us towards the end of the meal if we wanted a cheese course, being the glutton I am, I said absolutely. Well, my girlfiend nearly jumped across the table and killed me. In fact, she still tells people the story whenever they say they're going to Tru. Be prepared to be stuffed. But in a good way, of course.

[mhadam]

The last thing either of us would want is to be so stuffed we get sick or don't enjoy the experience.

Is there an option to sample some cheese, at the end, without doing a full cheese course?

I love cheese and at MK's I over-indulged in the cheese course.

[jesteinf]

Didn't mean to scare you!

If you do opt for cheese you can select as few as you like so as not to over-indulge.

You have to take my story with a grain of salt as my girlfriend is about 5ft tall and weighs maybe 100 lbs. I, on the other hand, am a foot taller and weigh a little more than twice as much. Needless to say, she is often full before I am.

[ronnie_suburban]

Didn't mean to scare you! 

If you do opt for cheese you can select as few as you like so as not to over-indulge. 

You have to take my story with a grain of salt as my girlfriend is about 5ft tall and weighs maybe 100 lbs.  I, on the other hand, am a foot taller and weigh a little more than twice as much.  Needless to say, she is often full before I am.

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I was full; quite pleasantly so

=R=

[Nick Bergus]

A nice thing that TRU does: if two people at the same table order the Chef's Collection, different dishes will be brought to each person. This way, you get to try twice as many things!

[mhadam]

A nice thing that TRU does: if two people at the same table order the Chef's Collection, different dishes will be brought to each person. This way, you get to try twice as many things!

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ooooohhhhh. that sounds like fun, but that mean's sharing

Thanks for the tip

[gmi3804]

ooooohhhhh. that sounds like fun, but that mean's sharing 

Thanks for the tip

Do what we do: eat half your dish, then switch plates!

Edited July 13, 2005 by gmi3804 (log)

[mhadam]

ooooohhhhh. that sounds like fun, but that mean's sharing 

Thanks for the tip

Do what we do: eat half your dish, then switch plates!

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I love your license plate!!!!!

[bentherebfor]

I just recieved an email that Tru is offering a menu based entirely on Tomato for the rest of September. 12 courses I believe it said. $120

[ronnie_suburban]

I received the email too and I think it's a really cool idea. Over 20 varieties of heirloom tomatoes will be used in the multi-course menu.

A couple of the dishes sound absolutely delicious:

Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras, Fried Green Zebra Tomato, Plum Dandy Tomato Syrup

Chilled Roma Tomato Bisque, Basil Flan, Summer Herbs

Roasted Hamachi, Heirloom Tomato & Pine Nut Salad, Tomato & Grapefruit Jus

There's another course which sounds very cool, although it reminds me of another chef in town just a bit: "B.L.T." . . . Cherokee Purple Tomato, Lettuce Jus, Bread Foam, Bacon Dust

=R=

[adoxograph]

That's interesting - back when I went in 2003 for my birthday (which is in September) they also had a heirloom tomato feature menu. I wonder if it's a yearly event?

Sorry, though, I didn't have it....

[babern38]

2 years ago I was fortunate to have my first gastronomic degustation experience at the Albert 1er Restaurant in Chamonix, France. It was a totally new way of experiencing food. The numerous, petite courses, prepared with intricacy and amazing flavors. Well, since that experience I have been looking forward to visiting another restaurant of such caliber. Luckily, I came across an article featuring TRU about a year ago and was fortunate enough to dine there this weekend.

While I have been to many countries and dined in many well-known restaurants, TRU has to be my favorite.

I had done my research and all the statements regarding the amazing service are dead on. I marveled at the servers pouring water in unison around the table as well as serving the table in pairs.

My father and I both decided on Chef Tramonto's collection, my mother had the Grand menu, and my fiancee had a specially prepared vegetarian menu. It was all wonderful and I won't go into details now as I don't have the menu in front of me, but I would like to say that my fiancee was a bit hesitant at the surroundings and food descriptions were way beyond her usual comfort level, but after the first amazing bite, she felt right at home.

Simply put, TRU is home things should always be done.

By the way, they were offering the special tomato menu when we were there and it looked amazing, but for my first TRU experience I wanted the traditional Tramonto experience.

[ChristyMarie]

The last thing either of us would want is to be so stuffed we get sick or don't enjoy the experience.

No worries - I've done the full one at Tru (yes, with the cheese cart and all) and the full 25+ courses at Alinea - just take your time, go slow and enjoy. Many of the larger dishes I'll only eat half which really seems to help.

