West suburban - Isabella's, Carlucci & Bohemian Garden

Long post.

In my continuing, if infrequent, attempt to get to the places I should have dined at long ago, I have made some real progress over the last month. In ascending order of quality (best for last):

Carlucci is a respectable special occasion place, that probably caters to expense account types on weeknights, and was definitely a Downers Grove special occasion place on a Friday night. The food was respectable,uninspired, decently priced and mostly forgettable. We started with a shared portobello appetizer, that was the best dish of the night. Lightly seasoned with garlic, touch of herbs and wine (tasted like some vinegar to me, too, but the menu says it is wine), the mushroom was quite tasty by itself, and lovely with the shavings of parmesan.

Tri Color salad with good olive oil, lemon juice and shavings of parmesan (yes, this was a trend-I want to make some catty comment here about it being the height of culinary adventure for the kitchen, but that might not be fair) was also very nice.

The Bride sampled their Eggplant Parmigiana, and I had the roasted Sea Bream, which was fileted a table. The Eggplant was a little timbale, a bit dry and unexciting. The Sea Bream looked lovely, but by the time we were done fileting, and removing the skin (I should have argued) what remained was a fairly bland, if well cooked, pile of fish, accompanied by some decent garlic-sauteed spinach, and some very nice roast potatos.

I have forgotten what we had for dessert, other than that it was just okay. Service was decent, and the decor is nice, other than some backlit panels showing herbs and grasses above the kitchen. The Bride, who was facing them, found them overly bright and a bit hard on the eyes. The surprise was the cost at about $40 per before tip, including coffee and a $15 corkage fee. So it was a decent price for the type of place, and one could eat cheaper still on their pastas, but we have no need to go back.

Bohemian Garden is probably okay, but I am not sure. We went late, around 8pm, and the place was clearly closing up. My Bohemian sampler: roast duck, and pork, plus a fried pork cutlet - was generous. The duck was crispy, tho a bit dry (probably suffering from its long day), as was the roast pork. The pork cutlet was just lousy. The bride ordered the Swedish Meatball special, which was awful. Lot of food, good price, Greek family restaurant decor without any charm. It came in a bit above the Golden Duck for quality, though I find the atmosphere at the Duck better as it is so much kitschier and the waitresses all seem so naughtily severe (tie me up, please!). But it is not even close to the quality of Chef Paul (which claims to be Bavarian, but serves pretty much the same dishes). Now I just need to try Bohemian Crystal again and I will have completed a far western Bohemian update.

Isabella's Estiatorio in Geneva is a place that had been recommended to me multiple times and we finally got there. Nice and simple room. Friendly, professional servers (so often wait people in the suburbs, even at supposedly fancy places, have no clue what to do and think smiling, sharing their name and reading the specials is the whole thing - that was not the case here). $25 corkage, and the bottle we brought was on their wine list, to my surprise, though mine was 4 years older than theirs, and they were quite gracious about it.

We started with the sampler of spreads - taramasalata, which was too think and not quite enough tang of the sea for me, more like a mild seafood cream cheese than a fish egg spread. Eggplant, which was wonderful, fresh, fine dice of eggplant with a touch of mint, maybe some little bits of tomato and seasoning. Hummos, which seemed bland to me, but the Bride loved it so I got only a small sampling, and a serviceable Tzatziki. Warm, fresh pita triangles were a fine accompaniment.

Main courses were a pan roasted sea bass, prepared and seasoned very, very well, and a braised lamb shank on a bed of herbed polenta with a "sauce" made primarily of roasted cippolini and some other diced vegies. This was wonderful. Dessert, though I do not remember the exact details (I have fallen out of the habit of taking notes, unfortunately) was also excellent.

The style is supposed to be pan-mediterranean. In execution what we found was a combination of very good ingredients, prepared expertly (I am particularly picky about pan roasting of fish, and this was done perfectly, as was the shank), and seasoned with a light and deft hand in such a way as to highlight the flavors of the ingredients, rather than the seasonings themselves. Quite well done. I am hard pressed to think of another west suburban place operating at this level right now.

Not a cheap meal at all, but I was impressed and will go back.

Isabella's Estiatorio
330 W. State St.
Geneva, IL 60134
630-845-8624

Carlucci
1801 Butterfield Road,
Downers Grove, IL 60515
630-512-0990

Bohemian Garden
980 W. 75th St.
Downers Grove
630-960-0078

In my experience growing up in a Bohemian family and going to Bohemian restaurants the Bohemian style of doing pork tends towards the "dry" side, as compared to pork I've had at German restaurants, for example. Having grown up with this I prefer it that way; the German pork seems "mushy" to me.

