i didn't know there was any other kind of rabbit but dry.

ulterior epicure wrote:I hate it when rabbit is dry. Dry rabbit is almost worse than dry chicken.

Funny. My sister's boyfriend, who had never had rabbit until last night, said, "Tastes like chicken."

teatpuller wrote:i didn't know there was any other kind of rabbit but dry.

I had a rabbit dish once at Custom House that was out of this world, not dry at all. Although it probably helped that a good portion of it was wrapped in bacon

jesteinf wrote:

teatpuller wrote:i didn't know there was any other kind of rabbit but dry.

I had a rabbit dish once at Custom House that was out of this world, not dry at all. Although it probably helped that a good portion of it was wrapped in bacon

I don't eat rabbit often, but last night was the first time the meat struck me as dry. I've had a few different rabbit preparations, all in Vienna actually, no bacon involved, which were wonderful and not dry in the least bit.

Happy anniversary, graham elliot! One year is not a smile milestone in these uncertain times.

Looking through this thread it seems early reviews for Graham Elliot were mixed. Then there was talk of menu and overall changes, but not much discussion after that. Has anyone been lately? If so, how was it?

I have never been there before but will be in Chicago for a conference Sept 23-25 and was planning on checking this place out with some friends.

eatwisconsin wrote:Looking through this thread it seems early reviews for Graham Elliot were mixed. Then there was talk of menu and overall changes, but not much discussion after that. Has anyone been lately? If so, how was it?

I have never been there before but will be in Chicago for a conference Sept 23-25 and was planning on checking this place out with some friends.

I was actually there last night and had an excellent meal (highlights were the lobster corn dog, scallops w/ham hock, blueberry panna cotta). The menu will be changing over for Fall in the next few weeks so you might catch some new items if you go.

Went last Friday night and also about 3 weeks ago.

It's becoming one of our favorites.

Loved the lobster corn dog and the bison steak.

A great place to dine at the bar. Lynn and her crew are friendly and knowledgable about the food & drinks.

Just don't fill up on the truffle popcorn!

Do they do any prix fixe or tasting menu options?

Yes, there's a 5 course and a 10 course. I think the 5 course is $75 and the 10 course is $125.

I haven't had any recent meals at GE, but I have had drinks at the bar. Lynn House is my favorite bartender in the city. She grows herbs in her home garden for infusions, makes all of her own flavored syrups, and takes more care than anyone I know in matching food with cocktails.

I don't know the person behind this blog, but he/she has written a nice piece about Lynn.

I attended an event there a while back and a cucumber cocktail was maybe the best thing of the evening and also one of the two or three best cocktails I've ever had.

I haven't been able to get there since my move to the San Diego area, but I do enjoy reading his Tweets.

Llama, myself, and two out-of-town friends went at the end of August. Between the four of us, we had all but a few items on the menu and shared around the table. Almost everything was spot-on and the meal overall was sumptuous. A line-by-line review of the menu, sans pictures (we were too busy eating, though everyone brought cameras):

