Acadia
Breakfast Radish in Icicles, Olive Oil, Chocolate Soil, Minutina
Heirloom beets – frisee, endive, goat cheese fondue, orange, chocolate, croissant, fennel (roasted and pickled beets, goat cheese fondue)
“Risotto” – yukon potato, leek, maitake mushroom, granny smith apple, truffle, fines herbs
Foie gras – torchon, huckleberry confiture, braised peanuts, banana, celery, peanut froth, chocolate brioche (elvis sandwich, peanut butter foam, shaved celery, dehydrated brioche with cocoa)
Sunchoke veloute – puffed wild rice, coffee crouton, apple, meyer lemon (compressed apple, lemon gel, red sorrel, nasturtium)
Chicken thigh presse – pheasant mousse, truffle celeriac bread pudding, raisin jus roti (fine herbes, carrots, turnips, celeriac)
Stonington lobster – pommes dauphine, arancini, black trumpet mushroom, sour cream pastry, carrots, cippolini, bisque (lobster bisque emulsion)
Scallop- rutabaga, kale puff grains, smoked fume sponge, squab consommé (sautéed Rock Shrimp, Braised parsnip)
Sea Bass – Caponata, squid ink vinaigrette, cauliflower espuma, cuttlefish noodles, manilla clams
Buttermilk Biscuits
Verrine – sesame, mascarpone, red fruits (black sesame, chocolate cake, caramelized kataifi, cashews, passion fruit curd, mascarpone sorbet)
Summer Preserve – red fruit preserve, mascarpone, black olive, rooibos (mascarpone sorbet, basque cake, black olive crackling, rooibos tea crystals)
Ile flottante – tropical fruits, acacia honey, espelette, olive oil (lemongrass meringue filled with honey custard, guava ice, pumelo, dark fruit spheres)
Black Walnut – chocolate arlette, coffee, smoked banana (Sweet cream custard, Banana puree, Coffee Ganache, Hazelnut Praline)
Atoms – milk and cookies, pb&j, caramel corn (chocolate cake and ice cream, caramelized popcorn bonbon, hazelnut truffle, concord grape gelee, candied peanut, milk chocolate branches)
Malted Chocolate Graham Whoopie Pies
With a first dinner at Ruxbin separated from a second dinner by an hour long walk in the chilly Chicago air I met my family at the South Loop’s Northeastern themed Acadia just after 8:00pm; having heard mixed things about the restaurant I’d admittedly booked the reservation based on two facts – the first being that it was open on a Sunday and the second being that the menu appealed to my mother and aunt more so than that at Ruxbin. Seemingly a menu of ‘safe’ ingredients with a few esoteric options scattered about I entered the restaurant with modest expectations and in the end those were met, though not exceeded, despite a rough start.
Owned and operated by Chef Ryan McCaskey with a truly elegant dining room lush with natural colors, organic arts, wood tables, and clothed chairs our meal began with the hostess seemingly trying to force us into the lounge despite a reservation for the dining room and proceeded to get more bizarre as we sat, enjoying cocktails, only to hear our server, Carlos, tell us they were “out of” the foie gras…despite the fact that he had just taken an order for it from the 2-top to our right. When asked how this was possible the young man explained that they had been seated before us; a fact that I quickly disproved when I showed him a picture of the dining room that I’d snapped as I walked in showing their table to be empty…and one that somehow, miraculously, put liver back on the menu – a truly excellent preparation, I must say, even if the service never achieved anything more than mediocrity (nor did the unnecessary and frankly annoying music playing overhead.)
Service and sound issues aside, with our group of five opting to dine a la carte we sampled widely from the small but polished menu and ended up ordering all but three of the nightly offerings with much of the cuisine beautifully presented and well crafted, though largely ‘expected’ with only a few plates aside from the aforementioned foie gras truly memorable, and often more so for the garnishes than for the featured item; pieces like the celeriac bread pudding, goat cheese fondue, and cuttlefish noodles far more interesting than the plate’s primary focus.
Certainly not a ‘bad’ meal by any means, but also one where the company at the table was more memorable than the food on the table, I do not doubt Chef McCaskey’s skills since each dish was nicely prepared and quite good. I also do not doubt that one could have a truly memorable meal at Acadia – Foie Gras, Stonington lobster, Black Walnut would be an excellent start. In the end, however, what I do doubt is that Acadia’s food, room, or service is anything worth going out of your way for – especially in a city like Chicago.