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.
Huckleberry Pie (Consommé with Pie Crust Puree)
Round Pancake (Filled with House Made Goat Cheese, Topped with Powdered Sugar and Malt Vinegar Powder)
Woodland Terrarium (Soil of Earl Grey Tea/Malt/Hazelnut, Preserved Rose Petal, Rose Vinegar, Rose Hip Jelly, Rose Hip Meringue, Invasive Pickled Autumn Olives, Pickled Hibiscus)
Tartare and Sumac (Venison Atop Brioche, Horseradish Disc, Thai Long-Peppercorn, Caper Berries, Hawthorn Berries, Swiss Chard, Sturgeon Caviar, and More)
Queen Anne’s Lace and Carrots (Garden Carrots, Queen Anne’s Lace Jelly – Biennial Carrot with Flowers from Year Two, Lambs Quarter, Goat Cheese Whey, Carrot Top, Cashew and Carrot Top Pastry)
Potato, Black Truffle, and Twig – (Potato Puree with Local Butter, Slow Cooked Quail Egg, Black Truffle, Birch Log Topped with Malt Powder Twigs)
Chanterelle, Pine, and Acorns (Seared Chanterelles, Chanterelle Puree, Pine Gel, Juniper Powder, Acorn Compote, Shaved Acorns, Thyme Fluid)
1 Pill Makes You Larger (Cocoa Nibs, Chamomile, and Mushroom Tea to the sounds of Jefferson Airplane)
White Truffle Tagliatelle
Crab Apples, Hazelnuts, Rabbit (Blue Cheese, Fermented and Pickled Crab Apple, Hazelnut Custard, Crab Apple Jelly, Rabbit Loin)
Salmon Cannoli (Daikon Wrap, Dill Aioli, Strained Greek Yogurt, Aquavit Fluid Gel, Gravlax cured with Dill and Coriander)
Czernina (Duck Blood Soup with Slow Cooked Duck Egg, Duck Leg Confit, Maitake Mushroom, Smoked Duck Breast, Crisp Bread Crumb)
Wild Rice Crispy (Puffed Wild Rice, Curry Marshmallow, Deer Meat Bresaola, Pink Peppercorn, Cheddar)
Deer, Celery Root, Cabbage (Venison Tenderloin cooked with Juniper Berry and Spruce, Venison Sausage, Roasted Celery Root, Pickled Elderberries, Amaranth, Cabbage, Shallots, Brown Butter Sauce)
Forrest Float (Spruce Juice, Pine Tea, Sassafras Ice Cream)
Black Walnuts and Molasses (Malt Whisky/Vanilla Bean/Molasses Ice Cream, Pickled Sorgum Seed, Candied Walnuts, Black Walnut Shortbread, Black Walnut Powder, Goat Milk Caramel)
Porcini Mushroom (Porcini Caramel, Tarragon Pudding, Almond Sea Salt)
Coffee
From the tin ceiling to the long wooden communal tables to a kitchen you literally walk through in order to get to the restroom a meal at Iliana Regan’s Elizabeth feels like a dinner with friends far separated from the bustle of the Windy City and garnering great praise since its inception my sister and I entered the “Deer” menu with high expectations – some that would be met, some exceeded, and others falling a bit short; the true signs of a restaurant still finding its footing and more than willing to take some chances.
Defined as “new gatherer cuisine” by the chef herself part of the experience that is Elizabeth comes from not only the unique variety of ingredients on the table but also in their execution; an Alinea-esque molecular expression of foraged cuisine where much is manipulated and little is what it at first seems; table pieces integrated into dishes and music delivered with plates to engage senses beyond those of the mouth, nose, and eyes…and yet at the same time, much of the experience is quite unlike Alinea – many of the dishes not particularly delicious and both the terrarium and float barely palatable.
A lovely space with a team obviously very dedicated to their vision another ‘issue’ in the Elizabeth experience is the communal-only approach, a quartet at our table never ending their blather long enough to allow the chefs to present a dish while the eight enjoying the Diamond menu were all clearly very interested in the cuisine, receiving ample descriptions of each plate and vastly more attentive service than our table (deservedly so given their interest, and certainly not to critique the exemplary service team who does their best to engage each customer as an individual despite the dining room’s format.)
Speaking to the cuisine in general, many of the dishes at Elizabeth were truly stunning and all highly crafted, detailed, and beautiful – the Czernina one of the most rustic and funky plates I enjoyed in 2012, the back-to-back Tartare and Queen Anne’s Lace truly inspired, the potato even richer and more flavorful than Robuchon’s famous pommes puree, and the *bonus* tagliatelle (sourced and served because one of our dining companions was the mother of one of the sous-chefs) potentially worth the cost of admission in ingredient quality, execution, and portion size.
Course for course it should go without saying that Elizabeth is a ‘serious’ restaurant despite its casual atmosphere and with the highs very high and the majority of the lows more than compensated by the rest of the meal I imagine that with time Regan’s cuisine and vision will evolve into a true destination restaurant in a city where such designation is no small feat.