Chicago Experience - Museums, Architecture and Smith Wollensky Riverside Lunch

Chicago Experience - Museums, Parks, Architecture and Smith & Wollensky Lunch with Private Reserve Wines

Last weekend we took advantage of living near the City of Chicago and all that it has to offer with world class museums, architecture, and restaurants - all things we love to explore and experience. 

Friday evening we dined at Chez Joël Authentic French Bistro in Little Italy restaurant district, one of our favorite such outings.

Saturday, we toured the magnificent Art Institute of Chicago, attending the final weekend of the Cezanne special exhibit. We've been members for decades and frequent there often and take in all the major exhibits. The Art Institute was rated No. 1 in the world on their list of the World's Best Museums. It has 300,000 pieces of art from the likes of Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Claude Monet, Rembrant, and many other famous artists. Among the most famous works is “American Gothic,” that famous 1930 farmer/pitchfork painting by Grant Wood, and my favorite, (shown below), Night Hawks by Edward Hopper.

Linda and Cezanne's "Bathers"

Rick and my absolute favorite -
NightHawks by Edward Hopper

We then walked through Millennium Park with its unique iconic CloudGate (aka the Bean), Lurie Gardens, and the Pritzker Pavilion which this weekend was hosting Jazz Fest, one of the many music festivals held in the park and across the City throughout the summer. 

We then toured the new 6-acre Lakeshore East Neighborhood Park with its urban botanic gardens and fountains adjacent the spectacular architecture of the new neighborhood development that includes the undulating 101 story 1,198 ft supertall skyscraper St Regis Tower Hotel and Residences designed by award-winning architect Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang, originally known as the Wanda Vista Tower.

We capped off the afternoon with lunch on the esplanade overlooking the Chicago River Walk at Smith & Wollenksy steakhouse in Marina City, one of our favorite dining spots on a sunny summer afternoon downtown Chicago.

The River Walk was bustling with people and the river was full of boat traffic with the Water Taxi and the numerous tour boats filled with tourists and weekenders amidst the flotilla of private boats and hoards of kayaks.

With lunch we ordered two WBTG selections from the Smith & Wollensky winelist to go with my BBQ ribs and Linda's crispy battered shrimp in spicy lobster butter sauce and our side of creamed corn.

The Best of Award Wine Spectator winelist is presented on an electronic interactive tablet that showcases its 350 selections from the inventory of 5,500 bottles.

Smith & Wollensky Private Reserve Meritage Red Blend

This is a private label special bottling is from Girard Winery in Calistoga, Napa Valley.  It is crafted by Girard vintner Pat Roney and winemaking team, Marco DiGiulio and Glenn Hugo. Girard offer a dozen Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux varietal premium wines sourced from their estate as well from numerous vineyard growers across Napa Valley.

This private label offering is sourced from some of the finest Napa vineyards select fruit from the best sites ranging from mountaintop to valley floor sources that reflect wines that are authentically Napa.

This Meritage, which is registered trademarked term for an American Bordeaux varietal blend, is a rich, aromatic cuvée (blend) comprised of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec. 

Winelists' notes: "Shades of plum and spice mingle with a hint of French oak to complement the intense flavor of our USDA Prime beef. The lengthy, warm finish lingers on the palate. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec."

This vastly exceeded our expectations for a 'house wine' - especially one offered BTG - by-the-glass! This is a testament to the wine team at Smith & Wollensky and shows the care and attention they give to their wine program. 

Dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, complex, nicely integrated, smooth polished blackberry, black raspberry and plum fruits with notes of leather, subtle oak, mocha chocolate, hints of vanilla and tobacco with a pleasant lingering finish.

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4425168 

https://www.smithandwollensky.com/our-restaurants/chicago/

https://twitter.com/smithwollensky

https://twitter.com/girardwinery

Next .... I tasted ...

Groth Napa Valley Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

On our last visit to Smith & Wollensky, earlier this summer, I tasted BTG the Duckhorn Napa Valley Merlot which was delightful and a perfect pairing with our food. I was tempted to order that wine again but in the interest of adventure, and exploring another wine offering, I ordered this estate Napa Cabernet from Groth in Oakville. 

This follows a recent tasting of an aged vintage release of this label at home, from our cellar featured in this blogpost, Groth Napa Oakville Cabernet and Grilled Beefsteak.

Today, this premium estate Napa Cabernet was overshadowed by the Private Label Meritage featured above. Perhaps it was the pairing with the food, such that this might have called for a juicy grilled beefsteak. It also most likely needs several more years to integrate and perhaps soften further to be more approachable. Antonio Gallini writes, "I would prefer to cellar the 2018 for at least a few years." Wine Spectator wrote, "Best from 2023 through 2035."

Wine producer description - "A breathtakingly beautiful place set among centuries-old oak trees and a patchwork of meticulously planted vineyards, Oakville has become recognized as one of the world’s preeminent wine regions. Here soil and climate coalesce, allowing us to produce elegant, age-worthy and immensely enjoyable Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon. The fruit for this delicious wine comes from our sustainably farmed estate vineyard and carefully selected lots from our grower neighbors."

