The Black Sheep

My wife and I dined here last night, during the restaurant's opening weekend, and we were impressed by both the quality of the food and the efficient service. Chef James Toland formerly worked with Philip Foss at Lockwood, and his cuisine is suffused with high quality ingredients (much of it souced locally).

The first was an assortment of mushrooms - grilled abalone (which has a scallop-like taste and consistency), morels, cremini and a black walnut puree flecked with tiny pickled mushrooms. This was excellent, especially the generous serving of abalone and the contrast between the earthy morels and the piquant pickled mushrooms.

The second appetizer featured Washington State snails with strips of fennel and an anise porridge. This dish did not work for us - the texture of the porridge did not contrast well with the snails, which were a bit too chewy for our tastes. Also, the flavors of the fennel and the anise were too similar.

My wife had the skatewing entree. The skatewing was done perfectly, and the addition of bits of cruchy skate cartilidge was a nice and surprising textural contrast. The skate was accompanied by some nicely prepared asparagus and a calves liver reduction of some kind, which provided interesting flavor contrasts to the fish.

My mutton daube (which is misspelled "dobe" on the menu) was for me the highlight of the meal. This was real mutton - chef stated that this was meat slaughtered locally from 3-year old rams, especially for the restaurant. The cubes of meat had a deep, rich flavor, but not as "gamy" as one might expect. The carmelized exterior added another layer of flavor. The mutton was accompanied by a potato puree, pickled pearl onions, yorkshire pudding with a red wine reduction and (most surpisingly) a green parsley meringues. While this might at first appear to be a bit over-the-top, the flavors and textures are kept quite separate and contrast well with each other.

Desserts were also of high quality. I quite enjoyed by almond financier with sour cherries that had been soaked in red wine; the tarragon sherbet was a savory accompaniment. My wiffe really liked her smoke brioche beignet with a delicious creamy and malty semifreddo, although she was not a fan of the gooey marshmallows that came with it (I ate those).

All in all, this was an auspicious opening, and I look forward to returning to sample the veal sweetbreads.

The Black Sheep
1132 West Grand Avenue (at May Steet)
Chicago, Illinois
312.997.5100
http://www.blacksheepchicago.net

We also ate here on Saturday night. We were told it was there first saturday night in operation. Overall our impression was favorable, some hits some misses. We got the distinct impression that they have not worked all of the kinks out of the operation. Things were just slightly off, maybe more of a feeling then anything else. Nice room, nice bar and the beet salad appetizer was a beautiful work of art in addition to being tasty.

All of the portions were a touch small. One of our friends called the experience a "mcdonalds dinner" when i asked what he meant he said he needed to go through the drive through on the way home because he was still hungry.

ld111134 wrote: a calves liver reduction of some kind, which provided interesting flavor contrasts to the fish.
The Black Sheep
1132 West Grand Avenue (at May Steet)
Chicago, Illinois
312.997.5100
http://www.blacksheepchicago.net

Calves liver reduction....really???

Evil Ronnie

Calves liver reduction....really???

Sure. It's there to dip the strawberries in.

The menu shows the Yorkshire Pudding that comes with the lamb to be "bone marrow Yorkshire pudding" - that sounds incredible. Could you taste the marrow in the Yorkshire pudding?

This is definitely on my short list of places to check out.

Attrill wrote:The menu shows the Yorkshire Pudding that comes with the lamb to be "bone marrow Yorkshire pudding" - that sounds incredible. Could you taste the marrow in the Yorkshire pudding?

This is definitely on my short list of places to check out.

I ate here during a friends and family dinner and have to say, the mutton (did they change it to lamb?) was pretty spectacular. The gravy was great, as was the puree. The Yorkshire pudding was pretty solid, had an unctuousness from the marrow, but it was still pretty subtle. Also had a seemingly out of place parsley meringue. A well executed dish, for sure.

We also had the clam appetizer that was really more of a mix of seafood hors d'oeuvres with sardine, king crab & baby octopus. The clam had a really nice mignonette sauce. There were also sea beans on the dish as well.

Our other appetizer was the study of beets. With this, there was the lemon marshmallow, pickled and roasted beats, dried beets and a spectacular pistachio puree. Very cool dish.

My girlfriend got the sweetbreads, which were pretty fantastic. This dish also future veal tongue, chopped brussels sprouts and an nifty rye bread puree.


Our third person in the party got the Illinois Beef which was a medallion of tenderloin and the largest scallop I've ever seen, though it happened to have a fair amount of sand in it. I don't recall the rest of that dish, it was probably the least memorable of the lot.

The desserts we got were the strawberry rhubarb (which reminded me of fruit rollups, in a good way) which was a sorbet based dish with really nice strawberries as well. Our other dessert was the flourless chocolate cake with a caramel sauce and milk chocolate ice cream. The chocoholic in me couldn't resist.

