RAB and I finally ate at Schwa over the weekend. It was easily one of the best meals I've had in Chicago since I returned to town a year ago. I can't wait to return. I was a bit worried about my expectations given all the glowing praise on the board - - Schwa really delivered.

Schwa definitely has something unique going for it. Not only is the food creative and tasty, but the cooks are your servers, something you don't find in many restaurants. Michael delivered many of our courses, and was happy to chat about them (as were the other cooks). I was amazed to see that all of the cooks seemed to be able to churn out impeccable food in the kitchen while being friendly and laid back in the dining room. The pacing of the courses was near perfect and our water and wine glasses didn't sit empty for long.

I don't want to repeat what folks have spent more than a dozen pages detailing. But, I wanted to point out one dish, a highlight for us, that I don't think has been more than briefly mentioned. One of our favorite dishes of the evening was the pickled beef tongue, accompanied by figs and natto. Sure, the tongue was surprisingly tender and flavorful. And, the natto, which they admitted to toning down a bit, added a pleasant funk to the dish. But, what amazed me the most were the figs - - prepared kimchi style. Yes, a Korean take on fresh figs. This is something I haven't seen at the Super H Mart! I could have eaten a bowl of them.

Michael Carlson's ability to provide dishes that are creative, delicious, beautiful, and fun will bring me back to Schwa - - and sooner rather than later.

(Our only dud of the evening was the French onion soup. The broth was served lukewarm (probably a mistake), and the consensus of the four diners at our table was that regular French onion soup is better. No reason to deconstruct it.)

This article on Michael Carlson in GQ is definitely worth a read.

Ronna

Oh man, that's some good readin'. That's a feast.

I would just like to point out that I recently tried to make a reservation at Schwa.

Here's how many times I had to call.

Truly an awesome article. This is the first article about Schwa that I can remember that actually does more than a cursory profile of Michael Carlson the person.

Excellent, fascinating article. However, it makes me worry -- how long can chef and restaurant survive so much quirkiness. Makes me want to go back, however. Soon.

Really smart of him to detail his drug use
(including Safrole!)

Glad to hear he's given up the rails....

I was @ Schwa for a wonderful dinner last week. Fourth time there and may have been the best.

I know the food has been discussed, but I can't help but at least mention the truffle quail yolk ravioli. The entire meal was a wealth of flavors and exploration. As previously noted, Carlson is a master of flavor combinations that are unique/abnormal that transform into something challenging/delicious at the same time, and don't forget the fun. This guy knows how to have a good time as evidenced by the peaky toe crab jibarito amuse bouche. Just typing it makes me giggle and drool at the same time. A twist on creme brulee for the cheese course, anyone? Escargot roe...what! really? Dessert = candied sweet breads. YOWSA!

The man is a genius and if he does/did drugs so be it. If he tells GQ so what?! He is a man of passion and honesty. Eclectic in demeanor and pure in talent. I am very grateful for another wonderful experience at Schwa. May the candle that burns so bright light Chicago's tastes buds forever.

(unfortunately did not appear this time, but i do wish to have tried to kimchi fig. sounds daring)

How the heck does one lock down a reservation at this place? I've left several voice mails, and every time I call no one ever answers. Half of the time the voice mail box is full!! Any suggestions.... I've been trying for almost a month.

rmtraut wrote:How the heck does one lock down a reservation at this place? I've left several voice mails, and every time I call no one ever answers. Half of the time the voice mail box is full!! Any suggestions.... I've been trying for almost a month.

Go to Alinea. Ask to use the phone. Call Schwa. They'll be sure to answer.

Seriously though, be persistent. It should eventually pay off.

=R=

hamcha wrote:Escargot roe...what! really? Dessert = candied sweet breads. YOWSA!

I have to agree here - the Escargot roe (served as part of a beet course) and the candied sweetbreads (with a passionfruit custard, maybe?) were both highlights of my last meal there. Awesome stuff.

rmtraut wrote:How the heck does one lock down a reservation at this place? I've left several voice mails, and every time I call no one ever answers. Half of the time the voice mail box is full!! Any suggestions.... I've been trying for almost a month.

I had no problems the last time I made a reservation - called on a Wednesday, got a call back early Saturday, had lots of options for me as to time/date. Perhaps I just hit a slow week?

I was talking with happy_stomach last night about Schwa and commented on how I really love *everything* about the place - the food, the music, the convivial chefs, the BYO policy, the whole thing. Call me a fanboy - I just dig the place.

-Dan

hamcha wrote:I was @ Schwa for a wonderful dinner last week. Fourth time there and may have been the best.

