Deep Dishing at Giordano's (Chicago)

There can be no trip to Chicago without a deep dish pizza, even with Alinea and other great meals on the planner. Granted I put off the deep dish until the very last day, but for lunch before flying out I walked to a spot that is supposed to be classic deep dish pizza: Giordano's.

Decor? Kitschy Italian.

For lunch they have an individual sized pizza so we decided to share two different stuffings.
I have only had deep dish pizza at Little Star in San Francisco before and Giordano's is definitely "deeper". I've never had pizza so thick but this is certainly more fit to be called a pizza "pie" than any other.

The spinach pizza:
As you can see, it's not a topping, it's a stuffing, enclosed in more crust, then topped with tomato sauce. Good thing the buttery, slightly flaky crust is more like a pie crust.

I personally preferred the sausage pizza. I'm a meat eater down to the core.
There are so many ways to play this deep dish pizza, depending on your taste preference. More crust? More sauce? More cheese? More sausage? Depending on what camp you're in, you probably have your own favorite pizza spot. I, on the other hand, still have a lot more exploring to do. Next time ...

You can take a whole pie home with you, frozen. Wrap it up well in a plastic bag and stuff it in your suitcase. They'll never know.


Giordano's Pizza
730 N Rush St
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 951-0747
www.giordanos.com

Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill, Chicago

Serendipity would have it that the Amalfi hotel where I stayed at in Chicago was two blocks away from Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill and XOCO.

I decided to walk to Frontera Grill as soon as I checked into the hotel. The restaurant was packed, including the bar, but a bar seat for one is apparently pretty easy to come by. One advantage to dining solo (the disadvantage would be having a guy hitting on you while he's hiccuping, but that's another story ...).
I'm not sure what the theme was supposed to be, but the decor was rather ... unique, with some awesome-but-a-bit-creepy sculptures hanging by the ceiling, like this one:

The cocktail list at Frontera was pretty interesting. I started with Cerveza y Tamarindo ($10), since I don't come across 1) beer cocktails and 2)tamarind cocktails that often in the states.
This was made with fresh tamarind, Cazadores blanco tequila, and Ayinger "Ur-Weisse" heffe weizen. The tamarind lends the drink both body and tartness. Quite an interesting drink.

I wasn't used to eating alone at a new place and had a hard time deciding what I wanted to order. I narrowed it down to a few things and with the help of the bartender finally ordered the weekly special of the day:
Barbacoa de Borrego (red chile-marinated Crawford lamb slow-roasted in banana leaves, $23) - available on Thursdays.
Served with some warm corn tortillas, of course.
It was indeed a very good barbacoa, with the right flavor components. Despite having been marinated in red chile, it wasn't particularly spicy. I I found the tortillas a bit thicker than I would've preferred it, but the barbacoa itself was tender and very flavorful. t's just that the last time I had barbacoa I spent $8 instead of $23.

The people sitting next to me were gushing about the Topolo Margarita ($9), so oh, well, why not ...
Made with Sauza Commemorativo tequila, Gran Torres orange liqueur and housemade limonada, shaken at the table. A very good margarita, indeed.

"Sopa de frutas" (velvety tropical mamey-orange ice in guava, orange, and passionfruit afloat in passion fruit "broth", $7.50) sounded pretty light and I didn't want to leave and just review one dish, so I ordered it.
It didn't end up being as light as I expected, as passionfruit broth was actually a pretty thick puree.

It's undeniable that I had quite a good meal at Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill. It had a fun vibe and a solid cocktail program, which may justify spending an extra $20 on Mexican food than I normally spend. Maybe. At least on my very first trip to Chicago, I didn't mind doing so.

Frontera Grill
449 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60610
(312) 661-0381
http://www.rickbayless.com/restaurants/grill.html

Chicago

Alinea
Frontera Grill
Giordano's Pizza

Alinea.

No play-by-play "my take" of the dishes for you, just those that stood out for me. No need for me to play the food critic, who am I anyway?
Alinea's is a meal worth experiencing, and I'm just going to share my experience.

A nondescript door. If it wasn't for the valet parking sign, you wouldn't notice the place. Down the hallway a sliding metal door to your left.

We were led to the second floor and these "flags" of flower-pressed rice paper were placed on our table.
"Don't eat it yet. Just sit and admire them for now."

English Pea (iberico, sherry, honeydew)

Shad Roe (shallot, mustard, bay aroma)
Bayleaf stemmed out of the fried shad roe, but it's only for the aroma. Eat everything else in one bite.

A pair of two shrimp courses:
Yuba (shrimp, miso togarashi) - the shrimp is wrapped around the dried yuba.


and
Chao Tom (sugar cane, shrimp, mint) - "Chew but don't swallow."

An extra napkin was provided for you to spit out the chewed sugar cane gracefully. Or try to.


Distillation of Thai Flavors
I saw the video about this "flavored water" and totally thought it was an April Fool's joke. No joke. This glass of water was absolutely spiced with thai spices.

This shot of 'water' is just a primer for the next course.

Pork Belly (curry, cucumber, lime) - a DIY spring roll.
This was paired with: Abbazia di Novacella Kerner, Valle Isarco, Alto Adige 2008.

