First Taste of New Uncommon Ground on Devon

My wife and I went to a tasting of the New Uncommon Ground on Devon tonight.
It opens for business on Monday12/3/07.
I have some pictures I'd like to upload if someone could tell me how to do it. I'll post my review then.
For now I'll tell you that we had a very nice experience. We love UGs community and environmental ethics.
It's a beautiful space and we're happy to have them in the neighborhood.
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Mr. X and I took part in the new Uncommon Ground soft opening as well. Two friends were at the 7:00 seating and joined us. This is the old Speakeasy location. The space is nice -- upon entering the the foyer, host stand is directly ahead. The bar area is to the left with two comfortable seating areas next to the fireplace. There are two rooms beyond the foyer and bar area. The first shares the fireplace with the bar. The second room has the stage and there will be regular music programming.

The menu is the same as the Clark Street location. I have had mixed feelings about the food at Uncommon Ground. Sometimes the final result is less tasty than it sounds. Overall, I was pleased with our meal. Our starters: seared scallops over butternut squash puree, baked artichoke/goat cheese/pesto dip, duck confit quesadillas and porcini crusted beef tenderloin carpaccio. The scallops were beautifully prepared and had delicate flavor. Compared to the other three starters, they seemed bland. I loved the quesadillas and carpaccio -- very flavorful. The dip was good as well -- hard to go wrong with cheese and artichokes. For entrees, our table had the cassoulet, chorizo stuffed chicken breast over chipotle mashed potatoes and two pork chops over squash risotto. The cassoulet was full of flavor, but it seemed the beans could have cooked a bit longer. The pork chops were good, juicy and cooked well. The chicken breast had a lot of flavor going on. We did find the sides weren't as warm as they should have been. But that was part of the reason we were there -- to help iron out the kinks.

We finished with a couple of chocolate bread puddings (served with whiskey gelato), a chocolate layer cake with pumpkin gelato and a trio of gelatos (salty peanut, pumpkin and pistachio.) The bread pudding was fantastic; the whisky gelato didn't make an impression. The layer cake was okay and the trio of gelatos only had one standout -- the salty peanut.

I'm very happy to have Uncommon Ground in Rogers Park. I'm with curry71 in appreciating their community and environmental ethics. Plus, the lemon-ginger martini with their own ginger infused vodka was quite tasty!

Uncommon Ground
1401 W. Devon

We had similar meals GP!
I did enjoy the the lemon ginger martini as well. It may be a bit sweet for regular martini drinkers.
I'm pretty excited to go there for brunch and have the Hickory-smoked bacon infused vodka in a bloody mary. Yum.
I had the Duroc Pork Chop. It was a bit bland but the sage pear salsa and butternut squash risotto was excellent.

My wife had the vegetarian onion soup and pumpkin ravioli. She liked it a lot. She was especially happy for the onion soup as she's a vegetarian and doesn't get to have it very often.
We had the same deserts as GP but I also tried the chocolate cake with pumpkin gellato and the whiskey gellato. The cake was a bit dry. The pumpkin gellato was good but the whiskey gellato was unremarkable.
I'll probably be going there fairly often as it's two blocks from home. But I'll probably stick to the small plate menu and the drinks. The most creativity and flavor seems to reside there.

curry71 wrote:I have some pictures I'd like to upload if someone could tell me how to do it.

LTH doesn't actually provide "upload" capacity: you need to find somewhere else on the web to post the images, and then you can put links to them here.

This is discussed at some length in this thread, although I don't know if it's quite a step-by-step guide. Check it out and post questions there if you have them. (Note that the thread is on the "site chat" board, which is only visible if you are logged in to LTH.)

I was interested to see a large solar array on the roof of the new Uncommon Ground. It probably won't be getting much of a work out for a few months, but hey, more power to 'em.

Long-time reader of this site: it has given my wife and me many helpful suggestions and warnings for different places in Chicago, and I have to say that we agree with the consensus more than we disagree.

Anyway, I joined the site specifically to comment on this restaurant (and hopefully I'll join in more discussions in the future).

I can't say how disappointed I am in Uncommon Ground. Living only a block away, I was really excited to see another nice(r) restaurant in the neighborhood, and I hoped that it, along with Viet Bistro, would help bring others to East Rogers Park. But after going twice, I can't say that I'll return.

For our first meal there about two weeks ago, I had the boullibaise, my wife had the cassoulet, and our friend that joined us had the chopped salad. It was early, and we decided to not have an appetizer. While I can't comment on the salad, I have to say that both my wife and my dinners were underseasoned and not particularly fresh. The wine/beer list was nice, the decor was terrific, the service was fine, but the food just wasn't that great. To me, it's the broth that makes a boullibaise -- the white fish that is used is usually not that flavorful, and takes its taste from the seasoned broth (whether it's saffron or something else). Here, with my dinner, the broth had nothing to offer, so everything tasted blah. The cassoulet had duck sausage and a hunk of pork, but I can't say that either was memorable, and the beans were just there.

