One thing I do appreciate about Marion Street is that they revisit the kitchen menu even more frequently than quarterly, adjusting for seasonality and fandom. A current winter-appropriate sandwich I really like is their Nueske smoked ham and cheese on french bread with chopped cornichon relish, caramelized onions, and dijon, with a delightful cucumber, fruit, and nut salad with whole mustard. They offer it (and most of their sandwiches) cold, with toasted bread, or panini-pressed, and I recommend the last. It has a real Hopleaf character.

One hope is that in additon to these dining room menu sandwiches (which can be ordered to go, but still run you near $10 with tax), the cheese and meat counters might consider offering really simple cold picnic sandwiches, as they're normally very slow at lunchtime, and the quality of their stock would no doubt draw additional foot traffic. If I could just get a few slices of sopressata or jamon serrano and a shaving of manchego on one of their delicious baguettes without the fuss of waiting for the kitchen, I'd be here much more often.

Something I dig a lot: the “remainder” bin at MSCM (filled with random cheeses "cut oddly or perhaps too small").



I can grab a few small chunks of expensive cheese, relatively low cost and low commitment, very satisfying.

Last week, The Wife and I were home alone so I stopped by and bought two chunks of different cheeses (one about $40/lb), weighing probably less than 5 oz. and had a pleasant little cheese course. I almost never buy cheese in micro-quantities like that, but I’ve got a short taste-attention span, and it’s kind of nice to have just a little bit of a fantastic cheese that I can eat pretty much in one sitting.

Hrm. I've held off on posting about my lone dinner experience at the Marion Street Cheese Market because it is a restaurant that I want to love; Erik seems like a great guy, and his wife is our vet for our 2 cats and we like her quite a bit, and it certainly fills a void in both shopping and dining in the area. We've happily shopped there for cheese since they opened, and been quite grateful for the resource. But with a GNR nomination, I feel compelled to write about it now.

My wife and I opted to try them for dinner on Friday, February 13th after discovering that La Bella wouldn't be able to get us in for over an hour. Perhaps dining out on Friday the 13th just wasn't a good idea; dining out on a Friday evening the night before Valentine's Day is also a somewhat questionable choice, I suppose. But my wife was on call the following evening so this was to be our make-up for missing V day. In any event, a quick stroll by MSCM revealed that they were perhaps 1/3 full at the time (about 6:45pm), so we walked in and were quickly seated at a table along the wall. I can no longer recall most of what my wife ordered, other than that she was very happy with the cheese course she selected and that she also liked her entree. My selections began with a carrot soup that was spiced in such a way as to taste exactly like a Thai curry sans any vegetables or meet or rice or anything of any consistency that would actually make it interesting to consume. Sugar cane braised pork was good, though the portion size for the price was disappointing.

For dessert, I ordered a bruleed bread pudding that is what largely led to the evening going south for us. Service had already been rather slow (we'd been there 2 hours for appetizers + entrees, and the restaurant did not fill up until around the time we were actually served our entrees) and more well-meaning than professional, but it was dessert that soured us on the entire evening. It took 40 minutes for our desserts to show up. During that time our waitress walked by many times without ever saying a word - after about the 20-25 minute mark she was studiously avoiding eye contact with us as she approached other tables nearby. When she finally came by with our desserts she apologized and told us that the kitchen had accidentally left my dessert in the broiler too long, and had to whip up another one from scratch. Ok. Mistakes happen. But you tell your customers what happened, and ask them if they'd like to wait for another to be made, or perhaps choose something else that can be ready faster, or perhaps forgo the dessert altogether at that point, no?

Then, while we're eating our desserts as quickly as possible since it's approaching 10pm and we wanted to be done early since my wife has to be at work at 6am the next day, the owner - Erik - comes out from the kitchen to apologize to the table behind us because he had heard there had been some problems. They had not had any problems whatsoever, but were happy to talk with him, and so though we would have liked to have spoken with him (and wondered whether our server had asked him to visit our table and he just ended up 1 table off) we ended up waiting for a bit. This turned out to be another 10-15 minutes. During that time we paid our bill, and then waited an extra 5 minutes or so to be able to speak with him without interrupting. Erik was extremely nice and very apologetic when we explained our dissatisfaction to him, and lamented the fact that we had paid the bill already or he would have comped something. Since that was too late he offered us a gift card to use for a future visit, which was a great gesture and quite appreciated.