Overall, I'd say it was a solid meal, but I hope they work out a few kinks with the dishes as they seemed a bit uneven. At any rate, nice to have another spot in that corridor, Black Sheep will fit in very well, I think.

I ate at The Black Sheep last night and had a very good meal. There were a couple weak dishes, but overall I was impressed & will definitely return.

The a la carte menu is split into two sections: Smaller and bigger dishes. Our server suggested we each order two smaller plates and one larger, and that was the right amount of food. They also offer two tasting menus: A five-course "econo" tasting for $65 and a 10-course for $95, I think. (Ordering from the a la carte menu, we each had 3 savory dishes + split a dessert for roughly the same price as the econo tasting.)

A note about all of the dishes: There's a fair amount of molecular gastronomy, reductions, dehydration and deconstruction going on here.

Dishes we had, with descriptions cribbed off the menu:
English Pea Soup / sour cherries / creme: I just had a bite of this, but it was fantastic. I love a pea soup that tastes like fresh summer peas & not smoked ham, etc. This is one of those soups. Served chilled. A hit.

Study of Beets / Goats milk / lemon marshmallow: Again, I only had a bit of this one, but it was clearly a hit. I think the server said the beets were prepared 4 ways. I saw roasted (boiled?), pureed and freeze dried, but if there was a 4th, I missed it. The marshmallow worked surprisingly well with the beets (and is also the largest marshmallow I've ever seen).

Sunflower Greens / parmesan gellee / egg / anchovy: A deconstructed Caeser salad, but unfortunately a bit of a miss. I hadn't had sunflower greens before, but they're big sprouts like this. Unfortunately, they're tough to wrangle with a fork. Too skinny to spear, but too long to easily scoop. I ended up scooping/balancing and then trying to slurp up. The other elements were just a bit bland.

Marinated Clams / sardines / octopus / shrimp: Four chilled seafood items, one or two bites of each, each prepared differently. I didn't pay enough attention to the other elements for each item (except that the octopus was red-wine poached). In terms of sheer flavor, the octopus and sardines (love fresh sardines) were my favs. It was a better-than-good dish, but I'm not sure I'd order it again.

Illinois Beef / scallop / ox tail / bergamot: A disclaimer: I ordered this as my entree even though I'm not a frequent beef eater. I'm also a bit of a moron when it comes to cuts of beef, etc. (But I think our server said it was sirloin?) I only realized after it was served that the server didn't ask how I wanted it cooked, but it came out perfectly--probably medium rare--and already sliced. The scallop was served over a shredded oxtail croquette/fritter (breading on the outside, but really no obvious binder on the inside). I am not a bergamot fan and that was included in the creme fraiche sauce, which I asked them to put on the side for me. I did try it, and it worked pretty well...not an overwhelming bergamot flavor, but it was strong enough that I could taste it. Better-than-good, but not sure I'd order it again.

Red fish / pork rillette / bacon royal / chicken egg: My friend's entree and I only had a bite, but a beautiful bacony cream sauce and perfect looking poached egg. (I could have sworn the server said it was a 5-minute poach, but the yolk was very runny and 5 minutes seems like a long cooking time for such a runny yolk. Given the perfect shape of the egg, it wouldn't surprise me if it was a 5-minute sous vide. My friend loved it.

smoked brioche beignet / malt semi freddo /sour beer carmel / marshmallow / pickled apples: Wow. That's all that I can say about this dish. Every element was fantastic and I wanted more. I would have licked the plate if it were socially acceptable.

Two more quick bites:
The amuse was sirloin tartare on a horseradish(?) chip: Delicious!
Gougeres: Also delicious! I could have eaten many more of them.

One other note: Chef James Toland came to each and every table at some point during the meal, spent time talking to us, asked about our meal, etc. I really appreciate the touch, particularly for a newer restaurant. I think good marketing, but also a terrific sign if the chef wants to make sure his customers are happy.

I don't know how I missed this article, but this cat fight is just... wow:
http://timeoutchicago.com/restaurants-b ... lack-sheep

(ah yes, the comment is the best part)

And check out Eater today: http://chicago.eater.com/archives/2011/ ... -chefs.php

Sounds like the whole thing is imploding.

mvandam wrote:And check out Eater today: http://chicago.eater.com/archives/2011/ ... -chefs.php

Sounds like the whole thing is imploding.

wow, and I thought my workplace was the only one with too much drama...

theskinnyduck wrote:

mvandam wrote:And check out Eater today: http://chicago.eater.com/archives/2011/ ... -chefs.php

Sounds like the whole thing is imploding.

wow, and I thought my workplace was the only one with too much drama...

Knowing the parties involved and what happened, I saw this coming a couple of weeks ago. A friend of mine's boyfriend was one of the cooks and he had put in his two weeks a week or so ago in good faith. Then they fire the two shining stars on the staff? Great move and the pr should be fantastic. Oh, and Michael Simon didn't walk out. He was cut out of the company...

Well, this is very unfortuante. I very much enjoyed Toland's Elvis-inspired contribution to Baconfest and was looking forward to checking out Black Sheep. Apparently, I may have waited too long.

