Waterleaf - who knew COD had such good food?

My dinner at Waterleaf tonight really surpassed my expectations. Waterleaf is located at the College of DuPage culinary school, but is a professionally staffed restaurant. Students work there Tuesdays and Wednesdays for special themed dinners. I'm definitely interested in attending one of those when I get the chance.

Full Disclosure: I was invited to dine as a member of the media and my meal at Waterleaf was comped.

The restaurant is very spacious, with clean modern decor, and the staff are incredibly attentive. They get their bread (a choice of multigrain, ciabatta or French country baguette) from Labriola, although our server said the goal is to make all their bread in-house.

They even have a $29 prix fixe menu, including an appetizer, entree and dessert, which is an incredible value, especially considering several of their entrees are more than $29.

We started with a salmon rillette amuse bouche served with a cheese cracker that portended good things to come.


Salmon Rillette / Waterleaf by TrackBelle, on Flickr

For appetizers, we had Crab Cakes (a Waterleaf signature) and Mushroom Tian, a cold medley of wild mushrooms dressed in yuzu with chive and tomato confit. The crab cakes were some of the best I've had - plenty of crab meat and not too heavily seasoned, and the cucumber tartar sauce pairing was the perfect complement. The mushrooms were a nice contrast, light and woody, a simple preparation to showcase top-notch ingredients.


Crab Cakes / Waterleaf by TrackBelle, on Flickr


Mushroom Tian / Waterleaf by TrackBelle, on Flickr

Next, we had a couple of salads, the Seared Scallops Salad and Tossed Wild Baby Greens. Both were very tasty, and I really enjoyed the presentations, particularly with the scallop salad. The attention to detail for every dish is very impressive, especially for a restaurant that is still relatively new. The scallops were seared perfectly, and


Tossed Wild Baby Greens / Waterleaf by TrackBelle, on Flickr


Seared Scallops Salad / Waterleaf by TrackBelle, on Flickr

Both my mom and I chose fish entrees. My mom had the Braised Snapper Fillet in Coconut and Lemongrass with smoked eggplant and tomato ginger chutney while I opted to the Pan Seared Stripe Bass with sweet parsnip puree, arrow leaf spinach and saffron-vanilla sauce. I discovered the bass dish was actually inspired by a French Laundry recipe. Since I've never been to the French Laundry, I can't compare the two, but mine was quite good, perfect fall/winter flavors for fish, and I'm surprised at how well the combination worked. I guess you can't go wrong if you're imitating the French Laundry, though.


Pan Seared Stripe Bass / Waterleaf by TrackBelle, on Flickr

The snapper on the other hand, was perhaps the most lackluster part of our dinner. There was nothing specifically wrong with it, but the fish itself was a little blah. And the presentation seemed nearly identical to that of the bass. After the beautiful plates we'd had up until now, I guess we expected a little more here.


Braised Snapper Fillet in Coconut and Lemongrass / Waterleaf by TrackBelle, on Flickr

For dessert, I ignored our waitress's suggestion that we order the Waterleaf Floating Island, because I've had too many experiences with inedible rock hard meringues. I saw several other diners order this though, and it comes out in a beautiful glass and looks delicious. I spied on a woman at the table next to me eating it, and the meringue seemed fluffy indeed.

That being said, I loved both the Tiramisu and the Bourbon Raisin Bread Pudding that we ordered, so no regrets there. The tiramisu was shaped beautifully, like a drop of water, quite exquisite compared to the roughly cut hunks of tiramisu I'm used to at other restaurants. Plus, I think Waterleaf really nailed the Mascarpone/lady fingers/coffee flavor combo, which is my biggest quibble with tiramisu.


Tiramisu / Waterleaf by TrackBelle, on Flickr

The Bourbon Raisin Bread Pudding is made with brioche and croissant, served with Bourbon sauce and white chocolate ice cream, and was surprisingly light and with the Bourbon sauce, just amazing.


Bourbon Raisin Bread Pudding / Waterleaf by TrackBelle, on Flickr

Then, we were surprised with a small plate of Mignardises - (clockwise from top) spoon cookie with raspberry jam, palmier, chocolate truffle, pistachio and dried fruit biscotti. All delightful and stuffed as I might have been, I always have room for more sweets If I had to pick a favorite, I'd say the spoon cookie, crumbly, buttery and just the right proportion of jam to hold it together.


Mignardises / Waterleaf by TrackBelle, on Flickr

I definitely plan on returning and I'm looking forward to trying the Fettucini with Veal, Sausage and Porcini Ragu and Floating Island. Has anyone else had a chance to go? I know it's kind of out of the way unless you're in the Western suburbs. We got there pretty early, shortly after 5 pm, but by the time we left (around 7:30 pm) the place was getting quite full.

Waterleaf Restaurant
425 Fawell Blvd
CHC Building
Glen Ellyn, IL 60137