Le Lan - Chicago

[Suzi Edwards]

I've also posted this in my diary but given that it's a new restaurant and I couldn't find a thread about it, I thought I'd start one.

So last night I went to Le Lan. And I had a completly lovely and glorious meal. The serivce is absolutly superb and I cannot make any complaint at all. Which as those of you who have been reading this thread know says a lot. They welcomed me like an old friend, gave me a lovely table on the side of the room towards the back so I could watch the comings and goings and just really made me really special. Which was nice as I'd had a terrible day and had ended up being 90 minutes late for my reservation with a pile of work still to do.

The menu doesn't cater hugely well to non-meat eaters and it was one of the few times this trip that I ended up eating red meat. But I figure you can only test the mettle of a Vietnamese restaurant by trying the Pho, so pho I ordered. I decided to go for three courses from the "Soup, Salad and Appetiser" page of the menu. The entrees looked tempting, but when there's so many good looking smaller dishes on offer I wanted some variety.

My lovely waitress suggested we play around with the order of my food a little as I'd asked her to match two glasses of wine for me. So I started with Roquefort Sorbet and a nice Viognier, followed by "Chef Roland's Garden" and then had a Pinot Noir with my Pho.

The Roqufort Sorbet will be a contender for my dish of the trip. A small scoop of sorbet was served over crushed pistachios and alongside a salad of mache with a sherry-basil dressing. Strips of julienned apple added texture. The depth of flavour in the sorbet was amazing and the textures of the soft mache, nuts and crisp apple really complimented it. This was the sort of dish that I would expect to find at somewhere like Moto or Trio. A real study of apple and blue cheese.

So I was pleasantly surprised at this point and started really looking forward to my next dish. And what a dish it was. There was a crispy shrimp wonton, peeky toe crab salad and zuchinni flowers stuffed with truffled scallops. It was served with a mussel and scallop reduction. This was a totally burlesque dish, with the pink of the scallop mousse straining against the yellow flowers like a thigh encased in a silk stocking. The texture of the mousse was spot on, none of the soggyness you can get from a mousse, it was simply scallop and truffle. The sauce was a pungently fishy extra that worked especially well with the wonton. And the cold crab salad just rounded everything off. There were maybe 15 bites in the dish. Probably less but I started rationing myself towards the end to make it last longer. And there were so many flavours and textures in it...I might go back tonight to have it again.

My Pho had a really tough act to follow, and it didn't quite manage it. But I think this is more because I'm not really into red meat at the moment. It's a really fortified broth, rich and dark with beef and noodles. It was a bit too rich and dark for me, I like my pho to be steaming hot and thin, but I could see what they were doing. It was certainly a very French preparation, more like a gutsy consomme than a broth.

I certainly didn't leave disappointed. The meal had a good progression from light to more filling. And I will definitly go back. Possibly tonight.

[ronnie_suburban]

I'd really like to try Le Lan and I'm glad to hear you enjoyed your meal there. It's a joint venture between Roland Liccione of Les Nomades and Arun Sampanthavivat of Arun's. With that pedigree, the place deserves an immediate visit (or two).

Arun, who also consulted KDK Group and helped develop the menu at Opera (and at some of their other restaurants as well, IIRC), is clearly at the center of the Chicago restaurant universe. He seems to be involved in just about everything.

=R=

[gmi3804]

I'm usually weary of trying new places so soon after they've opened, no matter what the pedigree. I trust Suzy when she says she had a wonderful experience there, but still...

I recently went to Miramar (in Highwood) on its second night. It was wonderful, but there were still some glitches which presumably will be/are already fixed.

How long does everyone out there think is a good enough time to allow a place to iron out its opening wrinkles?

[ronnie_suburban]

I'm usually weary of trying new places so soon after they've opened, no matter what the pedigree.  I trust Suzy when she says she had a wonderful experience there, but still...

I recently went to Miramar (in Highwood) on its second night.  It was wonderful, but there were still some glitches which presumably will be/are already fixed.

