Review: Root & Bone

26 December 2021

After two very interesting days over the holidays in Chicago, I was en route early in the morning south-east. A surprise frost overnight made it far more fun to be outdoors throughout the morning. As I crossed back into Eastern timezone for the first time since I moved to Peoria, it felt odd…felt robbed of a good hour…

A few stops in Lafayette — a town for which I have a soft spot — I pivoted north-east and made a few other stops before rolling into Indianapolis in late afternoon. I love driving on smaller roads. Using the Interstate system for road trips just diminish their enjoyment.

I was tired after a long day — albeit with a loss of an hour thanks to changing timezones — so I wanted to grab a good yet relaxing dinner. And I headed to Root & Bone at a relatively early time.

Root & Bone in Indianapolis is the third outpost of the restaurant, having found success in South Florida and NYC already. I usually eschew these far-flung renditions of restaurants due to many reasons, but I’ve read good stuff — and it’s open on a holiday weekend Sunday evening.

And Indianapolis is a heck of a food town, and rarely does it disappoint, so I am expecting this to live up to that quality and not just as an imitation outpost of big city celebrity chefs. A good start with a tasty house old fashioned that came with a delicious piece of bacon…

Bacon works with everything, right? I kept that in mind as I ordered. Having skipped lunch, I was hungry, so I ordered two starters. The first one came soon, their “drunken” devilled eggs.

Well, it had a Christmasy feel to it didn’t it? The colour comes from pickled beets, and it wasn’t bad at all to start things. But what I was really waiting for was the second starter, which promptly arrived — which works so well with my cocktail.

Ooooh, this bacon board has everything I need. Some freshly made pork rinds that were deliciously crunchy, marinated cheese curds that really helped to cut through all the richness of this board, and of course that bacon — which they nicely characterised as “salty, smoky, sticky” on the menu.

The one problem is that once they get this thick sweet sauce, it tends to render the belly slices a little soft — so it needs to be eaten quickly. But all in all this was an excellent board.

That was good, but I still wanted a main, so switching to a glass of Banshee wine (I just had to send the pix to a cast member of the fantastic now-gone TV series on IG) for my main — the short-rib “meatloaf” as they described…

Well, perhaps not quite meatloaf than a confit, but it was excellent. They got the outside crispy without it being burnt or fried too deep into the pieces, and the inside was some quality braised short rib. Excellent execution for a holiday Sunday night for a tertiary location of celebrity chef-owned restaurant. I dare to say this would have been a challenge for their other locations to do, kudos to the local team.

Plus the wine pours were extremely generous. I can see why this place is so popular for locals. Alas, I’m getting tired, so I thanked the excellent staff and headed out. Probably the best night of the roadtrip so far (and sadly, that stays true for the rest of the trek, as you’ll see in subsequent posts).

So if you are in Indianapolis and want a casual night out with excellent food and fantastic service, this is the place to go. Now I wouldn’t say that about their other outposts, but the Indy one really takes the checkered flag. Good stuff.

Root & Bone
4601 North College Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana

Review: S.K.Y.

25 December 2021

As I imagine most people are waking up with a massive headache this morning — either from their hangover or from screaming children. I, however, was up by 7am and out the door from my O’Hare roach motel (sans real roaches, thank goodness, but could have used hot water…).

I had a long day exploring some of my favourite places in the city, which kept me busy and basically hiking non-stop for the next 7 hours or so…so I was absolutely knackered by the end of the day.

I swapped my O’Hare-area roach motel for a Midway-area roach motel, apparently. This one a little better, yet the hot water is still barely lukewarm… Not good when you’re sore from so much hiking, but that’s life. I had to quickly head back into the centre as my dinner reservation was an early one at 6.15. Dinner reservation, on Christmas?

Yeah, apparently S.K.Y. is one of the few hyped-about places that stayed open on Christmas. I got there and it was already starting to get busy. I opted to take a bar seat and settled into the edge. Service was on the slow side, but can you complain when they’re working on Christmas night?