Until he sent our server out with the card a few minutes later. The conversation began with, "I wish I would have known you guys were unhappy. You should have said something." One might think that a server who has studiously ignored you after an overly long delay and has seen their customers go from cheerful and friendly to stony silence might be aware that they are unhappy, but one would apparently be mistaken. This also indicated to us that she definitely did not send Erik out to speak to us, making her obliviousness that much more depressing. She gave us a much appreciated $25 gift card, and ended our night with, "While we're never fast food..." and I frankly forget the rest because I could see that my wife was about to lose it with this ditz and I needed to get her out of there as quickly as possible.

The $25 gift card is still in my wallet. While we've been back since then to purchase cheese, my wife and I find ourselves unable to muster any enthusiasm whatsoever for dining in again. We're holding the gift card until we do, though, as any restaurant deserves a second chance. Ultimately it's the combination of the extremely poor service and the quality of the food not quite being what I would like for their price point that has kept us from returning thus far. I think MSCM would be a great choice for the new Great Neighborhood - Other category, but as a Great Neighborhood Restaurant, they may still have some work ahead of them. I'll try to convince the wife to stop in over the next week or two so we can offer a more current review; it won't be easy though.

Slow service at MSCM is unfortunately a universal truth. Everytime we go there, whether for lunch or dinner, I hope it will be better but it never is. The staff that SELLS you stuff is enthusiastic, friendly, fast and helpful but the waitstaff is from a different planet. Maybe good help is that hard to find. Maybe with enough complaints...

hoppy2468 wrote:Slow service at MSCM is unfortunately a universal truth. Everytime we go there, whether for lunch or dinner, I hope it will be better but it never is. The staff that SELLS you stuff is enthusiastic, friendly, fast and helpful but the waitstaff is from a different planet. Maybe good help is that hard to find. Maybe with enough complaints...

I agree. I also found the waitstaff ignorant about the food and slightly supercilious. And the pricing of some items belongs in this crudely titled thread. If they were in a more challenging location, they'd be long gone.

When they first opened, I had a good brunch experience at MSCM. They serve blue max coffee(yeah!) and the presentation in the french press was a nice touch. I enjoyed a lovely crepe with seasonal vegetables. This is in contrast to a less impressive visit on fondue and raclette night last year. From reading comments upthread, it sounds like the same service issues we had are still there. Overall, it's a pretty room and nice atmosphere. It's definitely worth stopping by MSCM to peruse the cheese cases in the retail shop side and for brunch.

Good ingredient selection and and the right tools for the job continue to be quashed by overzealous menu writing and staff nonchalance at Marion Street. Sitting outside on a beautiful evening, we ordered the french fries and wild mushroom flatbread, a flight of wine, and a flight of the "five seasonal rotating drafts," which is one of my favorite things about this spot. The wine and beer was presented quickly. Wines were excellent and correctly described on paper, though the server had no additional insights or experience with them. The beers, generously poured, were accompanied by a piece of paper on which three of the five selections were designated incorrectly. The server knew that they were wrong, but did not have the corrections memorized, and promised to return with the information.

The information (on two of the three) arrived 30 minutes later with our lukewarm fries and flatbread. The fries were missing the "carmelized onion aioli," which when presented five minutes hence turned out to be haphazardly cut vidalia onions of different width, doneness, and crunch, and the acid of which was breaking down the aioli matrix. The flatbread was well-fired and richly smoky, delicious even though cool, but was topped with farmed cremini at best, and most likely Pennsylvania buttons. Why not call it a simple 'mushroom pizza' and get it to us right out of the oven?

The frustrating thing is, the food does taste great, and I enjoy going there. Even given what I wrote above, I think the food quality is actually better and more knowledgeably handled coming out of the restaurant kitchen than it is at the cheese counter. I can't wait for them to get the rest of the nonsense out of the way.