Are they still doing the loud music? I would love to go back, but the deafening noise is just too much to take. It's a small place anyway, so the conversation noise level is bad enough without the 100 decibel music on top of it.

ronnie_suburban wrote:
Seriously though, be persistent. It should eventually pay off.

=R=

Ronnie,

Are you just trying to egg me on?

Like gambling addict unable to resist the jingle and lights of the slot machine, I'm now unable to resist commenting about a topic I swore long ago to stay away from. I was persistent at one time. I remained calm. I tried to appreciate Chef Carlson for who he is. But that process wore me to the bone, and I will never try again. I advise anyone with even a modest propensity toward frustration and stress to stay far, far away from the Schwa reservation process. Do not be persistent. Be avoidant. Take Ronnie's advice and go to Alinea. Or any other restaurant. But do not pick up that phone to dial Schwa's number.

I've called Schwa twice in the last month, and gotten through twice on the first try. Evidently you're cursed like I am about finding the roti on the specials board at TAC.

And boy, it was worth it.

Mike G wrote:I've called Schwa twice in the last month, and gotten through twice on the first try. Evidently you're cursed like I am about finding the roti on the specials board at TAC.

I'll give you a dollar to make me a reservation. Any Wednesday in April will do.

Best essay about a chef and best writing from Richman I've seen in a long time. That should be up for a Beard or whatnot. I'm sure it will be easier than ever to get in now.

How the heck does one lock down a reservation at this place? I've left several voice mails, and every time I call no one ever answers. Half of the time the voice mail box is full!! Any suggestions.... I've been trying for almost a month.

Honestly, I just called, it's 3:26pm right now and got through, but they are only taking reservations through April.

I'll give you a dollar to make me a reservation. Any Wednesday in April will do.

Would of done it for a donut, but didn't see your message in time.

Schwa: The '68 Comeback Special

Considering the title of this thread, I can allow myself a small measure of self-congratulation for having sensed, when I went to Schwa two years ago, that it was one of those volcanically volatile expressions of creativity where matter was bound to collide with antimatter in a big messy bang sooner or later. No, I didn't predict the precisely public nature of the implosion— recounted superbly in Alan Richman's article— but it had the feel of something that would have a season, then spin apart violently and irreparably, sending its members on to greater things, and giving a few of us the ability to say "Oh, did you eat his food when he was at Schwa? You didn't? Oh, that was really something..."

Schwa did blow up, and then it reopened, with a new guitarist and drummer, a coat of paint and some nice pictures on the wall thanks to chef Michael Carlson's girlfriend. And if the original Schwa existed in a fever of creative energy that couldn't last, the new Schwa seems cooler and more calculated, with the confident assurance of the showman who's cleaned himself up, cast off the second-rate material and knows how to deliver a precisely timed evening of rock and roll better than just about anybody. It's the Elvis of the '68 Comeback Special.

The sense of imminent danger is gone and surprisingly, what Schwa now impresses you with is its delicacy, its refinement. This may not necessarily seem like a compliment— Carlson wasn't sure he felt it was, when we said it, and as if to drive home the point, "refined" was sneered at at one point on Top Chef last night— but it is one. There's new subtlety at Schwa, even when Carlson is deliberately being unsubtle, as at dessert, which he seems to view (then and now) as a place to probe your point of revulsion by combining sweets with something so strong it's almost offputting. (It did put off one of the four of us, but the other three loved it.) Not to keep ragging on my December visit to Avenues (but I will anyway), but Schwa at little over half the price proved superior in nearly every way— pulling off the same tricks of powders and foams and smears of flavor across plates, yet doing so in a way that respected and preserved the original ingredients' flavor and textures, and in combinations that opened your mind with the way they made you look at meats or vegetables freshly. Two months later Avenues seems an indistinguishable blur of dabs and gels no longer recognizable as what they came from, but a year from now I'll find inspiration in sunchokes and roasted orange or parsnips and caramel or a brilliantly purple beet risotto.

Here's what we had, the most outstanding dishes bolded:

• Amuse of thinly sliced grapefruit on a honey gelato, with a hint of stronger things— garlic and truffle oil, I think.

• Beet risotto, earthy and dramatically colorful, with a streak of taleggio cream adding lushness and horseradish foam (the only foam of the night, frankly, which had a noticeable flavor) adding a light hint of tartness and heat. Oh, and snail eggs, which are a new new thing, figured in there too. (They're like pretty much any other caviar that isn't top-drawer caviar.)

