Being the gastronomic slut that I am, restaurants with unbelievably delicious food in a comfortable atmosphere are the peanut butter to my jelly, the Vegemite to my butter-schmeared toast. If you’ve had the pleasure to dine at Blackbird in Chicago’s West Loop or Lula Cafe in the Logan Square hood, you know what I mean. These restaurants are everything I never knew I needed and more. After eating there, you sort of want to spoon with the restaurant to thank it for such an awesome time. Yeah. THAT good. Take Lula, for example. I have written no less than four posts about the place in the past year! Two post (this and this one) on their brunch, and two (this and this one) about their Monday night farmhouse dinners(a third one will show up later this week). Clearly, I lurve me some Lula Cafe. So when I found out that Lula’s mommy and daddy made another kick-ass little restaurant baby called Nightwood in Chicago’s Pilsen hood, you know I had to hit that shit up. It was, like, my job. My very very LOW paying but delicious job. Apparently, this American contemporary restuarant has a similar seasonal focus to Lula, but their menu changes daily and errs on the simple side. The Apps:
We were started off with some delicious tiny balls of cornbread goodness and unsalted butter , which of course, we devoured. Lula kicks ass at baking, and clearly Nightwood is no slouch.
Our first app was deep fried caviar butter with wild char roe. Um, yeah. HOT DAMN.
We also rocked a lovely salad with what I think was roasted pears and goat cheese (don’t quote me on that).
And lets not forget that killer raclette featured in the beginning! One of my favorite appetizers was their chicken liver mousse with pickled pumpkin.
The mousse was perfectly smooth and fluffy, my favorite chicken liver texture, and the pickled pumpkins were an interesting change of pace. My only complaint? A spread like mustard or tomato jam, something with acid and a slightly different flavor than the pickled pumpkin would have turned this good dish into a great dish, but that is just me being picky. The Mains:
One diner went with the roasted fish of the day, which I believe was Wisconsin trout. SO good, flakey and perfectly cooked.
Another diner went with something I have very little experience with–a half roasted rabbit with brussel sprouts! I have tried dark rabbit meat and wasn’t in love, but the white meat on this rabbit was insanely delicious. And I am fairly certain there was bacon in there somewhere, which probably helped.
Adam went with a housemade spaghetti, topped with braised short rib and a fried, gooey egg. I’d eat Oprah Winfrey (sans weave) if you topped with her a gooey fried egg, so this dish was right up my alley.
And of course the best for last…my cheeseburger with fries and a housemade pickle. I’m going to let my pictures do the talking for this one…
This could possibly be the best burger in Chicago. It is that serious. I need a cigarette after those photos! The Desserts:
Conclusion: Go here. Now. As fast as you can. It is slap yo mama good! And you know, you may see a bicycle drug deal go down across the street, as this is in an up and coming hood, but who cares. Go here. Double lock your car doors. And thank me later. ~LTG! ************************************ Nightwood restaurant 2119 S. Halsted St. Chicago, IL 60608-4519 312-526-3385 Nightwood’s Web Site