How long does everyone out there think is a good enough time to allow a place to iron out its opening wrinkles?

I tend to agree. One has to balance the 'buzz' factor of eating at a relatively new place with the likelihood of having a solid and typical experience there. Is a month adequate before trying a new 'hot' spot? I honestly don't know. Looking at the calendar, this will only be Le Lan's 3rd weekend in operation. I'd be willing to go for it but I'd also be prepared for it to not be completely up to speed at this point.

=R=

[gmi3804]

I tend to agree. One has to balance the 'buzz' factor of eating at a relatively new place with the likelihood of having a solid and typical experience there. Is a month adequate before trying a new 'hot' spot? I honestly don't know. Looking at the calendar, this will only be Le Lan's 3rd weekend in operation. I'd be willing to go for it but I'd also be prepared for it to not be completely up to speed at this point.

=R=

We're supposed to have dinner with some foodie friends who are in from California tonight, so we wanted a guaranteed good place. I'd love to try Le Lan, but think it's still too early to "risk" hitting some bumps. And besides, they're booked!

So we decided on Spring.

[Suzi Edwards]

i think you made a good choice there. spring was phenomenal too....

i really honestly spotted only one mistake at le lan. my pho wasn't quite hot enough. i think food is often served here at a slightly lower temp than in the uk, so i wasn't unhappy to ask them to make it hotter. and it wasn't cold, i just like to get third degree tongue burns from soup.

given the pedigree of the place, it think it's a good bet that it won't need too long to settle. and you really, really don't want to miss the elan that the waiting staff have. they are obviosuly *loving* it there.

unlike, say, the staff at the ritz carlton last night....

[ronnie_suburban]

given the pedigree of the place, it think it's a good bet that it won't need too long to settle. and you really, really don't want to miss the elan that the waiting staff have. they are obviosuly *loving* it there.

unlike, say, the staff at the ritz carlton last night....

I get the feeling that Sarah & George leaving R-C is part of a much larger story...I wonder if morale isn't a bit low there these days.

=R=

[Suzi Edwards]

think also it's probably not my sort of place. It is very, very "french" but felt like a bit of a facsimile of a parisian 3 star to me. which i can get much closer to home....

i was also the youngest person in there by about 400 years

[casa]

How long to get the bugs out? Thats a good question. I suppose it depends at least slightly on luck. Did the right people apply? Did you get the right read and hire the right people? or was that small warning flag in the back of your mind about a couple of your hires right? Getting the right chemistry amongst the staff in a restaurant (or any other venture with a large group of people) is pretty difficult. You need only watch one episode of "The Restaurant" to get a feel for this.

I'm the chef in a restaurant in a resort town on Lake Michigan (in Michigan), so it's seasonal. Every year to a certain extent, we're working out the bugs, with a greatly expanded staff (theres some continunity, the staff you're able to keep through the winter, college students back for the summer ect...), and every year there's that shadow of a doubt whether you'll be able to reach the standards you've set.

Anyway, if anyone has empathy for someone starting a new restaurant, it's a chef in a resort town, because we do it every year. The good news is we're not completely starting from scratch like the folks at Le Lan. The fact that they seem to be hitting on most if not all cylinders so soon is admirable. I hope to get down to Chicago in the fall, when things slow down around here, and Le Lan will definitley be on my list. Thanks for the post Tarka.

[ronnie_suburban]

Thanks, casa, for sharing your experience with us.

FYI, there is a blurb in today's Chicago Sun-Times about Le Lan...

Le Lan, is a French/Vietnamese co-venture by Arun Sampanthavivat, owner of Arun's, and Executive Chef Roland Liccioni of Les Nomades, along with Howard Davis, partner of Marche, Red Light, Gioco, Opera and Saiko. It opened earlier this month.

France, Vietnam intersect on Clark Street

=R=

[gmi3804]

We got a reservation for 8/7!

