Thursday, March 14, 2013

Grace Restaurant

Chef Curtis Duffy's Grace, one of the most anticipated restaurants opening in Chicago in 2012, finally opened late last year after delays. Located in the ever expanding culinary district in west loop of Chicago, you can easily pass the restaurant if you walk/drive by. Nevertheless, the restaurant has already garnered a few recognition from the press and it was named as one of the best restaurant by the James Beard Foundation.

I was so psyched about this restaurant when I heard it finally opens and I gladly grabbed a reservation a few weeks after it opened.





Amuse Bouche

Osetra Caviar - Meyer Lemon, Kumquat Jam, Chive

To start off the night, I've been offered a caviar course. The saltiness of the caviar is paired with a creamy custard that's mildly sweet. Along with the kumquat jam which provides a citrus sweetness makes this a great start for the evening.



Nairagi - Golden Trout Roe, Pomelo, Thai Basil

For our second course, we are served with the Nairagi (Marlin). It is placed inside a cylindrical ice and we literally break the ice to get to our food, which is always fun to do. The fish itself is very light, and has a smooth texture. The highlight of this course is the coconut pudding that compliment the fish. It's light, refreshing and consist of a moderate Thai basil flavor.


Warm Cucumber - Burnt orange, Idiazabal, Peruvian Oxalis

Our next course is a cucumber course. The cucumber is crunchy and light, goes along with a burnt orange flavored broth. However, I find the broth by itself is a bit too bitter for me.



Scottish Salmon - crispy red cabbage, Citrus Pudding, Marigold, Potato

The Salmon in this dish is superbly cooked. It was moist, light and smooth. The citrus foam added an extra element to the fish as it provides citrus to it. The potato that's wrapped in the cabbage is creamy but consist of a nice chunkiness that I can eat a bowl of.



Grilled Matsusaka Beef - King Trumpet, Salsify, Mashua Leaf

The nicely grilled Matsusaka beef is the way I like it: juicy, tender and nicely flavored. The mushroom is juicy and provides a nice earthiness which pairs nicely to the beef.



Veal Cheek - Red wine braised endive, sunflower seed, black mint

The Veal cheek is extremely tender, which provides a nice heartiness to the evening. The sunflower seed provides that crunch to go with the cheek as soft and crunchy goes together. The endive also provides a nice contrast to the tender veal cheek.



Poached Pear - Elderflower, tamarind juice, bronze fennel 


Caramelized Sudachi - toasted cashew, asian pear, Nasturtium

Think of this course as a very light creame brulee. The sudachi is encased by a crystallized ginger on the top. The sudachi brulee is creamy, yet light and not overwhelmingly sweet. The crunch of the cashew, along with the mild sweetness of the pear make this course a pleasant dessert treat.


Dark Chocolate - raw chesnut, persimmon, lemon mint

Our last course is a dark chocolate course. I've never been a big fan of dark chocolate, but this dark chocolate is actually not too bad since it's not bitter. It's complimented by a mildly sweet persimmon puree and a dense chocolate waffle which make the course a pretty nice bite.

mignardises - dark chocolate & caramel chocolate shell

As the evening end, we are given a little treat before we leave. The caramel chocolate shell is really fun as some light caramel liquid is held inside the thin chocolate shell, one bite and the liquid burst into your mouth. I guess you can say we ended the night with a burst.



The food at Grace is absolutely delightful to have. It's very light, thoughtful and creative. I do at times crave for big flavor through the meal. However, Chef Duffy mentions that he wants to keep his food light but flavorful, which I can understand as not all great food has to be saturated with butter and cream. I would want to return in the summer as I believe the summer season would provide a much better ingredient for Chef Duffy's style of food.