Goosefoot
Beet/Cucumber Mignonette/Goat Cheese
Lobster/Scallop/Licorice Root/Curry (Butter Poached, Parmesan, Sugar Snap Pea, Carrot Puree, Marigold Petals, House Grown Microgreens)
Shrimp/Preserved Garlic/Rosemary (Garlic Parmesan Custard, Shrimp/Rosemary/Tomato Ragu, Parsnip Crisp)
Chestnut Soup/Alba Mushroom/Potato/Truffle Essence (Truffle Froth, Spring Vegetables, Smoked Mushrooms, Celery Root Puree, Parmesan Gouger)
Loup de Mer/Leek/Yuzu/Tapioca (Sunchoke Puree, Sea Bean Salad, Confit Leek/Yuzu/Tapioca Emulsion, Fennel Puree, Fennel Bulb)
Duck Breast/Spiced Beluga Lentils/Ginger/Compressed Apple (Apple Frisee Salad, Juniper oil, Parsnip Puree, Whole Grain Mustard Seed Oil, Soy/Rosemary Duck, Ginger/Apple Gelee, Marigold Petals)
Angus Beef/Heirloom Carrots/Goosefoot/Cumin/Shallot Jus (Cumin Carrot Mousse, Mosaic Heirloom Carrots – Carrot Gelee stuffed with carrot mousse, Spinach and Wild Mushrooms, Powdered Truffle Oil, Bordeaux/Shallot/Vermouth sauce)
Roquefort/Goji Berry/Hazelnut/Pear/Port (Diced Red Pear Compote, Chinese Five Spice Port Wine Reduction, Matcha Leaf, Chopped Hazelnut, Goji Berry Sugar Glaze Candy)
Beet/Pomegranate/Yuzu Tonic with Citrus Olive Oil
Blood Orange/Cassia/Kaffir Lime/Citrus (Cylinder, Vanilla Cremeaux, Cinnamon Crisp, Lime Gel Trail, Citrus Espuma with Crystalized Ginger, Apricot Sauce)
Chocolate/Passion Fruit/Coconut/Ice Wine (Orange Blossom Chocolate Mousse, Coconut Foam with cocoa nibs, praline powder, Rootbeer Coconut Gelee, Passionfruit Truffle, ice wine reduction)
Gooseberry/Chocolate/Nougat
My first and only encounter with Chris Nugent prior to the evening of March 23rd, 2013 was on his last day of service at Les Nomades – the first of what turned out to be two tasting menus that evening – and although the stuffy service was not my cup of tea, Nugent’s food was superlative; more than enough to assure my patronage at his new restaurant, Goosefoot, the next time I visited Chicago…assuming I could get a reservation. Small in space and somewhat obscure in policy I was fortunate to have assistance in securing a two-top on short notice for a Saturday evening and arriving even before the restaurant opened my friend and I were seated promptly at 5:30, he with a bottle in toe given the restaurant’s BYOB policy, and within moments were greeted by the Chef’s wife and our server, Molly, who would guide us through the night’s nine course menu.
Small, narrow, and minimally adorned with walls light, tables black, and chairs sleek wood opposite gold banquets much of the experience at Goosefoot harkens fine dining with a touch of whimsy, a sensibility matching the food on the table, while severs are polite, personal, and professional with light background music at times noticeable and at others entirely forgettable completing the picture; a nice room, if not particularly memorable.
With a crowd ranging from the mid-twenties to a quartet of septuagenarians I was intrigued to see that much of the cuisine emerging from Nugent’s kitchen was at once beautiful and technique driven and yet at the same time quite ‘safe’ – the theme of every plate a deft degree of balance and none more apparent than the first and the third; both present since the restaurant’s December 2011 debut and both rich, aromatic, and very carefully spiced – the curry acting to highlight the lobster’s natural sweetness and the soup a chestnut tinged mushroom veloute punctuated with notes of truffle, vegetable, and briny little gougeres.
Moving from lighter dishes to heavier proteins by way of a flaky and delicate piece of loup de mer paired with a rich and bright citrus sauce balanced by aromatic leeks and fennel the most impressive course of the evening for myself would be the duck; a flawless piece of rosy red breast with crisp skin and melting fat lightly spiced with ginger and juniper allowing the bird’s characteristic flavor to show not only in the flesh, but as a basenote to the lentils beneath.
Transitioning from savory to sweet through a cheese course that took Roquefort in directions I’d have never guessed – by far the most aggressively flavored dish of the evening – followed by an aromatic beet elixir I personally found the citrus dessert far more interesting than the chocolate, a rarity for me, largely because as interesting as it may have read, the chocolate largely tasted like a dense ganache with too much sweetness, the rest of the ingredients getting lost in a flood of passionfruit and cocoa.
Exiting the restaurant and receiving a signed copy of the menu, plus one to plant – yes, the menu is organic with embedded perennial seeds – it should go without saying that at $115/pp with a BYOB policy Goosefoot presents a truly affordable fine dining experience and although perhaps not as unique or interesting as Alinea, Grace, Schwa, or EL Ideas it is every bit as “chef driven” as the others and without a doubt a space that should be on everyone’s culinary map, local or visitor alike.