The lost meals entries consist of meals that occurred at various times throughout 2012 which, for any number of reasons, escaped my documentation – some due to a cross country move and a new job, some due to the Los Angeles Kings run to the Stanley Cup, and some simply as a result of too much travel. Having enjoyed many of these meals with friends or family and with some of them amongst the year’s very best the reality is that with time my memory has deteriorated and as life moves forward I’ve realized there is little hope to ever “catch up” or document these experiences as well as I’d hope, yet in order to preserve them I present these pictures, notes, and thoughts on the experience.
Americano
Sweet potato pancake, thyme butter marshmallow fluff & pineapple syrup
French Toast – honey vanilla soaked brioche, smothered in walnut almond cream, white chocolate mascarpone mousse & bourbon syrup
Pancetta Chocolate Waffle – chocolate chip, pancetta and pistachio waffle with orange whiskey maple syrup & whipped cream
Biscuits and Gravy – crumpet, duck pate, fried egg, apricot chutney, red eye gravy
Chicken Corn Pancake Gyro – fried chocolate chili chicken, apple slaw, maple yogurt, served on a whole kernel corn pancake
Sweet potato churros with chai maple syrup anglaise
For brunch on Sunday the four of us lined up with local hipsters and a few families totaling approximately twenty and awaited the opening of doors at The Peasantry, a new spot from the folks at Franks n’ Dawgs focusing on “Elevated Street Food” and clearly a spot generating quite the buzz as the long, narrow, and urban chic space was filled to capacity within 25 minutes of opening – a wait of half an hour or more being quoted to parties of four by the time we left an hour later.
Highly focused on things local, seasonal, and house made (including condiments, breads, and cured meats) much in the style of their sister restaurant it should come as no surprise that the menu is one of the more eclectic in Chicago and while I personally find such an approach both daring and interesting it became clear within moments of seating that others do not as our server, Vanessa, shouting over one of the loudest dining rooms I’ve ever experienced had to field an inordinate amount of questions, requests, and modifications from tables both left and right; the best by far being a skinny 20-something female inquiring as to whether the CHOCOLATE AND PANCETTA waffle could be made “lower fat”…a request that would have led to me to telling her to get out (and hence the reason I’m not a waiter) and one that made me really wish there was more than a few inches between tables as we were privy to this woman’s banal conversation for the next sixty minutes.
Moving past the seating and acoustics to what really matters the vast majority of what we sampled from The Peasantry was not only unique, but very well priced and prepared when taking into account the portion size and quality of ingredients. Obviously attempting to incorporate both sweet and savory into each plate I particularly enjoyed the French toast as the sweet custard soft brioche was beautifully caramelized on the exterior and nicely balanced by the nutty cream. Additionally impressive was the Biscuits and Gravy that, although featuring both spicy red-eye gravy and rich, liver laden duck pate came off as rather light thanks to the flaky crumpet and bright, assertive chutney.
Certainly not a place for the unadventurous, those needing an excessive caffeine fix (no drip coffee, no refills,) or those looking for a quiet and leisurely breakfast I’d happily return to The Peasantry for either brunch or dinner, though in the future I’d undoubtedly target off-hours or request one of the centrally located tables as opposed to the booths along the wall.