Blackbird is also located on Randolph, a few blocks east of Girl & the Goat, but it's been there quite a bit longer; it opened in December, 1997. Executive Chef Paul Kahan won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef in 2013 and Best Chef of the Midwest in 2004. Marlene and I have dined there for lunch three times in the past, and probably would have opted for lunch this time around, but Blackbird is closed for lunch on Saturday.
Our lunches at Blackbird have been uniformly fantastic. The $22 three-course prix fixe menus we've enjoyed have combined ingredients and pushed boundaries in unique ways. On this Saturday evening, we had high expectations. The ambience at Blackbird is the antithesis of Girl & the Goat; it's white, austere and calming. We were seated at a perfect table at the front window. Gary selected a nice Pouilly Fumé, which we enjoyed as we attacked our menus.
We each selected appetizers and entrées; there were lots of tantalizing offerings to choose from. We were then served an amuse-bouche of cantaloupe custard. Yes, it was only the amuse-bouche, but it didn't have the special blending of flavors we had come to expect from our lunches at Blackbird. The custard was gummy and didn't blend particularly well with the other ingredients. Was this a preview of things to come?
Cantaloupe custard with crispy ham, crab, mint and ginger Marlene ordered the king crab appetizer; Gary ordered the frog's legs, and Susan and I ordered the arctic char.
Lump king crab with cauliflower, plumbs, sesame seeds and brown butter
Fried frog's legs with sugar snap peas, avocado, lily bulbs jalapeno and vanilla
Smoked arctic char with cucumber, gooseberries, urfa pepper cream and lemon All were good enough, but none were great. The sweet plumb sauce overpowered the delicate crab meat, the frog's legs needed more legs or a bigger frog, and while there was a lot going on around the arctic char, it tasted very ordinary. Unfortunately, there was more good-enough-but-not-great to come. Susan ordered the halibut as her entrée, Marlene and Gary ordered the duck breast, and I ordered the sturgeon.
Roasted halibut with oyster cream, artichoke confit, sea beans, sorrel and seeds
Aged duck breast and j. sawyers zampone with roasted okra, rice cakes and pickled lime hollandaise
Wood-grilled sturgeon and chicken wings with marinated kale, turnips and walnut purée The halibut was the best dish of the evening. It was excellent quality, nicely complimented by the encrusted seeds. The duck breast was a nice piece of duck breast, but that's pretty much all that it was. The zampone (stuffed pig’s trotter with spicy ground pork) seemed out of place and the rice cakes were forgettable. The sturgeon was dry and not particularly tasty. The marinated kale was overpowering; the boneless chicken wing and walnut purée seemed afterthoughts. In essence, Blackbird went from subtly blending flavors at lunch to not so subtle add-ons at dinner. But there was a light at the end of the tunnel; pastry chef Dana Cree's desserts were the highlight of the evening. Her ingredients did indeed blend successfully into delicious creations.
Dark chocolate brownie with cherry pit ice cream, preserved walnut, poached cherries and oats
Black raspberry sherbet with burnt vanilla pavlova, banana pudding, shattered raspberries and licorice We're not sure why Blackbird's wonderful lunches failed to translate into dinner. Perhaps our expectations had been set too high. Needless to say, the next time we return to Blackbird we will do so for lunch. Copyright © 2013 TwoForTheTable.com |