• Sunchoke soup, a savory and robust soup (not that I could ever have said that its flavor was sunchokes) combined with finely shaved bits of sunchoke and roasted orange. I've had sunchokes a lot at Mado lately, where they're rustic and crunchy, which seems to suit them just right (they're as unpretentious as potato chips); it was interesting to taste them taken in a completely opposite direction here, as refined as pickled ginger.

• Pad Thai, made with amazingly supple and delicate slivers of jellyfish, contrasting beautifully with gritty little bits of peanut. The showiest of his dishes conceptually, but it's pulled off superbly.

• Quail egg ravioli, the signature dish of the original Schwa, still a marvel but no longer, to me, the most amazing trick he's capable of.

• Arctic char roe. Interestingly, the one dish I don't really remember from last night— some "noodles" made of white asparagus were a lovely salad, but I can't recall how the rest of it worked.

• Lobster with chestnut and persimmon, and prosciutto— this seemed like a real misfire at first, the lobster might have been a little overcooked but in any case the combination of lobster and pumpkiny persimmon was off, bad, wrong. Once I kind of thought of it as two dishes, it worked much better— the lobster with a little chestnut puree was a good combination, the persimmon and salty prosciutto was an excellent one. They just shouldn't have been in the same bowl.

• Pork belly in rutabaga broth, with rutabaga pearls and greens and a beer foam, with a thin piece of something brittle on top— this dish was supposed to be chicken liver, according to the menu, but nobody complained for long, it might well have been the best dish of the night. The earthiness of the rutabaga and the soulfillingly tender and meaty pork belly combined beautifully, and the brittle— a fellow diner says peanut, I thought it was something else, like rutabaga— added just the right note of sweetness.

• Duck— duck breast atop duck confit with a little brussel sprouts in between, sprinkled with (I think) truffle salt and bitter chocolate. This was a little bit of an "ennh" dish, would have been better either with more forward chocolate intensity, or just a nice big juicy piece of duck, not the precious little (and lukewarm by the time it reached us) morsels we got.

• Cheese— taleggio under a coddled egg with a layer of crisped honey on top. This seemed about 3/4 there, okay as a palate cleanser, but not a wow.

• Parsnip custard— this was the dessert that wowed three of us and repulsed the fourth, and I asked Carlson if that was somewhat typical of the reaction, which he suggested it was. I was dazzled by how the almost tomatoey savoriness of the parsnip blended with, first, a richly sober caramel sauce, and second, a psychedelically bright passionfruit sauce. (There were also some candied sweetbreads, which were almost forgotten next to all that.) Along with the pork belly, probably my favorite dish of the night.

• Lime tuile with green curry ice cream and sassafras foam— another dish that pushes the dessert envelope, and in this case, he warned us first to eat the ice cream, then down the rest. I didn't find it as challenging (or quite as magical), though the lime cone was really nice and an idea worth stealing.

I said I expected that Schwa would last a season and then people would be on to other things; to a large extent that was true, and Schwa 2.0 is a new place, with many of the same virtues (not least, of course, the stunningly good value relative to other places in its class, of which there are a very small handful in town), but a different air that probably reflects Carlson's life calming down and him finding a better groove to operate in at his restaurant. Schwa has matured in all the best ways, smoothing off its rough edges but only enhancing its air of adventure. (Did the music switch coincidentally from hiphop to bebop when an older party of four came in, or is Carlson even taking his guests' musical preferences into account now? That would be the real sign that the old Schwa is no more.) In one of the best quotes in Richman's piece, one of the cooks calls the group of them "a pirate crew." It's a wonderful image, of topflight chefs beholden to nobody and cooking for their own raucous, pillaging, freebooting pleasure, but it leaves out what a smooth sailing ship the revived, revisited Schwa has become.

Mike G wrote:Schwa: The '68 Comeback Special


• Pork belly in rutabaga broth, with rutabaga pearls and greens and a beer foam, with a thin piece of something brittle on top— this dish was supposed to be chicken liver, according to the menu, but nobody complained for long, it might well have been the best dish of the night. The earthiness of the rutabaga and the soulfillingly tender and meaty pork belly combined beautifully, and the brittle— a fellow diner says peanut, I thought it was something else, like rutabaga— added just the right note of sweetness.

Hey, I've been blogging all winter about the worth of rutabagas. Maybe this will convince 'em!

(Nice re-cap too, surely convincing me of the worth of Schwa, where a rich New Yorker has promised to take me one of these days.)

Maybe they've taken all the "voicemail inbox full" complaints to heart...after reading a good chunk of this thread, I decided to give them a call to take the next table for 2 they have. Sure enough, got through on the first try.