[Suzi Edwards]

I made a return visit to Le Lan last night. It just gets better. They kindly gave us a couple of extra canapes, you should be very excited if you're ever offered the squid ink ravioli with cauliflower puree.

I think I understand what they're doing here a bit better after this visit. I'd call it Vietnamese with classical French restraint. My raw tuna appetiser epitomised this; a tangle of rice noodles, salad, exceptional grade tuna with a beautifully nuanced fish sauce dressing. None of the raspy harshness you can get if you just overdo the lime or fish sauce a bit. The proportions were perfect. I do think it was more Thai than Vietnamese, but I guess I need to finally do my tour of south east Asia to really test this assumption...

The entrees are more classically French than the appetisers but Terry, the General Mananger explained that they're looking to go slightly more Vietnamese here over time. That said I had no complaints about my curry roasted Monkfish with coconut and horesradish emulsions. It came with the thinnest pommes maxim I've ever had that were a beautiful extra texture to the dish and so thin they couldn't possibly have any carbs in them at all. There's a really innovative heart beating beneath the French-Vietnamese exterior. Moto and Trio watch out...

[gmi3804]

In this morning's Tribune:

Le Lan--dare we say--has yet to flower

Comments?

[ronnie_suburban]

Sayeth Ms. Nunn (in the review linked above)...

People tend to swoon whenever you mention Arun Sampanthavivat of Arun's, the highly touted temple of Thai, and Roland Liccioni of Les Nomades. I half expected the sidewalk in front of Le Lan, their new joint venture, to be littered with supine, smiling bodies.

Which is why I'm almost frightened of being labeled a crank or, worse, an iconoclast, to report that the food didn't knock my socks off. The truth is it barely unlaced my shoes, and then it stole my wallet (appetizers range from $9 to $14, and entrees from $25 to $32).

I guess she didn't like it very much.

=R=

[Suzi Edwards]

I think she negates some of her critisism when she says;

" The menu, however, is described as featuring "French dishes with and without Vietnamese influences, as well as Vietnamese dishes with and without French influences." Which is confusing when you're eating them."

I think she misses the tension between the two different cuisines. She completely misses that the dressing on the salad starter isn't the same as you'd get in the local vietnamese diner, it's more nuanced, less abrasive...more french. Also, if anyone can tell me a low-cost vietnamese diner that puts veal in their spring rolls, i'll eat my kittens. I just get a bit concerned when I think that people are comparing apples with oranges and their main complaint is that "this apple doesn't taste like an orange"

[daw]

I think she negates some of her critisism when she says;

" The menu, however, is described as featuring "French dishes with and without Vietnamese influences, as well as Vietnamese dishes with and without French influences." Which is confusing when you're eating them."

I think she misses the tension between the two different cuisines. She completely misses that the dressing on the salad starter isn't the same as you'd get in the local vietnamese diner, it's more nuanced, less abrasive...more french. Also, if anyone can tell me a low-cost vietnamese diner that puts veal in their spring rolls, i'll eat my kittens. I just get a bit concerned when I think that people are comparing apples with oranges and their main complaint is that "this apple doesn't taste like an orange"

Tarka

This sounds like a really interesting place. This French/Vietnamese thing has of course long being going on in France where there are loads of Franco-Vietnamese places, certainly when I lived in Grenoble.

David

Edited July 23, 2004 by daw (log)

[ronnie_suburban]

More about Le Lan today, this time from Metromix--which is also owned by the Tribune Company--but with a decidedly different take on it...

But if the stellar chefs who designed Le Lan's menu-and demand premium prices, as this place does-aren't on premises, who's working the wok? They don't have Rocco's mama as back-up, but they do have 28-year-old chef de cuisine Andy Motto.

"For two huge chefs to put you in that position, it's an amazing opportunity," says the graduate of New York's Culinary Institute of America.