Eventually I ordered a nice cocktail and also put in a food order. The bartender seems to be overworked as he’s the only person there dealing with a restaurant-full of wannabe drunks. But it worked out pretty well.

A friend of mine told me she felt the vibe was odd, and I agree — it’s like they can’t agree whether to have a lounge or a nice dining place.

One major problem is that the place is darker than Hades, and I can barely see anything — nor can most of the staff, it seems. When one brought my amuse bouche, she couldn’t tell what it was either…

BTW I did light adjust this photo as it would have been all black if I didn’t because it was so dark… And yes, before you say anything, Elettaria was ridiculously dark too. I know.

And as I enjoyed a nice glass of wine, my first starter arrived — the sizzling white shrimp…

Well, it’s not sizzling nor white (who knows it’s so dark), but at least I can confirm it’s shrimp. Not bad, nothing special really. The chilli oil didn’t come through much. But they were of good quality and cooked well.

Annoyingly my second dish came as I was working on the shrimp — the lobster dumplings. Sadly can’t tell much about the filling, it was rather generic. The essence of lobster did not fly out at all, very unlike the amazing lobster shumai at Lucky Belly in Honolulu for instance. Two very mediocre dishes to start…

The two people next to me at the bar were apparently doctors coming off a COVID shift and one of them seems to be looking to get soused, so…this could be fun. Then after a little the main course arrived — the porchetta.

Oh my, any worries I had from the mediocre starters dissipated here. This was rich and fantastic, just like how you want this dish. Perfect temperature, which lets the richness of the pork shine. The miscellaneous stuff on the dish faded into the background with this pork, darnit it was good!

That excellent dish changed my mind about this place, and made me get a dessert. I enjoyed another tipple watching the comedy being played out next to me, joining in at times as well. I feel for them, doctors in midst of a pandemic, working their arses off despite the immense frustration of dealing with horse paste-eating morons. I’m glad I gave them a little opportunity to vent.

But I saw my dessert, the banana budino, and I sighed a little. This was okay, but this seems to be something pet birds would enjoy. It was a little too much granola over the budino, and I am being sarcastic. It is just LOUSY with granola frankly. Oh well. At least it’ll help with digestion… But the night returns to a more mediocre level once again, too bad.

I have to say despite being overworked, the staff was extremely friendly and efficient, and overall it was a good night — considering it was Christmas. That porchetta made up for all of the weaker dishes easily, so in the grand scheme of it the night was positive. I thanked the staff, wished luck to the inebriated doctors, and headed on out into the still stupidly warm Chicago evening…

Well, Chicago, it’s been fun. I can’t believe it’s been 5 years since I’ve been back. Off to Indiana tomorrow…

S.K.Y.
1239 West 18th Street
Chicago, Illinois

PS: Remember you can always click on the photos for a larger version — on this and every blog entry! Sorry these photos aren’t too good but had to do a crapload of light editing to make them remotely usable!

Review: Tzuco

24 December 2021

This has been an unpleasant and terribly destructive year. The last thing I wanted to do was to celebrate, or even mark, Christmas. I thought I was going to ride it out quietly in Peoria, but I decided to take a few days away and quickly planned a roadtrip as the weather was being extremely unseasonal — meaning no weather-related issues for road travel. Plans quickly made, research done uncomfortably quick, and bookings made. And I was off before dawn on Christmas Eve!

I took the backroads, like I love to do, through central Illinois, stopping at a few towns few have heard of. Then some unpleasantries in Joliet before making it into Chicago. A lot of places to stop at, all while chuckling at the queues in the parking lots for malls and markets for those last-minute folks. I eventually rolled into a rather dodgy motel near O’Hare and tried to unwind before dinner — which was not possible seeing a mould-covered towel hanging on the shower rod…so much for Covid-era “extra” cleaning…

I was surprised to find Tzuco, a well-regarded haute Mexican restaurant, was open for the 24th. I got a booking earlier and headed there. It was not busy at all, but that’s not surprising. I imagine those who are here are those stuck at work; in fact the person I spoke to next to me was indeed such a victim.