Foie gras lollipops: Hillarious and delicious starter! The pop rocks were a very silly addition that worked amazingly well with the savory, rich foie gras mousse.
Wagyu beef tartare: Definitely well-executed, but the consensus is that it was overshadowed by the more interesting cold appetizers.
White tuna sashimi: I enjoyed it, but it also suffered from being overshadowed by the following two stand-outs.
Signature Caesar salad: Holy pants, this was phenomenal. I'm a Caesar salad afficionado, and this was divine. Presentation was gorgeous, and the major highlight for me were the fantastic anchovies. The brioche twinkie was also amazing.
Hand pulled mozzarella: The tomatoes were so fresh and flavorful, and the mozzarella was the perfect rich, creamy foil for their sweet acidity. This dish wasn't a new concept by any means; it was simply a perfect execution of a perfect summer dish.
Sweet corn bisque: This was the favorite dish of the evening according to both of the gentlemen dining with me. And I must say, it was out of this world. The corn was obviously fantastic, and the garlic marshmallow (it could have been more garlicky for us, though we're garlic fiends) was an excellent complement. This, again, was a simple-yet-elegant dish that rocked our worlds.
Crispy buffalo chicken: Agreed that this was the weakest hot appetizer, only because it's in such a tough class. Good, but not awesome - and the rest of the hot appetizers were. Little to say about this, as I tasted it and moved right on.
Lobster corndog: This was fun and delicious, though I found the lobster slightly tough.
Kung pao sweetbreads: This was my personal favorite dish of the evening; our attentive, courteous waiter mentioned that it is one of the most popular. Perfect in every way - the sweetbreads were frizzled and crispy on the outside, meltingly tender on the inside; the sauce was piquant; the peanut brittle was a surprisingly excellent accompaniment. Even the broccoli was memorable!
Wild king salmon: I was highly impressed. Cooked to perfection - a sumptuous medium rare. Excellent fat content, making it absolutely melt. The sides were also fantastic, particularly the potato pancake; I'm an unreasoning fan of beets as well.
Seared Alaskan halibut: I'm experiencing a memory gap, here. This doesn't reflect the quality of the dish, only that I sampled so many different things that something was bound to be lost.
Bison skirt steak: Bison has such a strong, beefy flavor! It really stood up to the root beer bbq, which would have overwhelmed a less flavorful meat. It was toothsome, but not tough. The baked beans were excellent and for a wonder I also loved the onion ring and cole slaw, two foods I normally dislike intensely.
Tamarind-laquered duck: We had come off an unimpressive duck execution at a different restaurant and were eager to see duck re-elevated to its rightful status in the meat deliciousness hierarchy. We were not disappointed! The duck was flavorful and the tamarind glaze was an excellent pairing with the deliciously fatty meat. I loved the forbidden rice, though it took time to grow on my dining companions; it had a lovely bite to it, and was expertly accented by the curry flavors.
Untraditional strawberry shortcake: It takes a lot to impress me with a dessert, but this dish managed. The strawberry gelato had a deep, bright flavor. The presentation was notably excellent.
Dark chocolate cake: The component of this dessert that had us all talking was the ice milk, of all things. It tasted, well, milky. Extraordinarily milky. Like really, really great milk. I can say with some confidence that the cake portion itself was good, but what was GREAT was the ice milk.
Homemade sesame shortbread: I'm experiencing memory-loss here, too, which is odd given how much I love sesame desserts. It's to the point where I'm almost certain we didn't receive this dessert. I could be wrong. Again, lots of food.
Blackberry panna cotta: I don't much like panna cotta, but this one was pretty good. I'm biased, so take it with a grain of salt. My dining companions definitely enjoyed it.

Reliving that evening was almost as enjoyable as the dining itself was! I can't reccomend highly enough the practice of sharing. Try everything you possibly can. The addictive truffled popcorn is far too easy to fill up on, however, and the cocktails are fantastic. I had something shiny that involved hibiscus and gin.

Re-reading what I wrote, I can draw a few conclusions that weren't obvious to me until now. First, you can't go wrong with his dishes that reflect simple presentations of seasonal ingredients. Two of the most-beloved dishes of the night (mozzarella and corn bisque) were nothing more or less than perfect iterations of classic preparations. Trust the simple. Second, trust the staff. If you're not going to try every dish on the menu, I am confident that they will steer you towards the most excellent dishes. Every staff member, down to bussers and food-runners, were knowledgable, friendly, engaging, and sincere. The importance of this to our dining experience cannot be overstated. Finally, stepping outside your comfort zone is a fantastic idea which will be rewarded. Whether or not I typically enjoy a dish or ingredient, I found that I was able to appreciate and even savor it in the context of a well-thought-out dish.

My hat is off to Chef Bowles and everyone he employs. We had a lovely evening.

I like Graham Elliott, but in the past I've poked a little fun at what I've seen as somewhat self-important publicity stunts. No more. Today - the last day of the summer menu - I tasted a few whimsical, educational, fascinating, and delicious ingredient combinations that moved me over to the GEB-is-a-genius camp.

White tuna sashimi with cocoa nibs, passion fruit, and spicy avocado mousse. Don't think so? You're wrong. The bitterness of the nibs plays perfectly with the acid of the marinade and sweetness of the fish.

Sweetbreads with kung pao sauce and peanut brittle. Hell yeah. Deep fried broccoli (at least that's what I think it was)? Yeah, that works too.

Graham Elliott is creativity with a purpose. GEB's food makes you think, laugh, and salivate. "Can I make that?," I found myself wondering. No, it simply wouldn't occur to me. I usually think I prefer simple food: perfect ingredients prepared in ways to bring out their own beautiful essence. I don't think I like whimsy or laughter with my food. I've tasted things at Graham Elliott that don't work for me, but here's to chefs like GEB who make me question my assumptions.