Sredni Vashtar wrote:In my experience growing up in a Bohemian family and going to Bohemian restaurants the Bohemian style of doing pork tends towards the "dry" side, as compared to pork I've had at German restaurants, for example. Having grown up with this I prefer it that way; the German pork seems "mushy" to me.

Agreed, but at 8pm the pork at Bohemian Garden was bit dried out even by Bohemian standards, as compared to what they serve at Cafe Moldau in Brookfield or Golden Duck in Westmont, for example. Moldau, I am certain is Bohemian-style at least.

My first trip to Isabella's was shortly after they opened, the service was enthusiastic but not top notch and the food wasn't really all that impressive. We went back about 2 months ago and were blown away with the improvement. I wish I can remember what we had, SO is a vegetarian and had no problem finding something to eat. I do remember that the quality of the food was evident by the distinct tastes, I wanted to lick my plate. The people who work there are so nice and so genuinely interested that you enjoy your meal. You are right though, it's not cheap!

Went back to Isabella's this weekend after a soccer game in Geneva, and was both delighted and disappointed.

We started with the mussels in the roast fennel, tomato-ouzo broth (with a little garlic and reduction from the osso buco added in, I found out) and the bacon-wrapped dates, with a frisee salad and tomato romesco sauce on the side.

The dates were the single best dish I have had all year. Black crispy bacon on the outside made the dates look like some sort of black sausage. I believe that night they were also stuffed with some sort of sausage, perhaps a mild chorizo, tho that is not what the online menu says. Take a bite and get first the crispiness of the bacon, with its salty tang, followed by the rich, sweet date, and finished with a satifying meaty texture. Just wonderful.

It was Mother's Day Saturday, so the specials were beefy, and I fell for the roasted top loin, with a wine reduction, truffled potatos and more - thought it would go well with the single vineyard Foxen Syrah I brought. Wrong. The beef was mushy and did not have enough browning, or seasoning to make it enjoyable.

Fortunately I was able to effect a trade with the Bride and was susprisingly pleased with the Grilled King Salmon, dressed with a vinegary, salsa-y thing, and with a side of minty, sweet peas, sort of a grown up version of smushy peas.

I blame myself for ordering roast beef at Isabella's, but the description sounded good. On the other hand, I do not think the beef was well-prepared, which is the first time I have found Sean Eastwood's technique wanting. Usually, his technique and palate are spot on, even if he is not the most creative or adventurous. Excellent pan-Mediterranean stuff, but he will not surprise you.

We did briefly consider Niche before going back to Isalbella's, but the Asian fusion aspect of their cuisine and the laundry list of ingredients for each dish, combined with my issues the last time I went to 302 West, sent me back to Isabella's. The Bride, however, has declared that we should try Niche soon.

The managing partner at Isabella's had previously developed two similar restaurants in the Bay Area, Kokkari in San Francisco and Evvia in Palo Alto, and the three restaurants are FAR more similar than they are different. I've arranged private wine dinners at Isabella's, only telling Sean the types of wines we would be drinking and the types of food we would prefer, and letting him take things from there. Based on those experiences, IMO he is a VERY creative chef who is constrained by being forced to stick to a successful formula. Perhaps the next time you're considering going there, you might want to call ahead of time to see whether Sean would be willing to cook a special meal for you. Obviously you would pay a bit more for this, but it WILL be worth it.

And if you were at 302 West in the six months prior to its closing, then you have been to Niche. Same chef, same staff, same basic food style, same clientele...

Oh, now I have to go try Isabella's.... I love Kokkari, my cousin had his twins' post-baptism party there a few years ago and it is on my short list when I visit our Oakland office and stay in SF proper.

dicksond wrote:Agreed, but at 8pm the pork at Bohemian Garden was bit dried out even by Bohemian standards, as compared to what they serve at Cafe Moldau in Brookfield or Golden Duck in Westmont, for example. Moldau, I am certain is Bohemian-style at least.

I stopped by Moldau last week, and must report it is no longer with us.

Cogito wrote:I stopped by Moldau last week, and must report it is no longer with us.

dicksond wrote:

Cogito wrote:I stopped by Moldau last week, and must report it is no longer with us.

Cheer up, mon frere. I am happy to say that the Grandma's Roast Pork at Little Europe is still quite tasty. However, the blight that is consuming the near west Czech restaurants appears to still be unabated.