Then last week, we decided to try it again, thinking that maybe the first time out was just too close to its opening and they didn't get all of the kinks out. Plus, we live a block away! How could we give up on this place when we could just walk there (not many places on that stretch of Devon that you can do that with)!

For an appetizer, I had the buffalo chili and my wife had the vegetarian chili. Both were extremely bland. We were offered hot sauce, but it wasn't the heat that it needed (although it wasn't hot at all), but spice. It tasted like something you'd get out of a can. For dinner, I had a chicken breast with chorizo, and my wife had the chicken breast sandwich. My food wasn't particularly good, and the mashed sweet potatoes were cold, while the chicken was scalding hot. The chicken on my wife's sandwich was dry, and the toppings on the sandwich (which seemed like everything that one could possibly think to put on something... and then doubled) were an overkill.

We've decided that twice is enough. As we went home, my wife commented that they're "trying to be like Lula's, but they just don't have good enough chefs." The idea of the place is good and we need more like it in our area, but for the price they're charging (which is a lot, I think, for E. Rogers Park), you'd expect something more.

Welcome to LTH, and thank you for joining this discussion! What are your favorites at Lula, and are there any direct compare/contrasts with UG?

Santander wrote:Welcome to LTH, and thank you for joining this discussion! What are your favorites at Lula, and are there any direct compare/contrasts with UG?

(I've written and erased this answer a few times, so bear with me.)

I think that we compared it to Lula's because they seemed to want to make this a nice, neighborhoody, non-ethnic restaurant, with fresh ingredients and interesting dishes. The problem is, that while it looks the part (it's a very nice place), it doesn't come close with the food.

I've liked everything I've had at Lula's (and we lived in Logan Square for three years before moving up to Rogers Park, so we went there a lot). On their full-time menu, if we're not that hungry, my wife often has a bowl of soup and the chilled peanut noodles and I like their BLT. For specials, recently I had a very good ossobucco, a pork dish (I can't remember the specifics -- I think it had pear with it), and a really great duck dish.

my wife commented that they're "trying to be like Lula's, but they just don't have good enough chefs."

funny comment. Jason Hammel, the co-chef/owner of Lula began his culinary career working as assistant kitchen manager at the original Uncommon Ground on Grace.

(full disclosure--I've worked at both Lula and UG)

rcheli wrote:The wine/beer list was nice, the decor was terrific, the service was fine, but the food just wasn't that great.

I haven't been to the new UG, but this assessment is absolutely consistent with my numerous experiences at the UG on Clark. Why do I keep coming back for more, then? It's one of the nicest, most intimate venues in the city for local musicians, and they do a very nice job finding musical talent.

Mr. X and I returned to Uncommon Ground last night as it is a nice walk from our place on a warm, fall evening. We like Uncommon Ground a lot and have had many good meals there. Last night, I started with the roasted beet salad and followed with the grilled arctic char with a red beet risotto and mizuno. (I was in a beet place yesterday.) The risotto is easily on of the best things I've eaten recently. The artic char was a nice-sized piece perfectly prepared. Mr. X startd with the polenta with wild mushroom ragout. It seemed over-salty to me. He then had the chicken sandwich, which didn't suffer from being over-topped as noted above. We finished with an apple cobbler with the salty peanut-caramel gelato. The salty peanut gelato is one of Mr. X's favorite things, so it's a given that we will order it. All in all, an enjoyable Sunday evening supper.

i had my first meal at uncommon ground on devon last night, to celebrate my nephew's birthday. i thought the space was great (and the 2 fireplaces are unusual and charming). the staff was professional, friendly and low-key. but the food report is mixed. we shared the baked spinach/garlic/cheese spread with perfect (ie; thin and easy to bite into) baguette croutons, which was delicious. i ordered the nightly special of shepard's pie, something that i normally wouldn't find that appealing, but i like to try specials, and knowing that dietzler's wonderful and local beef was in it, persuaded me. and it was superb. it contained coarsely ground chunks of meat, onions, carrots with perfectly seasoned parmesaned whipped potatoes on top. my dad's rare hamburger didnt fare so well. it was not just well done, but tough to chew and ground so coarsely that it fell apart when biting into it. he ended up getting it comped. the fries that accompanied his meal, and my niece's PB&J sandwich were clearly under done. no one ate them, but everyone glommed onto my brother's sweet potato fries which were fantastic- crisp and well salted. i loved my ginger lemon martini, because it wasnt an actual martini at all (which i don't care for). perfectly balanced sour and sweet. i didnt order dessert, but did try the apple crisp which was excellent. the apple slices retained their shape, but were hot and just soft enough. my brother had scarfed down the topping so i didnt get a sample of it. all in all, i'd probably come back, and order carefully. i want to support a place that is working hard to be local, sustainable and environmentally responsible.
justjoan