Hard to believe. Cremini's and possibly button shrooms masquerading as wild? Next you'll tell me that your meat wasn't massaged (or imported from Japan) yet it was called Kobe.

Must be something to that truth in advertising thing I've heard about.

Jazzfood wrote:Next you'll tell me that your meat wasn't massaged

If you want that sort of treatment, you need to announce yourself to the chef beforehand.

Santander wrote:Good ingredient selection and and the right tools for the job continue to be quashed by overzealous menu writing and staff nonchalance at Marion Street. Sitting outside on a beautiful evening, we ordered the french fries and wild mushroom flatbread, a flight of wine, and a flight of the "five seasonal rotating drafts," which is one of my favorite things about this spot. The wine and beer was presented quickly. Wines were excellent and correctly described on paper, though the server had no additional insights or experience with them. The beers, generously poured, were accompanied by a piece of paper on which three of the five selections were designated incorrectly. The server knew that they were wrong, but did not have the corrections memorized, and promised to return with the information.

It's gotten to the point where I simply will not order anything that claims to feature "wild mushrooms," because even at higher end places, it's a goddamn lie. They don't even try. They don't even include one solitary wild one in the bunch, a simple slice of morel, hen of the woods, anything, to justify the menu description. When you see demonstrable lies like this on menus, it makes you wonder about other menu items. Is that Red Snapper? Really? Sure it isn't tilapia? Really? You wouldn't bullshit me now.

I'm a huge fan of MSCM, and this kind of exaggeration is unfortunate and also, as we know, widespread.

Very sorry to hear that service is still a problem there.

cilantro wrote:

Jazzfood wrote:Next you'll tell me that your meat wasn't massaged

If you want that sort of treatment, you need to announce yourself to the chef beforehand.

You're not going to let it go, are you?

NEVER!

Re: "Wild" mushrooms. I think it's a good idea to avoid dishes described as containing "wild mushrooms" without any varieties specified. It's bad enough when something is supposed to be made with chanterelles and you get a 10:1 ratio of button to chanterelle; if all it promises is some vague wild mushrooms, you're probably guaranteed to get cremini.

Get used to it. I've got a feeling that quite a few phrases have entered the lthlexicon.

I like MSCM for its ambiance and especially its mac & cheese. It's a little pricey but I don't mind a surcharge to support a local establishment, and the owner had to invest a heck of a lot into that space. On our last visit there, just to get drinks and snacks one weekend afternoon, I ordered a Two Brothers Beer (brewed in Warrenville), which I've actually never had before. It was really good ... but for all you beer fanatics, was I WRONG to think that the "DuPage" in Domaine DuPage is pronounced like the Illinois county and not "DuPahzh" as the server stated?!

Cheesehead wrote:was I WRONG to think that the "DuPage" in Domaine DuPage is pronounced like the Illinois county and not "DuPahzh" as the server stated?!

It's an obvious play on words, but since it's a French-style Country Ale, I've always heard the french-ish pronunciation for the beer.

nr706 wrote:

Cheesehead wrote:was I WRONG to think that the "DuPage" in Domaine DuPage is pronounced like the Illinois county and not "DuPahzh" as the server stated?!

It's an obvious play on words, but since it's a French-style Country Ale, I've always heard the french-ish pronunciation for the beer.

Next you'll be saying that Des Plaines isn't "The City of Des Tiny."

All this time I thought it was pronounced De Plas.

Went last night, arriving about 6:45. I was seated right away at a table outdoors which was what I wanted. By about 8p it was starting to cool off and it was a bit breezy. My wife still hadn't arrived and knowing that at this point she would rather sit inside, I called my server over and asked him to do whatever was necessary to get a table inside(i.e. transfer the tab, closeout the tab, put me on a waiting list...). The tab was closed out and they moved me to a table indoors in a span of about 20 minutes. I ordered some more food and beer and continued to wait for my wife. She finally arrived about 9:15 and we proceeded on with dinner. There were no extended periods of time waiting for food to arrive or to get the check, both of which have happened in the past.