I took a friend to Graham Elliot tonight to celebrate her 30th birthday. It was a chance to explore the fall menu, which they just began serving a week ago. Overall, I’m pretty happy with the new offerings. All photos below are courtesy of Lindsay, the birthday person.

To start, Chef sent out complimentary foielipops and Champagne. I never get tired of the foilipops; it’s a nice, playful way to start a meal, especially when dining with someone who is visiting the restaurant for the first time.



Lindsay and I split three starters:

Deconstructed Italian Beef
Beef tartare, spicy giardiniera, oregano aioli, provolone fondue



This was my favorite dish, perhaps of the entire evening. The beef was silky, the dressing a little sweet (though bordering on overdressed), the giardiniera provided a restrained but pleasantly surprising heat and the oregano with unexpected but welcome greenery (in taste if not sight). I would never have guessed on my own that this was deconstructed Italian beef from the textures or flavors, but I loved it.

Signature Caesar Salad
Romaine hearts, parmesan fluff, Spanish anchovies, brioche twinkie



The anchovies make this dish. I love that the fish was prominent with the parmesan playing a secondary role. I think most traditional Caesar salads are dressed with too much parmesan. I’m glad they’re still serving this salad and reinventing it.

Duck Confit Agnolotti
Roasted figs, Tuscan kale, crumbled Gorgonzola, Port reduction



I’ve been eating a lot of figs, walnuts and gorgonzola lately, so this dish wasn’t immediately exciting to me, but our waitress was very enthusiastic about it, so we got it. The duck was too salty for my liking, but I very much respected the ratio of ingredients—the figs, kale and gorgonzola were admirably balanced.

Grilled Colorado Lamb
Cracked wheat, Belgian endive, Clementine marmalade, Hefeweizen beer



I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every lamb preparation I’ve had at Graham Elliot, but I refrained from trying this dish tonight as I’m avoiding wheat. My dining companion was very happy with it however. She liked the assertive pepper and the balance of spicy and sweet. It looked fantastic.

Seared Atlantic Cod
Smoked clams, Brandade beignets, blistered corn, pancetta persillade



This dish was another recommendation from our waitress. I wasn’t thrilled with this—the cod was oversalted, the clams indiscernible, the pancetta too isolated and the Brandade beignets rather obscence in scale. This dish lacked subtlety and surprise for me. I wish I had gotten the pork belly.

We shared two desserts:

Flourless Chocolate Cake
Butterscotch gelato, rum sabayon, candied pecans, cocoa nibs



This dessert was right on. The butterscotch gelato threw me for a loop because it wasn’t the color of butterscotch, but it was rich and very buttery and not too sweet. The actual cake was the perfect texture—soft with a little chew—and my dining companion and I both agreed that the pecans were candied to perfection. I think this is the best dessert I’ve ever had at Graham Elliot.

Caramel Heirloom Apple
Toasted peanuts, shortbread cookie, sea salt, Calvados essence (camera died before this dessert arrived)

This dessert was forgettable. The Lady apples were not distinctive and the toasted peanuts overwhelming given the miniature size of the other components of this dessert. I loved the sea salt though—could have used more of this and fewer peanuts.

We had a few cocktails with our meal as well: the Holy Grail (Benedictine, Espirit orange liqueur, grated ginger, tonic), the Surrender Dorothy (green chartreuse, sweet basil gin, prosecco, fresh lime), the Eve’s Bayou (Ransom, cassis, pomegranate tea, fresh sage) and the Rum Tum Tiger (Ron Zacapa, St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram, apple butter, lemon cream). I loved the use of fresh sage, though the Holy Grail ended up being too sweet for me. I really enjoy chartreuse, so the Surrender Dorothy was probably my favorite drink of the evening. However, the Rum Tum Tiger was much less sweet and therefore much more pleasant than I expected.

Holy Grail



Rum Tum Tiger



I have yet to be disappointed or regret a visit to Graham Elliot. A few things tonight were oversalted--I got home, and I was parched--but I continue to appreciate the overall invention and creativity of Chef GEB and his team. The music tonight was louder than I remember—I was hoping for a Tuesday night to have a slightly more comfortable volume for conversation. However, service was very friendly and enthusiastic. I've gotten rather spoiled by restaurants that change their menu frequently, so I don't know that I'd return to sit down and have a full meal from the current fall menu, but I'd certainly return to try out a few additional dishes in the bar area--namely the grilled octopus and the glazed pork belly.

The Surrender Dorothy is one of the best aperitifs I've ever had. Very dry and herbal. Outstanding.