We ate at Uncommon Ground recently after learning that Dan Jacobs (former Chef de Cuisine at Bistro Campagne, discussed a bit here) had taken over in October. Overall, it was a very positive experience. I'd been to Uncommon Ground before but never had a full meal there (we were there for an event where some apps were served). It's a very nice space, brick walls, nicely spaced tables, a bit noisy but not too bad. For dinner two of us split the flatbread with squash puree, sauteed mushrooms and gorgonzola which was delicious, the orechiette with braised short ribs and roasted onions which was pretty good, but surprisingly (based on description) my third favorite of the three dishes, and the rabbit loin/leg with gnocchi and mustard sauce which was outstanding. My dining companion loved the short ribs, but I don't know, I found it lacking a certain je ne sais quoi (sorry Madame D- my high school french teacher if I spelled that wrong--your excellent instruction was wasted on me). For dessert we split the banana and dark chocolate bread pudding which was quite good (though I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I've enjoyed Bistro Campagne's fig bread puding in the past). With 4 glasses of wine and the above, the pre-tip total was about $100. I wasn't crazy about the wines by the glass choices. Service was fine, nothing special.
Overall, a very enjoyable meel. We will definitely go back (and I'd have a hard time not ordering the rabbit again). As I'd never eaten a full meal here before this, I can't compare to the previous Uncommon Ground menu but I look forward to exploring the menu a little bit.

Had a real nice dinner at Uncommon Ground last night. First time there definitely would go back. Tuesday nights are $4 tap beers all the tap beers are $4 even the special seasonal Goose Island and the Half Acre Daisy Cutter.

I had the Oricchiette with braised beef, roasted onions and tomatoes and sauteed spinach. It was outstanding. The roasted tomatoes and onions made a sort of broth sauce that was perfect. A little shredded parmigiano on top.

Son had the burger which was one of the best I had ever tasted. Kind of along the lines of one of Edzo's "farmers market burgers". Quite epensive at $15! Made with Dietzel farms beef, cooked perfect medium, it had a easy over egg and smoky bacon (nueskes?), sauteed mushroms and onions and blue cheese. Served on a substantial multi-grain roll that held everything together very well.

Dughter had the "grown up grilled cheese" sandwich which was a tad undercooked but still had a lot of good stuff in it, three kinds of cheese and sauteed mushrooms. Kind of bland food-service white fries; I wish she had tried the sweet potato fries.

My wife had an amazing butternut squash ravioli in a sage butter with toasted hazelnuts. Really good!

All in all, we found Uncommon Ground to have some really good food and very attractive atmosphere. Kind of a nicer more expensive place than we usually go but worth it.

Uncommon Ground named 'greenest restaurant in America' - http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... in-america

We took a friend to dinner last night at Uncommon Ground. They have added notations to their menu indicating dishes that can be or are vegetarian or gluten-free, which was helpful as our friend has gluten intolerance. For appetizers, we had the thuringer sausage (thuringer sausage, potato and cheese pierogi, cabbage) mushroom flan (shiitake & maitake mushrooms, roasted fennel, cannellini beans, mushroom broth, arugula, candied ginger, lemon juice) and the current version of their gnocchi. The flan dish was fantastic. The flan itself was quite good, but I wanted more of the broth and stuff around the flan. We also thought the gnocchi was excellent. I don't recall the description as Mr. X ordered it. The thuringer app paled next to the other two.

For entrees, Mr. X had the bacon wrapped meatloaf. My friend had the grilled duroc pork loin (with sweet potato puree, nichols brussels sprouts, cipollini onions, maple gastrique) and I had squash risotto (roasted kobacha squash, melted leeks, carmelized onion, spinach, shiitake mushrooms, sarvecchio parmesan.) Mr. X greatly enjoyed the meatloaf. I only had a bite, so can't really judge it. My friend's pork loin was dry (a bit overcooked), everything else on her plate was good. (loved the brussels sprouts!) I like the risotto -- good flavors, well-prepared. For dessert, Mr. X had the peach brown butter cake (port-poached peaches, almond brown butter cake, brown butter gelato) and we had another scoop of the gelato on the side. The butter cake was phenomenal -- I had a bite that included crispy edges, some pear and gelato and it was perfect. Our only quibble is that it needed more pear.

I continue to be a fan of Uncommon Ground. We like their cocktails, wine and beer selection. We've always had good service. We find it a comfortable place to have a nice dinner.