{"id":271,"date":"2010-11-04T16:37:00","date_gmt":"2010-11-04T16:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/endoedibles.ifm.yji.mybluehost.me\/?p=271"},"modified":"2010-11-04T16:37:00","modified_gmt":"2010-11-04T16:37:00","slug":"henri-and-pizzeria-uno-chicago-il","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/?p=271","title":{"rendered":"Henri and Pizzeria Uno, Chicago IL"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In September of 2009 I ate at The Gage prior to U2\u2019s opening date of the US tour at Soldier Field \u2013 it was a great meal in the most unlikely of spaces for someone who doesn\u2019t fancy bars, beer, or \u201cpub\u201d food\u2026and the concert was excellent too. <\/span>Preferring French to any other cuisine I was particularly interested when I heard that Executive Chef Dirk Flanigan and Chef de Cuisine Christopher Cubberley had decided to expand their line of restaurants one door down from the Gage \u2013 a new concept called Henri with a menu \u201cinfluenced by the refining principles of classical cuisine.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Named after architect Louis Henri Sullivan, a huge influence on the Chicago city-scape, Henri sits nicely just off of Millennium Park and knowing my sister and friends would not be arriving until mid-day I made reservations for one at noon. <\/span>Arriving early I wandered the park for a while before returning to the restaurant where I was greeted warmly and sat immediately \u2013 still carrying my bags they were checked at once by a friendly hostess. <\/span>Offered the option of a table near the front or the back I chose the back \u2013 as it turns out there were only 2 tables open in the entire restaurant.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Led through the bustling dining room and seated at a cozy two-top everything about Henri felt the part of classic French Bistro – heavy drapery, velvet walls, hardwood floors, crown molding, crystal chandeliers, and an oyster bar to boot. <\/span>With water filled I was handed the daily menu and a cocktail list with my waiter returning shortly thereafter to ask if I had any questions and subsequently to take orders. <\/span>Without belaboring service I will note that for a \u201cbistro\u201d the service was excellent \u2013 water never reached half empty, food arrived with adequate description, and timing was excellent \u2013 I was never left to want for anything despite the busy nature of the lunch hour at such a popular location.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Merely moments after my orders were taken I was greeted by the bread man \u2013 a friendly fellow presenting a single option, but an excellent one. <\/span>Described as a \u201cmini baguette\u201d and served with a sweet room temperature butter the roll arrived warm from the oven and a crispy golden crust yielded a soft and supple interior with a delicate crumb. <\/span>Akin in texture and flavor to Keller\u2019s Epi at Bouchon I ended up eating three of these rolls and gladly would\u2019ve eaten more had I not been trying to pace myself.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Arriving approximately 20 minutes after seating my first course was obvious \u2013 and at $22 the most expensive appetizer choice on the menu. <\/span>Served with golden pan-grilled brioche the Torchon of Foie Gras with apricot and aged balsamic would turn out to be every bit as good as I\u2019d hoped. <\/span>Classic in presentation the liver itself was served in three large slices, each topped with salt and pepper plus flowers for garnish. <\/span>Perfectly cleaned and nicely textured the unctuous liver paired nicely with the sweet and savory aspects of the fruit and vinegar while the brioche was crisp, warm, and buttery. <\/span>Quality ingredients, excellent presentation \u2013 exactly what I expected.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Finishing up the Foie Gras I sat back and waited for my main course \u2013 my other \u201cmust order\u201d on the menu loaded with wonderful choices. <\/span> <\/span>Arriving piping hot and with a side of crispy pommes frites and ketchup, the Croque Madame with aged French ham, Comte, and Gruyere on Brioche was every bit as classic as the Foie Gras \u2013 and every bit as strong a representation. <\/span>Thick with a sweet and smoky ham the crisp brioche stood up nicely to Gruyere both inside and out while a layer of Comte coated the top of the sandwich. <\/span>Topped with a single fresh farm egg served over easy I sliced the sandwich bite by bite with the provided Laguiole knife and was absolutely delighted \u2013 a dish on par with my favorite Croque of all time at The Butler and the Chef and every bit worth the hefty $18.50 price tag.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Impressed by the savories I strongly considered dessert until I received a text from my sister saying they\u2019d arrived in town and I was informed by my waiter that the lemon souffl\u00e9 was only available at dinner. <\/span>Sated but not stuffed I opted to settle the bill \u2013 a bill arriving with a lemon pate de fruit – and thanked my server and hostess for an excellent experience. <\/span>While I\u2019m sure the hype surrounding Henri will wane as the restaurant ages I certainly hope the quality of food and service doesn\u2019t change. <\/span>While it certainly isn\u2019t a cheap lunch, the quality and location justifies the cost and a reservation is definitely worth the effort. <\/span>With Irish Pub and French Bistro exemplified one can only wonder what is next for Chef Flanigan and team, but whatever it is I\u2019ll be sure to check it out.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Leaving Henri I received a text from my sister saying they were hungry and headed to Pizzeria Uno as they do each year at SOFA. <\/span>Having never been to Uno on my many visits to Chicago due to the lines and lack of reservations I texted her back \u2013 I\u2019d meet them there \u2013 I still had stomach real estate to spare. <\/span>Turning north and walking quickly I arrived at the restaurant in approximately 20 minutes and found the crew seated at a small table in the jam packed restaurant \u2013 an order already placed and due in 20 minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Regardless of what rumor you believe about the invention of Chicago-Style pizza, whether it be 1941 or 1943, Sewell or Malnati, there is no doubt Uno is the name most folks think of when they think of Deep Dish Pizza and as such I expected something special. <\/span>Arriving a mere 10 minutes after I sat down the pizza arrived piping hot and thick as expected. <\/span>With a plethoric crust in a well seasoned pan and sides pulled up high the crust was covered with cheese and then, per my sister\u2019s order, Spinach, broccoli, chunky tomatoes, feta, Cheddar, mozzarella and grated Romano forming the Spinoccoli pizza.<\/span><\/p>\n

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With servings plated for each of us I took a bite of the hot pie and instantly felt a hint of disappointment. <\/span>Perhaps it was the choice of pie \u2013 certainly not what I\u2019d have ordered \u2013 but the taste was largely butter and broccoli, no tomato and certainly no bite. <\/span>Unlike the spicy and acidic sauce melding with creamy mozzarella at Art of Pizza or the caramelized crust herbal sauce at Lou Malnati\u2019s there was simply nothing special to the pie and I certainly couldn\u2019t taste 2 different cheeses, let alone four.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Paying the modest tab and making our way to the door we passed by a waiting throng of at least forty \u2013 I wanted to tell them it wasn\u2019t worth it \u2013 to walk down to Lou\u2019s where there is no wait and better pizza. <\/span>Obviously I refrained \u2013 perhaps someday I\u2019ll go back and try something a bit more traditional \u2013 but with so many great places left to try I somehow doubt it. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In September of 2009 I ate at The Gage prior to U2\u2019s opening date of the US tour at Soldier Field \u2013 it was a great meal in the most unlikely of spaces for someone who doesn\u2019t fancy bars, beer, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,96,45,386,97,34,387,61,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bread-basket","category-chicago","category-foie","category-henri","category-illinois","category-pizza","category-pizzeria-uno","category-pork","category-vacation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/endoedibles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}