Winemaker's Notes: "The 2018 Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon is an attractive ruby-garnet color that is strikingly intense. When swirled in the glass, it unleashes an array of aromas. The initial blueberry and fresh blackberry aromas are joined with rose petal, black tea, cigar box and baking spices. When tasting the wine, the texture is immediately noteworthy. It is at the same time extremely soft but also rich and balanced. Flavors of toast and vanilla mingle with blackberry and tart red currant, then transition to a juicy and long finish."

This was awarded 94 points by Antonio Galloni and Vinous, 92 by Wine Spectator and Decanter, and 91 points by JamesSuckling.com.

Dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, complex, intense, concentrated, tightly structured (WS said it has a 'racy edge') black berry fruits with notes of black tea, cigar box, baking spices and hints of anise with a long finish. 

RM 91 points. 

https://grothwines.com/wine/2018-cabernet-sauvignon-oakville/

https://www.smithandwollensky.com/our-restaurants/chicago/

To round out the busy holiday weekend, Sunday, I conducted public tours at the historic Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park, as a Docent Interpreter for the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust. 

Duck Inn Chicago unique dining experience

Duck Inn Chicago for a classic Chicago neighborhood unique dining experience

Fellow Pour Boy wine buddy Dr Dan arranged a Pour Boys (Wine Group) dinner at The Duck Inn Chicago, a neighborhood gastro-tavern and dining room, located at Loomis Street and the Chicago River, on the border of Chicago’s booming Pilsen and Bridgeport neighborhoods. 

Duck Inn is housed in a pre-Prohibition era tavern with a cozy retro design aesthetic that has continuously operated for almost a century. 

Patron Chef Kevin Hickey was born and raised in Chicago’s iconic south side neighborhood, Bridgeport; historically  home to the best meat-packers and butchers in the world. His family has been a part of the Bridgeport business, political and social community for over five generations. 

Kevin began his professional career in the restaurant business at his uncle’s restaurant on the Gold Coast while in high school at De La Salle Institute in Bronzeville, Chicago. This led to a 35-year career working for Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts in Beverly Hills and eventually with Four Seasons in Dublin, London and Atlanta.

He returned to Chicago in 2004 — first at The Ritz Carlton as Executive Chef and eventually the Four Seasons as Executive Chef & Restaurant Director where he led his team to two consecutive Michelin Stars, the only Four Seasons Chef to receive Michelin Stars in North America and AAA Five Diamond status with the restaurant Seasons. He eventually opened the acclaimed restaurant, Allium.

Chef Hickey opened this Bridgeport venture, The Duck Inn in 2014. In November 2015, The Duck Inn was named one of the “Best New Restaurants in America” by Esquire Magazine, named as one of the Top 10 restaurants in America by USA Today and chosen as Restaurant of the Year by Eater Chicago. 

The Chicago Tribune named Kevin Hickey, 'Chef of The Year for 2015'. To date, The Duck Inn has been awarded the coveted Bib Gourmand by Michelin for six consecutive years. 

We dined outside on the Duck Inn Patio which was ideal for the beautiful late summer evening, adjacent the gardens of wild flowers.

We were served our wine service by Brandon Phillips who has spent the last half-decade perfecting his craft behind the bar, earning the title of Master Bartender. Phillips and Hickey together, open Bottlefork, a stylish New American concept in Chicago that was almost immediately heralded by Wine Spectator & GQ Magazine as having some of the most innovative cocktails in the city. 

Building on the success of their first partnership, Phillips & Hickey opened The Duck Inn in 2014, which would later be named one of the “10 hottest Bars in Chicago”, as well as given numerous “Best Restaurant” accolades from publications such as Eater Chicago, Esquire Magazine and USA Today. Included in Zagat’s prestigious annual 30 Under 30 roundup, Phillips was honored by The Chicago Tribune which named him “Bartender of the Year” in 2016.

The Duck Inn's signature dish is a simple yet elegantly-prepared whole rotisserie duck. The legs and thighs are slow-roasted for three hours and the breasts are pan-roasted medium-rare to order. The carved duck is served over greens tossed with duck fat dripping potatoes and seasonal fruits. The final component is a duck jus reduction served at the table.  

As an appetizer course we feasted on Duck Inn signature Duck Wings in Japanese BBQ Sauce (shown below) which I might argue was one of the highlights of the meal. 

As crazy as it sounds, we also feasted on another Duck Inn signature dish, the Duck Inn Dog, their tribute to the classic Chicago Hot Dog. Made with all-natural beef and duck fat in a hog casing and grilled to a perfection, it is topped with the classic ingredients of a Chicago dog, homemade mustard & relish combined with pickled hot peppers and pickle, tomatoes, onions and celery salt, all in a, one of a kind, brioche poppy seed bun.

The Duck Inn Dog has received numerous local and national accolades, including being named Top Dog by Food Network and Best Hot Dogs in Chicago by Food & Wine magazine.

From the daily specials, Dan ordered for another main course selection to be shared by the group, the 38 ounce rib-eye steak, that we shared family style. 