It's Motto's job to execute the founding chefs' grand vision and "make sure quality is always respected," he says. But what makes him qualified? In addition to working as Liccioni's protégé at Le Francais, Motto also has worked the line at Napa's haute French Laundry, as well as serving brief stints at Tru and Charlie Trotter's. Most recently he was sous chef at Les Nomades.

Stepping up to the plate

=R=

[gmi3804]

In this morning's Tribune:

Le Lan--dare we say--has yet to flower

Comments?

We have plans to go to Le Lan on 8/7. My friends got spooked by this article and started having second thoughts. But I held firm, saying that the eGulleters had nothing but good things to say about it - and they don't like anything

So I'll report back after we've been.

[Suzi Edwards]

make sure one of you has "chef roland's garden" and i look forward to hearing about how you found it.

[Pugman]

OK, I hate to diss a new restaurant and maybe it wasn't fair to go to Le Lan (Sunday) as the same weekend as Trio (Saturday), so I won't make any comparisons to the two meals. However, as a casual fine-dining experience, I'm afraid that Le Lan was something of "Le Letdown." Especially being powered by Arun (Arun's) and Roland (Les Nomades). I think I would be less critical if it didn't have the backing of these two 4-star masters.

I just wasn't dazzled by anything we tried--there were 4 of us, so we tried a lot; including a dual round of desserts. (Hey, it was my birthday weekend!) The chilled pea soup with summer truffle and tuna sashimi was very good, as was the sweet corn soup with oyster. My own "Chef Roland's Garden" was good, but a companion's was poorly prepared (burnt shrimp wonton and not plated well). The Roquefort Sorbet that so delighted Tarka (for which I had very high hopes) was good--not great--and the experience was marred by the fact that I never received a requested wine pairing until I was done eating it. The salad of hearts of palm in brown butter was really drowning in it--too greasy. We tried three entrees--steak, bass and squab. Nothing was as bad as reported in the Tribune article, but there was a distinct lack of our usual "ohmygodthisisgood" outbursts at out table. I love Vietnamese food. I love French food. I didn't love this attempted marriage of the two. In this city, I think Spring and Kevin still rule the Asian-fusion universe. Le Lan really needs to sharpen its focus and execution if it's going to make it.

Biggest letdown: Hazelnut Souffle. The one served at Les Nomades is one of my favorite things in all of food-dom. I was thrilled to see it on the menu at Le Lan. But it was bland and somewhat "flabby." It didn't have the vibrant hazelnut flavor that Les Nomades' version does (and I've eaten at least a couple of waistsize's-worth of these at L.N. over the years). The coconut panna cotta was also very small; more like what you'd get as part of a multi-dessert course at CT's, Trio or Tru. For 8 or 9 bucks it was not a good value. Come to think of it, my friend's cherry clafouti was tiny, too. There was only room for about 4 cherries in it!

Another gripe: sparkling water was only offered in small individual bottles, which made for a somewhat hefty overall water tab for our table.

The per-person tab for our table of four non-drinkers (I had the only glass of wine at the table) was $95 (only three entrees, mind you). For casual fine dining, that's just too close to fine-fine dining.

[ronnie_suburban]

Really sorry to hear it Pugman but I really appreciate the level of specific detail in your post. I hope they can work it out Le Lan. It'll be a big letdown if they can't.

=R=

[Hobbes]

More about Le Lan today, this time from Metromix--which is also owned by the Tribune Company--but with a decidedly different take on it...

But if the stellar chefs who designed Le Lan's menu-and demand premium prices, as this place does-aren't on premises, who's working the wok? They don't have Rocco's mama as back-up, but they do have 28-year-old chef de cuisine Andy Motto.

"For two huge chefs to put you in that position, it's an amazing opportunity," says the graduate of New York's Culinary Institute of America.

It's Motto's job to execute the founding chefs' grand vision and "make sure quality is always respected," he says. But what makes him qualified? In addition to working as Liccioni's protégé at Le Francais, Motto also has worked the line at Napa's haute French Laundry, as well as serving brief stints at Tru and Charlie Trotter's. Most recently he was sous chef at Les Nomades.