Of course, he asked if he could call me back in 5 minutes...he did say "5 minutes, I promise." My hopes are up. I'm mentally planning BYOB options.

...

Got a callback from Michael...man, he's manning the phones, taking reservations and making caramel all at the same time. Scored a table for tomorrow. Looks like I'll be making a trip to Marcey Street for some provisions

I was at Schwa last night for a 9 course meal. No surprise to anyone, I'm sure, but it was an absolutely mind blowing experience.

We had nearly the same menu that Mike G described save for the fact that: 1) we were served the liver instead of the pork belly; and 2) in lieu of the Pad Thai, we were served buffala mozzarella tortaloni in a coco nib broth, with a smoked Spanish hard cheese grated over the top. I should caveat by saying I'm only about 90% sure the filling of the tortaloni was what I think it was--Carlson was moving pretty fast, and I'm not 100% sure I heard what he said correctly, or that I got all the components of the dish right. The dish also wasn't listed on the menu so I had nothing to cross-check it against. Regardless, the taste was total ecstasy--my wife and I were literally giggling because we couldn't believe how good it was. I think our reaction was amplified by the fact that, upon hearing the description, neither of us expected the flavors to work very well together and we were just floored once we tasted it.

Most shocking part of the night, however, was the fact that the place was 1/2 empty because, according to Carlson 18 (that's right, 18) people canceled their reservations at the last minute. I don't know how you cancel a reservation at that restaurant. Short of a death in the family or a natural disaster, I'm not sure anything could keep me from going back if I'm fortunate enough to get another reservation.

MrBarossa,

How long did that 9-course take you two? I'm trying to gauge how much booze to take along.

2) in lieu of the Pad Thai, we were served buffala mozzarella tortaloni in a coco nib broth, with a smoked Spanish hard cheese grated over the top.

Aha, that's what those were. We saw them come out for both of the tables on either side of us (both seated after us), and thus we must have had the last of the pad thai.

Sounds like it's a good time to go to Schwa, if you haven't lost it all on Citigroup stock yet.

Khaopaat wrote:MrBarossa,

How long did that 9-course take you two? I'm trying to gauge how much booze to take along.

We were there for about two and a half hours. Because I didn't know what the menu would be, I brought 3 bottles of wine for the two of us expecting to drink 2 of them. The three I brought were: a super dry Australian Riesling, a Santa Barbara Pinot and a sparkling moscato for desert. The dry Reisling was an absolutely perfect pairing for the first 4 courses, I couldn't have been happier with it. We never opened the Pinot as Carlson suggested some other beer/wine pairings from his stash in the kitchen for the remaining courses. We did manage to get through the muscato, though, for dessert.

All in all, I'm guessing we drank two and a half bottles between the two of us, even though we never opened the pinot. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty tipsy when I left . . .

Thanks for the quick & excellent reply! That's exactly what I needed to know.

I can't wait!

Most shocking part of the night, however, was the fact that the place was 1/2 empty because, according to Carlson 18 (that's right, 18) people canceled their reservations at the last minute. I don't know how you cancel a reservation at that restaurant. Short of a death in the family or a natural disaster, I'm not sure anything could keep me from going back if I'm fortunate enough to get another reservation.

Have you noticed how many people cancel at the last minute for LTH functions? Sometimes people treat reservations as placeholders for them to consider later whether they will go or not.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Have you noticed how many people cancel at the last minute for LTH functions? Sometimes people treat reservations as placeholders for them to consider later whether they will go or not.

Regards,

couldnt someone end up on some sort of list for doing such a thing..?

Believe me, there's an informal list, fortunately very short, which says "So and so said they're coming but you know they always cancel..."

Wow - after complaining here on LTH, I finally got through to Schwa and have a reservation set. Evidently they only take reservation for a party of 6 at 9:00 or 6:00..... but I don't really care on the time. I'm just pumped to try this place. Now.... if anyone cares to help out.... how does I spec out wine parinings when I have no idea what I will be served (reservation is mid-April).

rm-

I believe there are suggestions throughout this thread on wine pairings. Bring more than you need and seek guidance from the guys at Schwa. Enjoy!

Keep in mind that yesterday's rain was getting to be rather monsoon-esque - I lost count of the number of cars I saw pulled over on either side of the Eisenhower between Arlington Heights and Oak Park. At one point all traffic was slowing to a stop due to the depth of the water under an overpass, and I saw numerous cars come close to losing it when hitting an unseen deep patch.

Given the difficulties for some of getting a reservation at Schwa I would have still attended, but I can understand why someone coming from farther away might cancel given the weather.