To accompany the different dinner courses, each of the three Pour Boys provided a bottle for a flight of three red wines. Lyle brought BYOB from his cellar a Willammette Valley Pinot Noir. Dan ordered from the winelist a California Central Valley Cabernet Franc, and I brought BYOB from our cellar a Columbia Valley Rhone varietal blend. 

 

I. Brand & Family Paicines, California Bayly Ranch Cabernet Franc 2018

Ian and Heather Brand founded I Brand Family Wines in from the Central Coast California in 2008. Ian’s first winery job was with Bonny Doon Winery; he then went to work for Big Basin Vineyards for four years before he and Heather decided to begin their own project. 

I Brand uses organic and sustainable farming practices to produce 11,000 cases annually from 20+ year old vines. 

Ian devotes much time to selecting vineyard sites with shallow, rocky soils and proper varietal match with soil and climate in the often-overlooked Monterey Bay area, which has a wide range of undiscovered or underappreciated vineyards.

Named one of Wine & Spirits Magazine's "40 Under 40 Tastemakers", and the San Francisco Chronicle's '2018 Winemaker of the Year', Ian Brand has emerged as one of the premier names in California winemaking today. 

Brand adheres to organic farming and progressive style from his time at Bonny Doon where he was the assistant winemaker to Randall Grahm. Working primarily with vineyards in Monterey and San Benito counties, Brand has the chance to champion both regions and their unique terroir, a confluence of Pacific wind and most of California's otherwise rare limestone escarpments. 

This 100% Cabernet Franc is produced from vineyards located in Tres Pinot Creek, (along the San Andreas Fault Line), at only 800 foot elevation. A great locale for Cabernet Franc, this exhibits Loire-like structure overlaid with the bright fruit befitting California sunshine.

Cabernet Franc can exist in two styles; the more elegant central Loire style, or the more muscular style found in Bordeaux. The Bayly Ranch Cab Franc is more akin to the Loire Valley reds of Chinon, Saumur, and Bourgueil. 

Somewhat opaque, garnet colored, medium weight, an Old World style with bright black berry and plum fruits accented by black tea, tobacco, dusty leather and hints of spice, with a long savory finish of tangy acidity and chalky tannins. K&L in the Bay Area say "It’s no wonder this has become of one of our best sellers."

RM 89 points.   

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3673494

https://www.ibrandwinery.com/

Alexana Terroir Series Willammette Valley Pinot Noir 2016

Alexana’s Terroir Series Pinot was created from a diverse selection of clones and encompasses fruit from five of Willamette Valley’s top AVA’s which lends to this wine's complexity. 

At the winery, the fruit is triple-hand-sorted allowing only the best berries through.  The Alexana Pinot Noir 2016 was crafted by Bryan Weil who previously worked at Domaine Serene, one of our favorite Oregon Pinot Noir producers. 

This is from the producers of its sister winery, Revana in St. Helena, and like Revana, Alexana is quickly building a reputation of excellence.  In 2013 their Dundee Hills Pinot earned the #17 spot on the Wine Spectator Top 100 list. 

This was rated 94 points and was Highly Recommended by Wine Spectator and 91 points by Wine Enthusiast.

Ruby colored, medium bodied, cherry and boysenberry fruits give way to tones of floral, smoke, anise and dark chocolate with smooth polished tannins on the moderate finish. 

RM 90 points.  

Force Majeure Parvata Red Blend 2015 

We discovered and acquired this wine during our visit to Force Majeure in Walla Walla back in 2018. We just this week processed our allocation order to replace this bottle with the current release!   

This is from their Red Mountain Vineyard site in the central Columbia Valley. The Red Mountain site was the very first vineyard on the steep, rocky upper slopes of Red Mountain. Developing the Red Mountain estate vineyards involved carefully matching varietal and clonal selections and vineyard trellising and irrigation to the eight distinct soil types in the vineyard.

Parvata means “mountain” in sanskrit, and hence is the name for Force Majeure's southern Rhône style blend, grown in the sandy, loamy soils of the lower section of the Red Mountain vineyard.

This is a a classic Rhone River Blend that the French, and in the new World, the Australians, call GSM, for the blend of the three Rhone varietals, (20%) Grenache, (34%) Syrah, and (46%) Mourvedre.

This is the style we love, with its dark blackish garnet purple colored, full bodied, rich unctuous concentrated black and blue fruits accented by white pepper and tones of dried herbs with bright lively acidity.

RM 93 points.

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2018/10/force-majeure-vineyards-site-visit-and.html

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2659538

https://forcemajeurevineyards.com/ 

@ForceMVineyards

To close out the dinner with desserts, the Pure Chocolate Beignet and the creme glaces - salted caramel truffle and the maple butter pecan were all delectable - to die for. 

All in all, a spectacular, delightful, fun evening in a classic Chicago neighborhood setting.

https://theduckinnchicago.com/

https://twitter.com/DuckInnChicago

@DuckInnChicago

Caymus Estate Cab Anniversary

Caymus Estate Cab Anniversary Branding Caps Day in the City Outing and Celebration Dinner

A couple years ago, in 2014, the well know Napa Valley producer Caymus changed their longstanding label branding and associated packaging to commemorate their 40th anniversary. One of the notable packaging elements was a prominent '40' on the top of the foil. It just so happens that Caymus' anniversary aligns with our wedding anniversary so we served the 40th commemorative bottle at several family dinners including a gala family celebration dinner in honor of our 40th.