The food was great but the point of this post is to complement the entire staff. Service was excellent. The hostess was really nice and helpful. Nobody glared at me for basically hogging a table for two whole hours and more while waiting for my wife. I did explain that she's a doc and that the whole lifesaving thing can cause one to be delayed. Anyway, I've been critical of the staff and service in the past and on a night when they really could have blown me off, they were simply great. Thankyou MSCM.

After hearing good things about their sandwiches and having a matinee and lunch in the park date with My bride we stopped by today.

Dang! Kitchen was closed between 3 and 5?

Ended up heading over to Alpine instead...

I just moved to the area, and haven't been there--it's not in my budget. However, they do have pick ups for Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm CSA there once a month and Genesis Growers weekly (haven't picked up there yet because I bought into the winter share). Also, one of the owners, Michelle Sherman is my vet and is excellent! I didn't know it until I found this forum, she's never mentioned it but it doesn't surprise me--she even buys good dog food!

Marion Street has a nice winter menu, and finally feels about right when service can focus on people in the restaurant instead of outside on the street, and when they have enough staff to support each counter. Food prep at 5 PM (right when they opened tonight) was still a bit slow - fries came out about 20 minutes after ordering and weren't piping hot - but the mains arrived at the right time and temps, and were creative and savory enough to remove any chill. My pork and beans were delicious; smoky pork shoulder with good bark in an herbaceous broth with pearl onions, chestnuts, and lemon zest. The included "heirloom chickpeas" were harder to chew than the chestnuts and detracted slightly - I think they need a longer soak, or should just be toasted and used as a garnish. Mac and cheese was a huge improvement over last year, with a lovely crust and al dente pasta. The meat and potatoes - braised short rib with root vegetable puree and crispy onions - tasted like it came straight out of the Depot Diner, which is a high compliment. Pumpkin risotto was pretty and well-spiced if a bit monotonous, but paired well with the chili, served soupy with homemade pork sausage and regular chickpeas. Prices are still a little goofy - $23 short rib with no salad or side included was the same plate size as $8 mac - but quality was focused tonight.

I've always admired the beer and wine picks and flights, and they continue to rotate well. I'd have no reservation recommending the dining room for a warm holiday meal this year!

I need to share a really nice experience at Marion Street from a few weeks ago.

My wife loves the place. I do too, but her love of it surpasses mine. It was her birthday, so I decided I would try to do something special with a meal there. All she knew was that she, our son, and I were going there for her birthday.

A few days before her birthday, I went in to set up a reservation. A few friends were going to join us as a surprise to her. The host was exceptionally friendly and made notes on the reservation about the number of kids, it was a surprise, it was her birthday. I asked if it was possible to do something special for a dessert. I did not have a specific idea in mind. I was hoping they would have some. Mind you, I have no special relationships at Marion Street that would make them go out of their way for me or do something extra.

The host got the floor manager, who in turn went and got the executive chef. He came out, and I explained the birthday surprise, and that I was curious if there was anything special we could do for a dessert. He was incredibly nice - everyone was - and helpful. I said she really loves dark chocolate and mint, and he suggested doing dark chocolate cupcakes with mint frosting for everyone at the table. It sounded great to me, so he said he would instruct his staff to have it ready for the dinner.

When we get there, our friends were already seated, and she was very touched by the surprise. The waiter - a great guy we have had before - wishes her a happy birthday. We had lots of wonderful food - a cheese flight with lots of pungent cheeses, golden beet bruschetta, my wife had the aforementioned meat and potatoes, I had the duck carbonara. One friend had the rabbit rillets pot pie - fantastic stuff. Everything was well made, timely, attentive.

We wind down the main courses, and I tell the waiter to the side we are ready for the dessert, and he gives a knowing nod and heads off. A few minutes later, the band that was playing in the corner abruptly stops their song and breaks into happy birthday, and a gaggle of waitstaff, each carrying a big, beautiful dark chocolate cupcake with fluffy mint green frosting, descend on our table in a choreographed fashion. The cupcake set in front of my wife ia adorned with a candle. The entire restaurant breaks out into happy birthday. The cupcakes were fantastic - moist and rich, the frosting more of a whipped cream style. Suffice it to say, my wife was very surprised and very pleased.