Stepping up to the plate

=R=

Hey All,

Just IMHO the fact that chef de cuisine Andy Motto is at the helm of Le Lan should not be considered such a travesty as Metromix wants us to think. Now I have not eaten at Le Lan yet so the proof will be in the pudding so to speak when I actually eat there. But I already have high expectations that my experience will be a good one. I have had a chance to work with Andy Motto on a couple of occasions and really respect the vision and drive he has towards what he says he will strive to make the experience for the customers top notch. The goal of Le Lan is to blend the cuisines of France and Vietnam in flavors and combinations we have not had before, like bitter almond and olive with chocolate (as a savory dish). Le Lan is not supposed to be super formal. Of course there will be attention to detail like any service should be coming from such pedigree of Arun and Roland but in a less stuffy setting. These negative reviews are disappointing but we should not be so quick to blame this less than lack luster food some egullers have experienced solely on the shoulders of Chef de Cuisine Andy Motto. He has been described to me by many of his formal colleagues at Charlie Trotter's as very talented chef with a wizard like palate. I have friends coming into Chicago and Le Lan is on the top of my list of joints I would like to venture to and I most defiantly will report back on my experiences aftwards to see if my face to face impression of the Chef de Cuisine fits my actual experience with the food and the restaurant as a whole.

Hobbes

[ronnie_suburban]

Hey Hobbes,

I didn't think they were slamming Mr. Motto at all--just reporting what is obvoius to most of us around here--that Roland and Arun are not necessarily the ones doing the cooking at Le Lan. I thought the Metromix piece was fairly positive, for the most part.

That said, the reviews of Le Lan have been decidedly mixed so far. Please do let us know what you think about it after you've had the chance to dine there.

=R=

[gmi3804]

We're going on Saturday!

I'll provide a full report.

[gmi3804]

Five of us dined here on Saturday night, and we were quite underwhelmed.

The decor is touted as being beautiful and serene, however we were seated at the back under a wall-sized mural of a dragon which was illuminated with flourescent lights, which gave all of us a sickly look. In addition, tables were placed very close together, making it a tight squeeze for waitstaff to pour wine and deliver dishes to the furthest diners. Noise level was very high, and fellow diners were dressed in everything from kahkis and t-shirts to jacket and tie (I wore a jacket, no tie.)

The first bad sign came when, at a French-Vietnamese restaurant, olive oil for dipping bread was poured. This didn't seem very authentic to us, but one dip revealed the olive oil had been infused with something which made it taste like, I kid you not, Lemon Pledge. We were ulitmately grateful, then, to have it replaced with good ol' EVOO.

Appetizers were very small and unexceptional, better in print than on the plate. I had a salad which was drenched in a pungent, bitter dressing, masking the flavor of everything else on the plate (there was some kind of pork belly in there) and forcing me to take a break from drinking the '89 Pommerol we'd been enjoying (we ended up ordering three bottles, which were decanted only after we had to ask.)

I had the crisp-skinned duck, which was done past the medium at which it was ordered. The flavor was there, however, and the cardamom sauce tasty. I wondered what polenta was doing on the plate, even though I realize that polenta is eaten in France.

Dessert was another let-down, the only interesting choice being the clafoutis aux cherries (bad language editor!) The cherries had been poached in something, and all the flavor was poached out of them. Preferring to try something different (three of five ordered the clafoutis), I tried the sampling of ice creams ($8!), which turned out to be four small quenelles, three of which (vanilla, banana poppy seed, and fresh coconut) were ordinary to good; the fourth (cashew) was the best thing I ate all night - rich, buttery, and densely cashew-flavored. The much-touted chocolate cake turned out to be a standard issue (read: tiresome) molten-center chocolate cake flavored with "Vietnamese cinnamon" (huh?!?) and thyme ice cream. The thyme ice cream tased like pencil shavings.

Total tab for five: around $1,100. Much of this, but not enough, was spent on wine.