So it was only fitting that Linda and I selected a Caymus '43' Cabernet for a special anniversary dinner outing together. We ventured into Chicago for the day to celebrate the end of summer and it turned into an all day outing, culminating in a upscale dinner at Chicago Cut Steakhouse on the Chicago River.

The plan was to head into the city, have lunch and then take in the Gauguin exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago, one of our favorite city destinations.  We are long time members and make it a point to take in all the special exhibits. We get much joy from, appreciate and take advantage of our proximity to AIC which is truly a world class attraction, having been selected as the #1 museum in the world by Tripadvisor, a major travel site.

We ventured in looking for a place we could eat al fresco enroute or downtown. We researched and explored 'Little Italy' which we used to enjoy decades ago but had lost track of it. We've determined that the Little Italy as we used to know it doesn't exist any more having given way to the influx of Latinos taking over the near southwest side which has become Little village, Mexico of the Midwest, and the growth and spread of the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the emergence of the hip new University Village area, and the expansion of the Illinois Medical District on the near west south side.

Seeking a new adventure, we sidestepped several of our usual favorites in the area such as Chez Joel on Taylor Street, and May Street Cafe down in Pilsen. We ended up at Lagunitas Brewery north of the Little Village Neighborhood in what is actually Douglas Park neighborhood, tucked away above the BNSF railroad, in the industrial district to the east of the Douglas Park.

We had the address and set out for the site from University Village area and wandered through Little Village meadering back and forth across the railroad line a couple times as we headed west.

We had no idea what to expect and were amazed at the size of the facility and operations and hospitality areas that included of the Brewhouse Tap Restaurant overlooking the brewery and bottling packaging operations below.

Amazingly, this has become a destination in its own right. The anticipation of what is to come is heightened by the spectacle of the long access hallways, the second with long velvet ropes set up to accompany large crowds. We took in lunch and then opted for a self guided tour rather than the formal guided affair.

After the Gauguin exhibit we walked the new River Walk along the south bank of the Chicago River. The energy of the crowds, boat traffic, revelers, and multiple wedding parties was amazing as the city has clearly taken to this new attraction, from the water as well as by land. Clearly both feed on each other creating a vibrant spectacle. Not wanting it to end, we ventured across the river to Chicago Cut Steakhouse for a riverside table view wine and dine experience overlooking the river from the upper level.

The parade of boat traffic seemed to be endless as the tour boats were each completely full with folks taking in the scenery of the spectacular architecture and the whole river scene on the last holiday weekend of summer.

Its was with a sense of great pride and fun to share our wonderful city with visitors from around the world as we noted that it almost seemed that English was a second language among the throngs of people taking in the scene. At dinner we sat adjacent to French speaking visitors from Montreal as well as folks from neighboring Indiana and Michigan.

Caymus Estate '43' Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

The Caymus was dark garnet/purple colored, full bodied, with rich concentrated dense vibrant blackberry, black raspberry and blue berry fruits; initial alcohol heat that burns off with decanting and some settling time, notes of cassis and hint of sweet vanilla with silky smooth tannins on the long lingering finish.

RM 93 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2569303

The Caymas cab was a perfect accompaniment to our Chicago Cut prime filet steaks, perfectly prepared in my favorite 'Pittsburgh style', with sides of creamed spinach and whipped potatoes. The Kale and Quinoa salad with candied nuts and fruits was fabulous.

Caymus is one of our favorite Napa Cabs with it smooth polished but bold vibrant style. Caymus is known for early accessible drinking but also can be aged for further maturation in the bottle. While not known for its aging potential, we've held Caymus for close to twenty years for mature fine drinking enjoyment.

As is tooo often the case, Chicago Cut served our wine too warm, such that we actually had them put our red wine in an ice bucket to bring it down to appropriate serving temperature. When you're paying 2x plus times retail for a wine, its not unreasonable to expect ideal service with appropriate glassware, decanting and proper serving temperature. I don't know why this is so difficult for so many restaurants. Its unacceptable when paying $175 for a bottle of 'moderate' priced wine on the wine list to expect it at appropriate temperature for consumption, but it happens much too often.

We enjoy drinking our wine at proper cellar temperature which at 58-63 degrees is ten to fifteen degrees below room temperature, not room temp or above. We keep our home cellar even cooler at about 53 degrees and find it ideal for our drinking pleasure as well as for long term storage. Amazingly, more than once we've been served expensive bottles of fine wine, that were brought from a storage area adjacent to the kitchen, well above room temperature. Restaurants serious about their wine service (and expecting high price points and associated margins) should be held accountable, and should know better.