BTW, when we went to Tru we also were staying at the Drake - makes a wonderful evening. Enjoy!

[babern38]

Sorry for the delay, but I finally managed to retrieve a copy of our menu from my parent's house. Just to recap, my father and I had the Chef Tramonto's collection, my mother hand the Grand collection, and my fiancee had the vegetable collection.

After being seated in proper, synchronized fashion, a waiter brought over four, rather large spoons, with large curled handles that were filled with a a sweet corn panna cotta, vidalia onion marmalade, and a single kernel of popcorn. This was quite enjoyable even considering my rather lackluster desire for onions.

Grand Amuse:

Next was the Grand Amuse-Bouche, of which I can barely remember the descriptions well enough to do them justice. We were presented with one large square plate, divided into four smaller squares each containing four seperate "little bites". I remember something invoving peaut butter, a glass of melon water, and two other extremely interesting and tasty bites.

- This was accompanied by a Rene Geoffroy Rose Brut NV

Caviar:

Next was the amazing and very enjoyable, famous caviar staircase. My father and I shared one that had the iranian osetra at the top, while my mother had her own that had the "next step down" for the top stair. It might have been sevruga, but can't rememer. This was my first time having caviar and I am now in love.

- This was paired with Alan McCorindale Pinot Gris WWaipara Valley 2004

For my fiancee, instead of caviar, she was presented with a stack of three black bento boxes, that were revealed to reveal 3 distinct items, ranging from a salad, a terrine of some sort, and a dish with cous cous. I remeber carrot foam as a side to one of the dishes. I must admit I was a bit nervous about my fiancee at TRU as she is can be a rather picky eater who is afraid to try new things, but she raved over everything in those boxes.

3rd course:

-Next consisted of seared yellow fin tuna, tapenade, potato confit, carmellini beans, and shaved radish for my mother. My parent aren't much for sushi or only barely seared fish, but I though this was some of the best yellow fin I've ever had.

-I was given chilled peeky toe crab & apple salad, that the water then proceeded to pour a little of apple-lemon verbena water into the bowl, as well as micro lemon-basil, and mint paint (whatever that is). I've never had crab paired with apple flavors before and I was delighted at the crispness of the entire dish that really brought out the flavor and textures of the crab.

-My father was given a deconstructed wagyu beef tartare, caper berries, white anchovy, quail egg, consomme gelee. I don't blame him for disliking the anchovy on his plate (as I also have not acquired that taste) but my taste of this dish was also delightful. The beef was excellent although I found little other flavors, which may have been the point.

-My fiancee received salad of raw & cooked summer vegetables, baby lettuce, roasted lemon vinaigrette.

- these dishes were paired with either a Radsheim Estate Riesling Georg Breuer Rheingau 2003, or a Sancerre Pinot Rose Lucien Crochet 2004.

4th Course: Foie

Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras, peach & basil marmalade, Fried tarragon, duck jus for my father - Excellent

Hudson Valley , steel-cut oats, blueberry compote, aged maple syrup - for my mother - also very good

Foie Gras, Brioche French Toast, banana chutney, chocolate sauce - Orgasmic! I would take the time to eat breakfast everyday if it was like this. When it was being described, I had no idea how it could go together, especially when the waiter poured the hot chocoloate syrup on and around the dish at the table. The rich, buttery, and fruit tastes will haunt my palate through all lesser meals.

My fiancee received potato gnocchi, basil & tomato marmalade, with fried heirloom tomato. I think this might have been her favorite dish of the night.

- these dishes were paired with either a Waterford Estate Sauvignon Blanc Stellenbosh 2004, Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos Chateau Pajoz 1999, Kracher Beerenauslese Cuvee Burgenland 2003. I was extremely delighted to be the one receiving the Tokaji as I have only had this at one other restaurant and had a heck of a time trying to find bottles on-line. This paired exceptionally well with my foie gras breakfast extravaganza.

5th course:

-Potato-Leek Soup, crispy bacon - don't remember trying this one.

-Curried Cauliflower Cappuccino, buttermilk cracker - this was mine and enjoyed it immensely even though I have never considered myself a curry fan. I can't help but compare it to Lipton's chicken noodle soup powders with curry flavoring however. Still wonderful though

-carrot ginger soup, carrot salad, orange dust

Porcinin mushroom cappuccino, parmesan tuile - This was my fiancee's and I would definitely find it difficult not to request this on a next visit. I would drink this the rest of my life. YUM!!