Unfortunately the new menu is not updated on the website yet, so I can't remember the exact names of some of the things.

For starters I had a foie gras fried dumpling sort of thing, which was pretty good. The accompanying biscuit was pretty terrible. Dense and dry. Should have gotten the deconstructed Italian Beef.

Entre I had the pork belly which was tasty (but how could it not be?). It was accented with caramel and pumpkinseed brittle, both of which wind up sticking to your teeth.

Dessert was the caramel apple, which as happy stated above kind of missed the mark. Apples were kind of hard. There was nothing really sweet on the plate. Wife had the chocolate cake which was outstanding.

All in all we had a fun evening. Music was fine. Service was great. Eclectic crowd. I would positively recommend to anyone, but would note that the food is not consistently great. Dinner for two plus drinks, you're talking about $300 or more.

What's the flavor of the seasonal popcorn?

teatpuller wrote:Unfortunately the new menu is not updated on the website yet, so I can't remember the exact names of some of the things.

...

Dinner for two plus drinks, you're talking about $300 or more.

I forgot to post the photos of the menu, which I wanted to do since I remembered that it's not on the web site. I'll do that when I get back to my other computer today.

$300 or more? Did you eat and drink a lot more than you mentioned? We were drinking conservatively last night since we were both sick, but our bill didn't come to anywhere near $300. I'm pretty sure all that was comp'd from our meal were the foielipops and Champagne. $300 seems a lot.

DMChicago wrote:What's the flavor of the seasonal popcorn?

I think it was a buttermilky chive/herb. It tasted similar to the popcorn I had there a few months ago but creamier/cheesier/more milky. I've never thought the popcorn at GE was very special, but since I'm avoiding wheat these days, I've never been so grateful for popcorn in lieu of bread service. That's some fine popcorn. Totally addictive.

Well, cocktails are $12-$14 apeice. Bottle of wine is going to be $75 plus. Four of us went. Each had a three course dinner, one cocktail and split one bottle of wine. Bill was $555 including 20% tip. So, assuming a couple gets a bottle of wine....

Our waiter said the popcorn was something involving truffle (I wasn't really paying attention).

happy_stomach wrote:

DMChicago wrote:What's the flavor of the seasonal popcorn?

I think it was a buttermilky chive/herb. It tasted similar to the popcorn I had there a few months ago but creamier/cheesier/more milky. I've never thought the popcorn at GE was very special, but since I'm avoiding wheat these days, I've never been so grateful for popcorn in lieu of bread service. That's some fine popcorn. Totally addictive.

We usually eat at the bar and my wife will eat three baskets of it if I don't signal Lynn to stop bringing it...

teatpuller wrote:Our waiter said the popcorn was something involving truffle (I wasn't really paying attention).

You're right! I was too busy eating it to listen to the full description. The truffle oil wasn't very pronounced though.

DMChicago wrote:

happy_stomach wrote:

DMChicago wrote:What's the flavor of the seasonal popcorn?

I think it was a buttermilky chive/herb. It tasted similar to the popcorn I had there a few months ago but creamier/cheesier/more milky. I've never thought the popcorn at GE was very special, but since I'm avoiding wheat these days, I've never been so grateful for popcorn in lieu of bread service. That's some fine popcorn. Totally addictive.

We usually eat at the bar and my wife will eat three baskets of it if I don't signal Lynn to stop bringing it...

I can easily see that happening to me in the near future with a couple of Surrender Dorothys...

teatpuller wrote:Well, cocktails are $12-$14 apeice. Bottle of wine is going to be $75 plus. Four of us went. Each had a three course dinner, one cocktail and split one bottle of wine. Bill was $555 including 20% tip. So, assuming a couple gets a bottle of wine....

Ahhh. Only cocktails for us.

I wonder if the recent reviews of GE here lead to this twitter / FB post....

mhill95149 wrote:I wonder if the recent reviews of GE here lead to this twitter / FB post....

I would imagine that plenty of chefs have had this exact same thought. I would also imagine that their reactions are mostly based on what goes on on Metromix, Yelp, Chowhound and some individual blogs. In the grand scheme of things, posts here are (for the most part) more constructive and well thought out than other places.

I think it's a great idea. I hope it's not just tongue-in-cheek, and he actually decides to start such a website.

mhill95149 wrote:I wonder if the recent reviews of GE here lead to this twitter / FB post....

I think I'd rather people were writing about my restaurant than not at all.

fall menu can be found here: http://twitdoc.com/c/hhgmyw