A great memorable special day in our beloved Chicago.

http://www.caymus.com/

http://www.chicagocutsteakhouse.com/

http://www.artic.edu/

https://lagunitas.com/taprooms/chicago#

Moe's Cuyahoga Falls Features Pride Mountain Merlot

Moe's Cuyahoga Falls Features Pride Mountain Merlot

Pride Mountain Vineyards Merlot 2012

For a casual business dinner, we dined at Moe's Restaurant in Cuyahoga Falls, OH. One side is a quaint tavern setting, adjacent is a trendy white linen tablecloth dining setting, with a shared Monthly Featured Dinner menu.

A short, basic, carefully selected wine list of fifty selections offers a range of price points and wine styles to complement their featured menu. A basic selection of a dozen WBTG - Wines By The Glass, allows for each diner in a group to select an appropriate wine with each dish.

Two of us ordered the Braised Short Ribs with Chipotle orange bbq, cheddar polenta and snap peas, which was delicious, and was much better than it sounds. Our other diners ordered the NY Strip Steak and the Grilled Salmon entrees. All our dinners were excellent.

For the second time this week, the wine list offered one of the few wines that straddle the summit county line between Napa and Sonoma Counties, high atop the Mayacamas Mountain range that separates the two valleys, Napa to the east and Sonoma to the west.

Pride Mountain Vineyards, originally named 'Summit Ranch', befitting its location , is a 235-acre estate with eighty acres of vineyards. Beside the winery building, the crush pad features a brick inlay that marks the Napa/Sonoma County line.

We've collected this wine since the early 90's and still hold in our cellar the 1997 vintage which we tasted and acquired during our Estate visit back in 1999. The 1997 vintage was the first year estate production occurred in the new modern winery built by the Pride family.

Even in its youth, this young wine provides early gratification with very tasty, pleasant drinking. It presents itself like a full bore Napa Cab, but is smooth, balanced and approachable, akin the character of a softer smoother Merlot.


This was bright garnet colored, medium full bodied, nicely balanced full forward black raspberry, black cherry fruits accented by hints of mocha, cedar, spicy oak with full, round smooth supple tannins on a harmonious finish.

RM 91 points.

The 2012 Merlot is composed of 92% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1862139

http://www.pridewines.com/

http://www.moesrestaurant.com/

Rosewood Grill and UNITY Red Blend

Rosewood Grill and UNITY Red Blend

For a business dinner with colleagues on the road, we dined at Rosewood Grill in Hudson, OH. With our grilled beef steak entrees we ordered Fisher Vineyards 'UNITY' Napa/Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon from their Wine Spectator Award winning wine list.

The Fisher Family have been growing and producing wines in both Napa Valley and Sonoma County since 1973.

UNITY is the brand associated with the second generation of the Fisher Family working together - Fisher founders Fred and Juelle Fisher, and the second generation that includes three siblings Whitney, Robert and Cameron.

The first generation Fisher Vineyards embodies single vineyard sourced wines, made unique by their particular, singular environmental conditions including soil and climate - elements when combined known as terrior.

In contrast, UNITY wines are produced from fruit chosen from multiple sites, estates or appellations, blended together in a tapestry where hopefully the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

This 2013 UNITY Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of fruit sourced 75% from Napa Valley and 25% from Sonoma County from sites in Calistoga, Northern Napa Valley Floor, the Mayacamas Mountains, Eastern Sonoma County, Napa Valley Atlas Peak, and the Vacas Mountains of Eastern Napa.

They blend consists of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Malbec, 7% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petite Verdot.

It appears the complexity of the blend of this wine will require more aging time to come together. At this early stage it is still disjointed and awkward with some funky non-fruit musty wet wood barnyard tones punctuated by notes of creosote and hints of cedar and earthy leather offsetting the fruit flavors, before starting to burn off after about an hour to reveal black berry fruits and anise - too young or too little decanting preparation time in a restaurant dinner setting.

RM 86 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2029815

http://www.fishervineyards.com/unitywine/

http://rosewoodgrill.com/hudson/Default.aspx

Paul Hobbs Cab highlights cityscape dinner

CrossBarn Paul Hobbs Cabernet Sauvignon highlights post City Series Cross-town Classic Dinner Amidst Historic Industrial Building

With Dr Dan and Linda, we watched the white hot Cubbies (eight wins in a row, 14 out of 15) defeat the host White Sox in the opener of the second installment of the Cross-Town Classic Series. Afterwards we dined at our well kept secret (no more) nearby steakhouse, May Street Cafe. Pronouncing Contemporary Latin cuisine featuring Allen Brothers steaks, this neighborhood eatery in the Pilsen neighborhood sits next to a quaint, cozy neighborhood Dvorak city park, opposite the giant Com-ed Power Plant, next to the historic classic early 20th century gothic ornamented tower building (2211 So. Throop St), topped by the radio tower reminiscent of Dick Tracy or a Superman cartoon series. I'm no doubt one of the few that love that tower and imagine such a setting. Reinforcing the image, adding to the cityscape is the classic Steak-n-Egger Diner in the shadows of the tower.

My interest in history and architecture takes over here. 