- paired with Pinot Blanc Cuvee Balthazar Lucien Albrect 2003

6th course -

-Roasted Nova Scotia Halibut, Israeli Couscous, Marcona ALmonds, lemon confit

- grilled swordfish, escargot, fingerling potatoes, olives, white anchovy, herb-butter emulsion

- seared ahi tuna, bacon, squash & cauliflower ragout, cauliflower cream, beef jus - This was amazing tuna that I was surprised to see how well it went with the beef jus. Awesome

- ragout of summer vegetables, spiced carrot puree

- paired with torbreck viognier/marsanne/roussanne Barossa 2004

7th course:

-Beef rossini, wild mushrooms, summer truggle, foie gras-beef jus - this was my mother and probably my favorite dish for this course. I'm lucky she was getting full and started passing me larger portions.

- Millbrook farms Venison Saddle, summer fruits & vegetables, red wine pepper sauce. - I remember this was my fathers. It had the meat in the center with deconstructed flavors spread around the plate. I thought it was good, but not as good as my mothers.

- Espresso -roasted quail, salad of hazelnuts, cippolini onions & figs, sauce Aigre-Doux - while enjoyable, this might have been my least favorite dish of the night., especially when compared to my mother's. I enjoyed the taste of the quail, but the sides weren't very appealing to my palate. I also have find it difficult to eat meat off such little bones in a civilized, non-clumsy manner in such a nice restaurant.

- Gemelli Pasta, black trumpet mushrooms, english peas, truffle pesto and parmesan - I take it back, this was my fiancee's most favorite dish.

- paired with either a Kista Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 2003, Finca Villacreces Reserva Ribera del Duero 2000, or Apaltagua Carmenere Frial Colchagua Valley 2002. I remember really enjoying all of these heavier wines with their respective dishes, unfortunately I can't remeber what went with what now, but they paired excellently, not to strong, but helped enhance the flavors of the food,

8th course:

- My father and I shared our collection of Cow, goat, and sheeps' milk cheeses with our table as well as our Pouilly Fume Pur Sang D. Dagueneau 2003. I have only been to a handful of restaurants with cheese carts and know very little about cheese, but do know that I enjoy the complexities and varieities of flavors that may be produced immensely. I think part of the enjoyment comes from the detailed descriptions and regions of where the cheeses you are eating have come from and what it takes to make them so wonderful.

9th course:

Gale;s dessert collection. The exact desserts weren't written explciitly, but I remember my fiancee and I received plates that had some sort of mixed berry cobbler on one side which was delicious and then the worlds best cake/ice cream/gellato half circle thingy. It melted in my mouth like ice cream, but still had some sort of cake texture. I don't know what gale does to do this, but it was by far one of the best desserts I have ever eaten. I can't remember what my mother and father received, but they also agreed at the amzing tast of the half circle cake. I think my mother received some sort of chocolate cake, which was good for her, but was too chocolatey for me.

10th course: mignardises and lollipops. I remeber having a house-made cinnamon and vanilla lollipop as well as a brownie with gold leaf topping. The rest of the family also had severalother amazing, intricate little mignardises.

11th course: while dealing with the bill, we were presented with another little tray of various chocolates.

12th course: while leaving, we were given a little gift containing two little breakfast cakes (can't remember the name now) but the little tag said they take 2 days to make. I found out they were worth the time to make them the next morning.

Summary:

I kind of rushed through this review, as there is way to much to cover, especially without notes and this far after the experience, but a few statements can still be made. I am 24 and have been priviledged to eat in many nice restaurants around the world, but only recently have I become interested in true gastronomy and gained the desire to refine my palate and knowledge concerning wine and how one should pair wine with food. Thanks to TRU, I now have the highest standard of which to compare other restaurants. I would like to mention, that while my palate is young, I have never appreciated paired wines with food as much as I did at TRU. Normally, I find the wine is too overpowering, dry, etc. and find myself reaching for the water to cleanse my palate so that I can enjoy the next bite. At TRU, the wine only heightened the taste and dining experience.

Edited October 9, 2005 by babern38 (log)

[mhadam]

21 days till Tru ---

so many happy emotions.

[little ms foodie]

Anyone eaten here lately?? TallDrinkOfWater and I have reservations for the chef's table next Saturday night while in town.

[little ms foodie]

Our meal at TRU was incredible! and I was very skeptical I will admit.

We booked the Chef's Table which sits in a room in the kitchen. surrounded by the chef's, the line, the pastry kitchen and the staff we had one of our best meals and experiences.