Whoa, bro, dude, damn, that kind of misogyny is way out of line. I am referencing the thread quoted above (Time Out review a few posts above) and comments allegedly made by chef. It's like he's trying to beat GEB at his own critic hating game. Ow.

I could care less about the Time Out critic's actual writing style or veracity. I just really hope the sexist idiot who wrote those comments is not the chef. But ...

I will not be eating here. And that dude, and his jaw, should be glad the TOC writer is not my sister.

queequeg, did you threaten this man or use profanity in any way?

queequeg, did you threaten this man or use profanity in any way?

What on Earth are you talking about?

Appetite for self-destruction

It seems like the restaurant is back, at least for now, as reported by Eater Chicago.

That was quick.

Front of House Staff Walks Out of Black Sheep Saturday Night; Is This the End?

Stick a fork in Black Sheep?

It was inevitable. How good is a busihess plan that holds as its foundation giving food away to musicians for free.

YourPalWill wrote:It was inevitable. How good is a busihess plan that holds as its foundation giving food away to musicians for free.

Sounds as if it had nothing to do with this altruistic biz model. In fact, would love to see more things like this in the industry. Feeding an artist can only be good karma.

Good karma does not equal good cash flow.

Gotta say, if what the chef posted in the comments on Eater is at all accurate, that's pretty lame of Eater to post such conjecture without confirmation. It's really not fair to the restaurant, no matter the chef or his history, to constantly intimate it's on the verge of shuttering, for whatever reason. I was never planning to visit the Black Sheep, but if I were considering it and thought it was closed, that would be that.

YourPalWill wrote:Good karma does not equal good cash flow.

If there was a formula for success, don't you think everyone would use it? Not saying cash flow isn't important, just saying there's other ways to do biz. W/your eye only on the bottom line, you miss other things. Important, humanizing, engaging things that make up the all important spirit or vision. Never prescribed to the "it's just biz" w/a shrug mentality. Looking over your shoulder isn't exactly conducive to promoting a good work environment, yet it's pretty much the corporate model (and very flawed in my opinion). I think they're to be congratulated, not mocked.

Vitesse98 wrote:Gotta say, if what the chef posted in the comments on Eater is at all accurate, that's pretty lame of Eater to post such conjecture without confirmation. It's really not fair to the restaurant, no matter the chef or his history, to constantly intimate it's on the verge of shuttering, for whatever reason. I was never planning to visit the Black Sheep, but if I were considering it and thought it was closed, that would be that.

Though I agree it may be shitty for Eater to do if without merit, Toland should have conducted himself better. Written threats are hard to erase.

I actually do have a horse in this situation; I purchased a Black Sheep deal that I'm hoping to redeem. Perhaps I should go sooner rather than later just in case...

Vitesse98: do you really think it is wise for Mr. Toland to have posted this in the comments?

You just keep on hating (Ari Bendersky) but we all know you don't have the stones or the talent to ever make something as cool as The Black Sheep happen. Don't ever write about me or my business again. You would be wise not to test my resolve.

Sounds very much like a threat to me. Threatening a journalist not only publicly, but on the website for which the writer writes? Not a smart move.

sundevilpeg wrote:Vitesse98: do you really think it is wise for Mr. Toland to have posted this in the comments?

I didn't interpret Vitesse98 as endorsing everything that Toland wrote. He simply pointed out that the original article (the OA if you will) wasn't sin-free either.

Not a huge surprise, but TBS is now officially closed: http://chicago.eater.com/archives/2011/ ... -today.php

Xposting, but yeah, Toland's comment was a total dick move. But the original article was irresponsible, and potentially enough to push any business on the edge of solvency over it. Personally, I don't want to see any place closing these days, not really. I can only imagine how hard it is to run a restaurant - which is often hand to mouth, so to speak, in the best of times - with people constantly posting that you've run out of food, run out of money, or outright closed. While LTH is "public," I don't consider it a public forum, per se, and have always been impressed by the general sense of decorum and restraint on the board. Sometimes even a real distaste for posting about a negative experience, for all the right reasons. Eater, on the other hand, is after page views, so its muckraking is suspect even when the object of its muckraking is unlikeable. Just kind of ugly to me. I can see why the chef was pissed/frustrated.

To Jazzfood, from the original "mission statement" of Black Sheep (at that time called "James Toland"), via an 11/2/11 post on http://www.thefeast.com/chicago/restaurants/Toland-Takes-Over-May-Street-Market-106544558.htmlThe%20Feast:

"For the record, this is the policy regarding free meals to bands per the release: 'Restaurant James Toland will offer touring bands, not from Chicago, free meals if they are in town for a gig. Band members must pay for their drinks however.'"

Sounds like it was meant more as a self-conscious and somewhat cynical effort to create a fake buzz than an altruistic motive - if it was the latter he'd have been feeding local bands, I would think. JMO.