Image capture from Google Streetview

The mysterious tower building is the 400,000 square-foot, 14 story landmark building designed by noted Chicago architect George Nimmons (1926). The building originally served as a warehouse and garage for the adjacent Commonwealth Edison Fisk Generating station. The 198-foot-high radio tower served the communication system to dispatch emergency equipment.

Today, the building is home to artist studios, exhibition spaces, classrooms, a cafe, a library and home to Mana Contemporary Chicago, an expanding art center. It houses the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Art and Art History, the Propeller Fund which is administered jointly by Gallery 400 at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Three Walls.

Propeller Fund provides grants to artists, curators, and groups living and working in Cook County, Illinois, and seeks to support projects that are independent, informal, and self-organized. The facility houses several dozen artists in residence.

According to the Mana Contemporary literature, "Mana serves as a nexus for both established and emerging artists and organizations from across the city. Artists of diverse disciplines, including painting, sculpture, photography, dance, film, sound, and performance work alongside each other in a campus environment which fosters experimentation, collaboration, and mutual inspiration. A hub of programming and activity for Chicago artists and art lovers, Mana Contemporary also provides a central platform for art schools and organizations dedicated to educating and supporting emerging artists. As Mana Contemporary Chicago grows, it will continue to expand its services to the city’s artists, showcasing their practices, processes, and ideas to the public."

George Nimmons, a contemporary of Frank Lloyd Wright, designed mainly large commercial and industrial  buildings, most notably the mail order plant headquarters for Sears, Roebuck and Company (1905-06). He did many other buildings for Sears - warehouses, mail order plants, and retail stores across the country. He also designed the R. W. Sears home in Grayslake, Illinois (1906), and the twenty-room Prairie-style mansion built for Sears, Roebuck and Company president Julius Rosenwald in Chicago (1903).

Nimmon's other major works in Chicago include the Reid, Murdoch & Company Building (1913), the clock tower building that overlooks the Chicago River opposite Wacker Drive at North Clark Street, the Franklin Building (1912), the C. P. Kimball & Company Building (1913) at 39th and Michigan, the Adams Schaaf Piano Company Building on Fillmore Street (1916), the Union Special Machines Company Building (1918), the W. M. Hoyt Building in nearby Armour Square (1909), Kelley Building (1921) and the American Furniture Mart Building (1923, 1926), now known as 680 N Lake Shore Drive. When built it was the largest building in the world for a short time.

We discovered May Street Cafe for a wine and dine dinners and now dine there often before and after Sox games with its proximity to Sox Park, yet hidden away and separated from Bridgeport and the Sox area by an expressway, the adjoining river and the industrial belt. Its the kind of place you would drive by regularly and never notice, or consider for a wine-dine retreat, but their attention to serious cuisine and their thoughtfully selected wine list make it perfect for such occasions. And it offers outside dining as well, if you don't mind the power station and radio tower views (which as I wrote, is part of its allure and charm)!

Alas, following this study, dinner at May Street Cafe will never be the same. Unless you're into history and architecture, you'll want to avoid that evening, or sit at the other end of the table. It begs for a destination trip just to the Mana site, followed by a wine and steak dinner...

Tonight, Dan ordered the foie gras starter, then red tuna steak entree, Linda J, the petit filet, and Linda (A) and I, the bone-in pork chop.

'CrossBarn' Paul Hobbs Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2012

This is the another label of Paul Hobbs who grew up in upstate New York on a rural farm where he learned the influence of terroir on the character of fruit, when his father had him taste apples of the same variety grown in different orchards several miles apart from one another.

The name is a tribute to a "cross barn" that sat amidst the hundred fifty year old family farm in upstate New York. A favorite haunt for Paul and his ten siblings, it took on a life of its own and is a fond remembrance as a place of great mystery and adventure.

Paul initially worked for Robert Mondavi where his understanding of oak aging landed him a position on the inaugural Opus One winemaking team.  He later worked at Simi Winery as Winemaker before going on to consult for Peter Michael, Fisher Vineyards, Lewis Cellars, Bodegas Catena and others.  He founded Paul Hobbs Winery in 1991, and Vina Cobos in 1999, and also serves as a leading consultant winemaker.

We love this style of wine - vibrant, expressive Napa Valley fruit at its finest for approachable tasty drinking wines. CrossBarn Paul Hobbs label is known for notable Sonoma County Pinots and Chardonnays, but they recently introduced Cabernets from Napa and Sonoma Counties.

No wimpy wine here, this 2012 version from Napa is dark garnet/inky purple colored, full bodied with rich concentrated forward fruits of black currant, ripe black and blue berries, accented by clove spice, mocha and sweet oak, with soft acidity and nicely integrated sweet and smooth tannins.

This is a great discovery and I look forward to trying the other selections from this CrossBarn. A testament to this great vintage too - check out other producer's line-ups, the rewards and delights of a spectacular vintage where their 'lesser' labels often excel and even meet or exceed the first label, and offer tremendous QPR - Quality to Price ratios. This was a blockbuster, enjoyed by all, and a great value at under $90 on May Street's winelist. Pick this up if you can find it for early aging gratification as well as longer term cellaring.