I enjoyed a nice cocktail at first, refreshing for this extremely warm day. Why is it so warm in late December? Anyway, I then ordered my dinner and relaxed. Not a bad way to spend the 24th…

I then asked for a glass of Mexican white to go with my starter but it never came…took ages for them to bring it, way after the dish arrived. I imagine they’ve mentally checked out for this gig, but heck, I’m not complaining. I’m just happy they are open! Oh, the starter — octopus.

I think my expectations for this dish was too high (no thanks to social media), but it was tasty. Cooked relatively well, but the vegetable side was a weird mixture of pickled and undercooked items. And sadly the guajillo was understated. But it’ll do for a starter, as I have a large main course coming. They didn’t forget about my wine this time and a nice glass of Mexican red arrived with my main.

Cochinita pibil, cooked well, the meat shredding off but maintaining good consistency. Worked well with the black beans and the too-little habanero salsa.

Sadly the whole combination is thrown off by some poor tortillas. When it has that “damp rag” taste about it you know it’s something that’s not fresh. Look, this is Christmas Eve, I’ll forgive them for this, but this dish suffered from this. It worked much better eating it with fork and knife.

Anyway, this was more than I expected considering how few places were open. I will say that the staff is extremely friendly, which says a lot for working on a day when so few places are open. So huge kudos to the staff, I’m not sweating any of the small stuff today.

I then decided on a dessert and another cocktail — now doing the mole old fashioned. I think it will help with the dessert I chose.

Maíz y azafrán. The cornbread with the honey toffee was nice and rich, and for a guy who doesn’t like popcorn much this caramel popcorn was quite a pleasant surprise. What was less pleasant was the “saffron” ice cream, which tasted quite awful, like someone forgot to rinse out the ice cream maker. First it was the “wet rag” tortillas, now the “dish soap” ice cream. Hmmm… I’m still forgiving, tho…

I decided to close with a mezcal, but they forgot. Oh well, again, it’s Christmas Eve. I asked to settle up and my server comped me a small serving of one of his favourite mezcals, so that was nice. Again, I imagine they’ve mentally checked out already, and I certainly don’t blame them. It’s brave of them to work on the 24th. So I give them a lot of credit for coming up with a good dinner, and I made sure I tipped the servers well.

I imagine on a normal day this place functions far more efficiently, and probably with better tortillas. But for Christmas Eve, this does the job very well. After so many years away from Chicago, this was a nice way to come back to the Windy City on this unpleasantly warm Christmas Eve…

Tzuco
720 North State Street
Chicago, Illinois

Review: 2 Chez

18 December 2021

One of the joys of moving to a new town is to find places to hang out regularly — and to say I’ve found a handful of places in Peoria in just a few weeks says plenty about this town. I’m pleasantly surprised to say the least. A lot less ego, a lot more fun, and plenty of quality to give the coasts a run for its money.

I had a very early morning this Saturday, volunteering as a floor usher for the winter commencement ceremony. So nice to be able to do this in person again — although the news from my alma mater Cornell, cancelling its winter commencement with 48hrs notice, was on everyone’s mind. But this event went off wonderfully, and kudos to the students. Some asshole parents chose to not mask, so we’re all expecting some community spread unfortunately…

I ended up having a long liquid brunch afterwards, and a much needed nap. But then I got back up and decided to imbibe some more with a good dinner. One of the places I know I’ll get good food is the punny 2 Chez — which is luckly just a few minutes away. I know it’s gonna be busy, but I’m hoping for a slot at the bar…

And luckily there was one seat left. I parked there for the next few hours, starting with a cocktail and catching up on some conversations since my last visit with the fine friendly folks behind the bar. I enjoyed a nice smokey concoction as I reviewed the menu and pondered the specials. Ah, let’s go for a good one tonight.

I relaxed and soon my starter arrived — calamari.