We started with glasses of 1997 Bollinger La Grand Cuvee brut at the bar (soon to be remodeled to a lounge by the way)

We were escorted into the kitchen by our hostess for the evening, Anna, and brought truffled gougeres with a mornay sauce inside- irrisistable!

We spoke with the sommelier Scott and decided to put ourselves in his hands for wine pairings since we had no menu and were on the whim of the chef (Chef Joel in the house that evening)

Let the games begin........

the TRU amuse bouche was crab "ravioli" (thin apple slices) served with a spring pea soup (cool) with lobster on top. very nice and refreshing. served with Hirsch Gruner Veltliner Heiligenstein Kamptal 2004

then the courses:

Iranian Black Pearl Osetra Caviar, chilled cauliflower creme, lemon confit. excellent! reminescent of a dish we had last year, same time, at the French Laundry. served with Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett Selbach- Oster Mosel Saar Ruwer 2002

At this point the chef decided to do the 2 different dishes for each of us. We had given them no bounderies others than peanuts (allergy)

Scallop Ceviche, Crispy Fried Oysters for one

Seared Scallop, poached oyster, fennel and oyster cream for the other

chablis Montmains William Fevre 2003

up next: Asparagus and mussel soup

Roasted asparagus soup, lemon creme fraiche

both of these were presented in Gales' amazing Versace hand painted china espresso cups- wow wow wow

Muscat Grand Cru Goldert Domaine Zind Humbrecht 2002

then they served us both the Seared Canadian FoiI'e Gras, braised rhubarb, ramps, rhubarb grenadine syrup served with kracher Zweigelt Rose Trockenbeerenauslese #1 nouvelle vague Burgenland 1998

I'll just insert here that there was not a clunker in our entire meal, everything was perfectly excuted and the staff was really fun to be around.

at some point around here they took us on a tour to stretch and take a breather. We walked through the dining room, upstairs semi private room and private rooms. back to the kitchen where we chatted with the chef and his team for a bit. An interesting thing that dayne noticed and talked to them about was that they had no open flame burners. everything was covered with steel over natural gas. very calm in the kitchen.

[TallDrinkOfWater]

Next up was:

Olive-Oil Poached Wild King Salmon [a relief to us, being Pacific Northwest salmon snobs...], Spring vegetable Pot-au-feu

Roasted Wild King Salmon [again, whew!] Mushrooms, Artichoke, Micro Sorrel, Sauce Pistou

paired with [respectively]: Morey-St. Denis Les Chaffots Hubert Lignier 2001 and Pessac-Leognan Chateau Fieuzal Blanc 2003

Yes, we started getting some individual pairings with our individual courses...

Then-

Braised Lamb Shoulder Ravioli, Warm Pea Emulsion, Lamb Jus

Swan Creek Ricotta Gnocchi, Morels, Morel Jus

Paired w/ Barbaresco Angelo Gaja 1999

It's important to note here that Angelo Gaja was described by our sommelier as "God". Yes, capital "G". Based on a limited gospel -- we only got a glass each -- I would tend to agree.

Then-

Steamed Elysian Fields Lamb Loin, Ramp Leaves, Morels, Morel & Lamb Jus

Roasted Elysian Fields Lamb Loin, Spring Vegetables, Salt-Poached Potatoes, Lamb Jus

Respective pairings were:

Marus Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2002

Pauillac Chateau Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 2002

We were then presented with a collection of TRU Cow, Goat, and Sheep's Milk cheeses. I personally was starting to go into a food/wine coma at this point, so don't ask me to tell anyone exactly what we had. LMF may remember (in which case I need to work on my own personal limits a bit, because I'm being shown up by a true professional).

In an attempt to cleanse our palettes, which would have been more effective had we not been reaching capacity, we then received an excellent basil sorbet of some sort, made with champagne or other sparkling liquid.

Although I was ready to explode at that point, leaving an unfortunate mess on the ceilling for the janitorial staff, a "Duet of Desserts" was brought out. Why it was called a duet I don't know -- we each got three, plus a small glass of some sort of housemade rootbeer float. Brain functions were beginning to shut down, so other than remembering fruity-based things coming to my plate and chocolatey things to LMF's (which we swapped, because I'm a chocolate fiend), details are lost.

Our menu tells us we were served Barsac Chateau Coutet 1989 and Barbeito Malvasia Madeira Reserva Velha 1954. No, that year is not a misprint.

Then came the mignardises and lollipops. Oh my.

Flatline. I'm surprised I made it out the door. Though I was relieved to see there was one more couple in the restaurant -- we've shut down too many other places already!