RM 93 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1883620

Winemakers notes and comments: "The 2012 growing season has been described by many as “textbook perfect”. Temperate summer days moderated plant growth, contributing to smaller cluster and berry size during lag phase, leading to increased concentration of flavors. An idyllic Indian summer finished the maturation process, producing fruit with exceptional character and intensity.

Dark ruby in color, our Cabernet Sauvignon offers enticing aromas of dark cherries, ripe blueberries, anise and fresh lavender.  A tantalizing palate offers a medley of boysenberry, currants, violets, clove and cocoa.  Tannins are sweet and smooth; balanced acidity brightens a lengthy finish.
Color: Saturated crimson
Aroma: Black raspberry, boysenberry, violets, caramelized tobacco leaf, spicebox, pencil shavings
Flavor: Concentrated, juicy red fruits, damp earth, cedar, baking spices
Texture: Round and focused with sweet, fine-grained tannins and a long, slate-like finish"

http://www.crossbarn.com/

http://www.maystcafe.com/

Other selections from May Street Cafe ...

May Street Cafe Foie Gras

May Street Cafe Red Tuna Steak Entree

May Street Cafe Bone-in Pork Chop with
Sweet potoate mash, and pineapple relish and grilled vegies

Silvercreek Urbana Wine Dine Experience

Silvercreek Urbana Wine Dine Experience

Traveling cross-state we stopped enroute in Champaign/Urbana for a fine dining experience at Silvercreek Restaurant. Their website speaks to their Silvercreek Restaurant 'modern American cuisine' - 'quality interpretations of classic dishes using only the freshest ingredients from local farmers, or right from our own garden'. Their on-line menu featured many enticing selections, so we planned our route accordingly and called for reservations.

The Silvercreek website has only a terse mention of 200 wines on offer but no details so we took a chance on committing to the experience. Readers of this blog know that wine is a major determinant of our dining experience so imagine our delight when we arrived, settled in and were presented with an award worthy extensive wine list. It offers a respectable selection by region, varietal and includes a nice selection of WBTG - wine-by-the-glass, as well as a couple half bottles. Several of our favorite and reliable standby wines were available such as Napa Valley staples Robert Craig, Caymus, Silver Oak, and Seavey. But there was also a selection of French and other regions represented as well. Prices were a bit steep at two times retail which we would consider big city or Chicago prices.

I ordered the roasted duck with balsamic cherry jam, wild mushroom risotto, baby kale and arugula salad, while Linda ordered the Crispy Potato-Crusted Michigan Whitefish with carrots, grilled asparagus, pancetta, wild mushrooms and citrus cream. The offer of half bottles provided the perfect opportunity to select a quality red wine pairing for my entree, while  Linda could get a well matched white pairing for her fish. While convenient and accommodating for casual sipping, WBTG seldom offer premium or more sophisticated selections for a wine-dine pairing.

When asked how things were by the server, I admonished him that the wine was too warm, and the food too cool. The wine was room temperature which detracts from the enjoyment and discrimination of fruits. The food was warm, not hot, which in retrospect on viewing the pictures may be due to the fact they combined cool salad on the same plate as the hot entree, a practice I would avoid for just this reason.

I then ordered the multi-layered chocolate desert - dark chocolate over chocolate mousse over chocolate cake. This also was a great accompaniment to the Chateauneuf-du-Pape we orderd.

While delicious and a great pairing, it wasn't as moist or fresh as it could be, and begged to be served with au-lait or coffee, which inexplicably and regretably always seems to be served as a follow on course!

Domaine de Beaurenard Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2010

As noted above, ordered from 375ml half bottle. I wrote the other day about the imperative of keeping Zinfandel in the cellar for the occasional pairing with BBQ. Another such collection note is to keep Chateauneuf-du-Pape (CDP) for game dishes such as duck, another natural perfect pairing. Duck and CDP are one of my favorite such pairings - the complexity and boldness and forward fruits of CDP with the bold forward flavors of duck and the bright expressive compote accompaniment.

Chateauneuf-du-Pape complexity comes from the fact that it is typically a blend of several grape varietals, as many as thirteen are sanctioned by the Appellation tenants, with bold fruit forward Syrah being one of the more predominant. This Chateauneuf cuvée represents classic terroir and representation from a strong vintage. This is a blend of Grenache (70%) and the rest of equal part Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsault.

Dark purple colored, medium full bodied, complex but nicely balanced dark berry and black cherry fruits predominate with a layer of a mix of tones of black olive tapenade, garrigue, tree bark, spice, floral, hints of leather, anise and pepper with nice balance and smooth approachable tannins on the slightly acidic finish. 

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/notes.asp?iWine=1225374

So what is garrigue? According to Dr Vinny of Wine Spectator - "Garrigue refers to the low-growing vegetation on the limestone hills of the Mediterranean coast, not the limestone itself. There are a bunch of bushy, fragrant plants that grow wild there, such as juniper, thyme, rosemary and lavender, and garrigue refers to the sum of them. Think herbes de Provence, or a mix of fresh minty-herbal notes with more pungent, floral fragrances." And of course Provence is the doorway to the Rhone River Valley of which Chateauneuf-du-Pape is the standard bearer premier wine region and style of the southern Rhone.