"Pick up the glass and place it in front of you"
Salt, fried shallots, bananas, basil seeds, cashews, onions, chili paste, etc.
Then we had to arrange the metal contraption and they placed the flower-decked rice paper we've been admiring all this time.
Topped it with deliciously creamy and fatty looking pork belly.
Add all the condiments in (yes, ALL), and wrap.

Lobster (parfait, salad, soup)
Paired with: K Vintners Viognier, Columbia Valley, Washington 2008.
The Parfait (chilled lobster consomme, greek yogurt, grapefruit cells, ginger pate de fruit, poppy seeds and pistachio-butter powder, topped with quenelle pistachio ice cream and poppy seed nage).
"Don't touch the bottom part, it'll burn your hands."
Confused (because the parfait is chilled), we asked, what could possibly make it so hot.
"Oh, I can't tell you something like that."

Upon finishing our parfait, the servers lifted the top, revealing, voila! the Salad (Eggplant confit and Poached Lobster).
Sneaky, sneaky.
The server poured lobster bisque over the salad and it traveled down the slits on the bowl. "For aroma," he said.
Again the bowl at the top is removed, this time revealing various spices soaking in the poured lobster bisque.
Lobster bisque meets Masala chai? Yes, please.

Strained.

Duck (morels, asparagus, chamomile)
Paired with: Casar de Burbia, Bierzo, Spain 2006.

Barhi Date (maple sap, lemon, cognac)


Bacon (butterscotch, apple, thyme)


Kumquat (rye, peychaud's, demerara)

Foie Gras (pear, white wine, allspice)
Paired with: Reinhold Haart 'Piesporter Goldtropfchen' Riesling Auslese, Mosel 2002.
A three-layered dish. The pink/orange crumbles you see on top are the foie gras.
A nice pairing with the late harvest Riesling that cuts the richness and sweetness.

Green Almond (yuzu, wasabi, basil flower)
Sushi rice gelee topped with the above.

Sturgeon (potato, leek, smoke)
Paired with Avanthia Godello, Valdeorras, Spain 2008
Smoked sturgeon topped with leeks and potato-sauce-sheet.
This dish was created by sous chef Andrew Graves and apparently the first dish in Alinea history to be introduced on the menu before Chef Achatz being on hand to see the final prototype.

Hot Potato (cold potato, black truffle, butter)

At this point my wine glass was switched out to this gorgeously decorated antique wine glass. This was filled with the wine for the next pairing: Albert Morot Beaune-Toussaint 1er Cru, Cote de Beaune 2006.
The sommelier explained Burgundy has been making "ready-to-drink" wines to compete with new world producers. Though I didn't really think it was "ready to drink" (drink-able, but much too tannic), I'm hopeful for the pairing.

Our next silverware was also noticeably antique.

Filet de Boeuf (godard) - wagyu tenderloin, black truffles, mushroom cap, sweetbreads, cockscomb (yes, cockscomb - see it? right hand side), quenelle of beef mousse.
Alinea has been introducing an "antique" dish, "interrupting" their typical meal with an iteration of a classic recipe from Auguste Escoffier's 1903 cookbook, Le Guide Culinaire.
The pairing ended up working pretty well too as the astringency of the wine and the richness of the dish balance each other out.

Black Truffle (explosion, black truffle, butter)
A ravioli filled with black truffle "tea", topped with a slice of black truffle and butter.
Lots of truffle essence here. Love it.

Squab (charred strawberries, lettuce, birch log)
Paired with: Anima Negra "An", Mallorca, Spain 2005.
Probably the most memorable dish, the heated birch log was emitting this wonderful aroma. We stopped and smelled for a few seconds before proceeding with our food.

Lemon Soda
Since I had to take this in one shot and can't place it on the table, taking a photo was impractical. No photo for you, lemon soda for me :p

Bubble Gum (long pepper, hibiscus, creme fraiche)
"Hold it level, and take it in one go from the red end."

Transparency of raspberry, yogurt


Earl Grey (lemon, pine nut, caramelized white chocolate) - served on a pillow containing earl grey aroma (!)


Chocolate (coconut, menthol, hyssop)
At this point our table is cleared and a silicone cover is placed over it.
The ingredients for our final dessert is placed on the side.
I had seen the chef de cuisine came out and prepared this dessert for another table that night, so it wasn't a total surprise. Still, I was hopeful ... and lucky me, Chef Grant Achatz himself came out to our table and prepared our table-top dessert.

Coconut milk, chewy coconut, menthol cream, frozen coconut mousse, warm coconut mousse.
(by the way, I was also curious why the menthol cream turned into squares on the silicone. Anyone knows? Chemists?)

The clear cylinders were then removed revealing the now-solidified warm chocolate mousse.
And voila. We attacked it and turned it into a Pollock.

So there you have it, the Alinea Tour for $225 per person (and $80 for my "mini" wine pairing that was not so mini after all), a truly unique dining experience.

Alinea
1723 N Halsted St
Chicago, IL 60614
(312) 867-0110
www.alinea-restaurant.com