The floor manager which I met a few days earlier came over and checked to see if I was happy with how things turned out, which was a nice touch. When the bill came, the waiter showed it to me and pointed out they comped - that's right, comped - the custom made cupcakes. I was floored.

The neatest thing about it for me was that everyone working there seemed to genuinely enjoy being in on the surprise. I did not ask for the music or singing on the coordinated drop off. They decided to do that all on their own to make it special. It was very very cool, and it sent my appreciation for Marion Street through the roof.

So, yay to Marion Street!

Our flatbread special for the evening is stellar: caramelized onions, barbecue sauce, pineapple, smoked mozzarella, and chicken, says he.

<snort>, says I, thinking California Pizza Kitchen.

Dining companion orders it anyway. It's fantastic. Homemade barbecue sauce, pineapple sliced fresh, chicken thigh (not overcooked), sweet red onions, lots of herbs, and the smoked mozzarella (as it should be at a cheese-focused place) is at the forefront, just perfectly balanced.

Other hits were the pork stew, fish and chips - their fries continue to be excellent this winter - and the al dente bucatini with smoked duck breast, toasted garlic, and a nice fried egg, a clever updating of a carbonara. Weird, and oddly priced (there always has to be one here) is an enameled pot of roasted olives in olive oil, with "warm bread," which is one tiny cube of toasted ciabatta for $8.

Service was warm, unrushed, and completely informed. The last three dots for me at Marion Street are making a line in the right direction.

I'd bought a $40 groupon for $20 a few weeks back so went there with a couple of friends last night. First visit. Hadn't read this thread before.

1. The food. Both bruschetta (one with tuna, one with hummus and artichokes) were terrific. The shrimp ceviche was mediocre at best. No flavor of shrimp (which were tough), only of lime. The pappardelle was also excellent, though I don't know where they get off claiming they're serving local asparagus in it. The chocolate dessert, which included some mousse, warm cookies, and a scoop of gelato was sublime.

2. The service. Slow and bad. Waited too long for our drinks, or even ice water. No new plates to share the pasta so we were squeezing it on our tiny appetizer plates. Waited five, maybe ten, minutes with cooling coffee before the requested milk showed up and then another five or ten before the dessert appeared. The only spoons were two soup spoons, apparently meant for the coffee, so I guess we were supposed to eat the mousse and the gelato with the dessert forks. No refills on the coffee.

3. The price. One wine, one beer, the three appetizers, one vegetarian pasta, one dessert, two coffees. With tip, $30 apiece.

4. The conclusion. I could do those bruschetta at home for a lot less than $9 for three pieces. If I had a lot of time and a chocolate craving that couldn't be filled anywhere else I might go back for the dessert. Otherwise, I can now say I've tried it.

Do they allow you to taste a piece of cheese before buying it? Pls advise.

Yes.

Thanks!!!

Does anyone have any experience with the meat/cheese platters they offer? I am thinking of getting one for our "Charcuterie Father's Day" party we are having next weekend but $40 for 2 choices seems excessive to me, even with crackers and fruit included.

My only experience is enjoying them at someone's party. Top notch stuff. Depends how much you like your relatives.

teatpuller wrote:My only experience is enjoying them at someone's party. Top notch stuff. Depends how much you like your relatives.

They certainly have a fresh side of La Quercia prosciutto, but the other meat selections were looking slim last week. I pointed to one unmarked whitish roll, asking if it was lardo, speck, guanciale, pancetta, etc., and received the response (I sh!t you not):

"I'm not sure what that is. I lost the label."

Cheese sampling was generous, though. If MSCM is too dear, can I recommend Graziano's (see recent meat platter post by Ronnie?)

Hi,

Santander beat me to the punch, I was about to link to Ron's post as well.

My reaction reading your post on the Father's Day Charcuterie platter earlier today was, "Why not do it yourself?" Fortunately, Ron's post offers an excellent outline.

That platter is for people who don't know where to begin. You have been provided a fine roadmap.

Regards,