The Experience At Graham Elliot (Final Draft)

[Written for the New York Times]

            Located in the gallery district of Chicago, Graham Elliot is a hip, laid-back version of fine dining.  A short flight of stairs takes guests from the street level into the dining hall, a modern, yet modest room adorned with simple black tables and lit by dim hanging lamps.  The hundred-year-old brick walls and the floor to ceiling windows of the former 19^th century printing warehouse add to the trendy yet professional atmosphere.

            The restaurant is owned by Graham Elliot Bowles, a tattoo clad chef who, at the age of 27, became the youngest four-star chef named in a major U.S. city.  In 2008, he opened Graham Elliot with the ideology that fine dining should be a fun, accessible experience.

When guests arrive, they are escorted to their table by friendly and accommodating staff.  A bowl of popcorn sprinkled with chives, truffle oil, and Parmesan cheese is put in the center of the table in place of bread; a tasty and less filling pre-meal snack. A hip mix of music including names like Ra Ra Riot, Arcade Fire and The Hold Steady, plays in the background, setting the mood without being intrusive. 

The menu is broken down into five categories; Cold, Hot, Sea, Land, and Sweet.  Guests can also opt for the Tasting, a $75 five-course meal; the Experience, a $125 ten-course meal; or the Repertoire, which offers a sample of every menu item for $150.  The menu includes refined items like Fluke Tartare, Heirloom Duck, and Hog Cheek.   But a note at the bottom telling patrons that, “in order to ensure the optimum awesomeness of your dining experience, we ask that the entire table participate in tasting menus” is also a reminder that this is a not your typical strict dining experience.  Assuming your eyes can read the small print in the dim lighting of the restaurant, the whimsical theme is also seen in the wine list, which is broken down into categories like “Pop Music” “One Hit Wonders” and “Karaoke.” While the relationship between the wines and their categories is not obvious, the sommelier will be able to suggest a wine that suits both the meal and the diner’s personal taste.  We enjoyed an excellent pinot noir from the “Garage Rock” section.
When it comes to the table, wine is decanted in the type of beaker you might find in a high school chemistry lab, with all the measurements written on the side.  Yet the process of the wine pouring resembles that of finely rehearsed dance.When choosing what to eat, the Experience is a great way to sample the wide range of creations served at Graham Elliot.   It includes small portions of two dishes from each of the five menu sections.  The meal takes about three hours to complete, so patrons should leave their nights open if they plan on trying this ten-course meal.

Graham Elliot changes his menu every season—and specific items may change nightly-- but currently, the menu includes Fluke Tartare, the Deconstructed Caesar, Chicken Noodle Soup, Sweetbread Empanada, Smoked Black Bass, Monkfish, Heirloom Duck, Wagyu Beef, and two very different desserts.

  The first course offered was a Fluke Tartare with shaved fennel, sea cress and pink peppercorn.  The fluke is delightfully fresh, the raw fish mixing with the crisp sweet shave of the peppercorn.  An aromatic foam was artfully smeared across the top, giving the whole dish a surprisingly sour flavor.  This was followed by sweetbread empanada and the chef’s unique take on a classic; chicken noodle soup.

The deconstructed Caesar salad combines an excellent mix of flavors and textures.   The dish consists of white anchovy stacked on romaine lettuce with Parmesan fluff, placed atop a brioche twinkie.  The fish is extremely salty, and contrasts well with the cheese-filled brioche.  The crisp romaine lettuce mixed with the slimy anchovy and soft bread creates an interesting combination that works well together.

Each succeeding course is brought out by a separate waiter who then presents the dish.  Unless diners are familiar with the terminology of fine dining, they will be lost halfway through this well rehearsed speech though.  After patrons have eaten, all plates and silverware are removed in preparation for the next course. 

Among the main courses, the Black Bass was exceptionally good.  Served with smoked leek, marcona almond puree, and tomato marmalade, the dish artfully combines textures and flavors.  The bass had a nice flavor and a firm yet flakey texture, while the crunchy leek atop the almond puree added an earthy tone.  The real star of this dish though was the tomato marmalade, which combined the acidity of the tomato with a sweet and sugary flavor.

The only disappointment was the Atlantic monkfish.  It was served with a cheddar hushpuppy, which, despite being tasty, was not a good compliment to the monkfish and lobster roe.  Being fried and filled with cheese, it was hard not to enjoy the hush puppy, yet it did not add anything to the fish.  Each item on the plate separately tasted fine, but they do not have the same chemistry as the other courses, and seemed to lack their ‘zazz.

For the first course of dessert, we were served an almond cake with orange gelato, blood orange sauce, and a honeycomb.  The honey was delicious, yet almost unbearably sweet.  Eaten with the thick cake and fruity gelato, they make an incredible combination, combining three different sweet of flavors. 

The final course was a cardamon cremeux, a chocolate gel, a cinnamon stick and a cocoa curry powder sponge cake.  The taste of cinnamon is almost overpowering in this dish.  Everything chocolate has spiciness to it.  It is an interesting dish; though between the two desserts, the orange is a better closer. 

The Experience is indeed quite the experience, and a highly recommended one.  Keeping to their goal to redefine fine dining, Graham Elliot combines fun and sophistication, creating a relaxed atmosphere with a feeling of professionalism.