Linda's white fish was nicely prepared and tasty. We ordered the Sancerre Sauvignon Blanc by the glass which complemented nicely.

For desert Linda order the trio of creme-brulee - one of rigorous bold blueberry, one of pronounced orange peel, and one of chocolate. Had we known or internalized the ramekin portion size we would have shared. Regretably, the chocolate selection came with canned spray on creme rather than creme fraiche. Nevertheless they were tasty.

Overall, Silvercreek offered a trendy stylish building setting in the rustic historic building with open rafters, high ceilings, natural oak, and airy well lit window seating. The staff were students, who are still learning the trade and getting settled into the routine but were earnest, sincere and attentive. The overall food and wine experience was very pleasant and good quality, although if they're going to ask big city prices, they need to be slightly more attentive to the details. I suspect that as they get into the school season, they'll catch their stride. We look forward to visiting again.

http://www.couriersilvercreek.com/

Eyrie Robert Morris Special Dinner and Neiman Cellars Red Blend

Eyrie Robert Morris Special Dinner and Neiman Cellars Red Blend Punctuate Wright Plus Weekend

This weekend was the annual Wright Plus House Walk of historic homes in suburban Chicago. The event is sponsored by the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust which owns and operates the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park, and manages and offers tours of the famous Robie House in Hyde Park, and the Rookery Building and Emil Bach house in Chicago.

The highlight of this years event centered on the showcase Avery Coonley House in Riverside (shown left).

As part of my work as a volunteer docent/interpreter for the Trust, after working the preview night tour at the Coonley house, we headed to Oak Park to visit the FLW Balch house. We made arrangements to dine at Eyrie Restaurant, the outlet of the Robert Morris College Institute of Culinary Arts. Tonight they offered a special price fix four course dinner prepared by two alumni chefs, Brad Hindsley and Rachel Murphy, Owner and Executive Chef and Pastry Chef of Spire Farm-to-Fork Restaurant in LaPorte, Illinois.

We naturally are wine centered in our dining choices so this was the perfect occasion to pull a prized bottle from our cellar since BYOB is the standard at Eyrie. To accompany the filet of boeuf entree we brought a Neiman Cellars Napa Valley Red Blend 2004.

The Dinner

(Pictured at bottom)
Amuse Bouche 
First - Smoked Trout Pate, Pickled Vegetables, Crusty Bread, Saxony Cheese
Second - Duck Confit Risotto, Spring Peas, Morel Mushrooms, Parmesan Cheese
Third - Porcini Crusted Fillet, Grilled Asparagus, New Potato Hash, Bearnaise
Finale - Rhubarb Sorbet, Polenta Cake, Ginger - Orange Jam, Candied Orange
After - Dark chocolate cookie



The Wine

Neiman Cellars Napa Valley Red Blend 2004

This exceeded our expectations - this is the best Neiman we have had to date from the half dozen vintages we hold in our cellar. I forgot how good this wine is until I went back and read an earlier review. It is like the 2002 which we reviewed in an earlier blogpost. 

This wine was a perfect accompaniment to the smoked trout, the duck confit with morel mushroom and the parmesan cheese, the filet of boeuf, and even the sorbet with orange, and finally the chocolate cake.

This comes packaged in a heavy oversized almost magnum weight bottle. 

Dark garnet colored, medium to full bodied, it opened a bit hot, but this burned off (no pun intended) after a third of an hour ... 

This tasted like a vibrant expressive Bordeaux, full forward complex berry fruits accented by floral, leather, tobacco leaf, some slightly earthy tones and long lingering notes of cedar with a smooth polished tannin finish that resonates with silky floral cedar mouthfeel long after tasting. Blend of equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot.

RM 92 points.  

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=914199 

The special dinner and perfect wine selection provided a delightful evening out and a wonderful wine and dine experience.  Eyrie is a jewel and worth checking out for a BYOB experience. When I can get my hands on Linda's smartphone/camera, I'll post pictures of our dinner courses and restaurant.

www.eyrierestaurant.com 
www.spirefarmtofork.com


The Dinner 
Amuse Bouche - Ginger and berry
First - Smoked Trout Pate, Pickled Vegetables, Crusty Bread, Saxony Cheese
Second - Duck Confit Risotto, Spring Peas, Morel Mushrooms, Parmesan Cheese
Third - Porcini Crusted Fillet, Grilled Asparagus, New Potato Hash, Bearnaise
Finale - Rhubarb Sorbet, Polenta Cake, Ginger - Orange Jam, Candied Orange
After - Dark chocolate cookie 

Amuse Bouche - Ginger and berry

First - Smoked Trout Pate, Pickled Vegetables,
Crusty Bread, Saxony Cheese

Second - Duck Confit Risotto, Spring Peas,
Morel Mushrooms, Parmesan Cheese

Third - Porcini Crusted Fillet, Grilled Asparagus,
New Potato Hash, Bearnaise

Finale - Rhubarb Sorbet, Polenta Cake,
Ginger - Orange Jam, Candied Orange