I’ve been eating a lot of this recently and I’ve been pleasantly surprised how well this is being done in a place that’s a thousand miles from the ocean. The breading was done nicely, not too obtrusive, giving the calamari the perfect support. Seasoned well, the sauce wasn’t really needed. A good start!

I switched over to wine and was enjoying the banter with the bartenders, waiting for my main course. One thing I love about this place is that there’s a huge vinyl collection next to the bar — and the only music that’s played come from them. As Johnny cash starts to sing Sunday Morning Coming Down, I’m starting to worry about a massive hangover tomorrow…

Well, I forgot about it when my main course — rack of lamb — came out.

Chef Todd Hohulin really did a great job here with this rack. A very generous portion I must say, cooked perfectly. Again, I’ve been having wonderful luck with lamb here in Peoria, much to my happy surprise. Delicious stuff, hard to be more pleased.

The rest of the night zipped by with a few more drinks in lieu of dessert, tempered by plenty of coffee to keep myself awake after this extremely long but fun day. Ah, congrats to the new graduates. I just hope they appreciate their time in college more than I did and have far less regrets…

Maybe that’s why I’m working on a college campus again…

But 2 Chez — a funny name and a horrible strip mall location — is one of the gems of the Midwest. Fabulously fun folks, great drinks, and excellent food. What’s not to love?

2 Chez
7815 North Knoxville Avenue
Peoria, Illinois

Review: Loukinens’ on 4th

11 December 2021

I made an unexpected trip to Springfield last weekend — my first overnight trip since moving to Peoria. I was originally planning to head to Iowa for my first trip, but Springfield worked better — and it was far closer. With the weather being so crazy in the region (heartbreaking to see all the tragedy…), it was a wiser move.

I headed down on Saturday morning, snaking through central Illinois slowly. Making quite a few stops (if you know me you know that it’s a tour of the area’s historic cemeteries), I rolled into the capital of Illinois late afternoon. Checked into my hotel and took a short break before I planned on dinner.

I did some research and I always have a rule that state capitals tend to have good places — mostly because of politicians and lobbyists. In fact I’ve found some unexpectedly good places in some of the lesser-visited state capitals like Augusta, Maine (Otto’s on the River); Annapolis, Maryland (Sailor Oyster Bar); Juneau, Alaska (Salt); Columbia, South Carolina (Motor Supply Company Bistro); Jackson, Mississippi (Parlor Market); and even Olympia, Washington (Dockside Bistro).

After looking over a few menus, I decided on Loukinens’ on 4th — which was not far away. As I arrived it was a semi-busy evening but they had a spot at the bar, which worked perfectly for me. I relaxed with an excellent martini and ordered. The menu all looked fantastic, so I was excited.

Friendly folks behind and at the bar, so that made the evening even more fun. Soon my starter arrived, the calamari.

Actually quite good in a Italian-Southeast Asian fusion feel, with a slightly sweet chilli lime sauce. Not bad at all. Chilled out and finished my martini — which went well with the calamari actually.

I switched to a red and anticipated my main course — which was the day’s special…

Ooooh, elk chops, not had these in ages. Sure, it’s farmed “game” but it’s still elk, and it was delicious. Cooked perfectly, an absolute necessity with animals like elk because a tad overcooked and you get that terribly livery mess. Wonderful flavours here, an excellent dish.

I was enjoying the evening so much I added to what was supposed to be a simple liquid dessert and went with a rich chocolate cake…

Oh my this was nice, super rich — went well with that rye. If you want a better look at the cake, click on it — or for another angle, scroll to the last pix here. A wonderful way to close the evening. Almost too rich…

I thanked the excellent crew, including chef, and headed out — happy to know if I ever head to nearby Springfield again I have this excellent place to revisit. Fabulous food, top-notch service, what’s not to love?

Highly recommended if you are in the capital city of Illinois!

Loukinens’ on 4th
517 South 4th Street
Springfield, IL

PS: As you probably imagined, the next morning I spent it at one of my favourite places — Oak Ridge Cemetery — and revisited the grand Lincoln tomb.