Neo-Futurarium, Hopleaf Mussles and Frites

Friday night, after enjoying Seth Zurer’s performance in “Patriots” at the Neo-Futurarium, C2, The Wife and I went to Hopleaf for a snack.

This is the first time I’d been to Hopleaf since they put in a kitchen, and despite the almost-charming world-class disorganization of the Lisa Loeb-like hostess, the food, particularly the mussels, was very good. The mussels, which came in a white, garlic-tinged sauce, were plump and fresh and flavorful. I had them with a beaker of Duchess of Bourgogne, and the vinegary nose of this reddish brew was a perfect complement to the mussels and frites. The waitress kept the bread coming, which helped sop the sauce (which was not to be wasted).

Now, about the frites…they were good, and the garlic mayo was good, but I wasn’t blown away. I guess my expectations were too high. I figured Belgium bar, French fries, hold onto your seats. All good, but they didn’t astound me, as expected.

Hopleaf is right around the corner from the Neo-Futurarium; makes for a nice night (Seth had what I thought was the best line of the night: “Be wary of getting your history from actors”).

Hopleaf
5148 N. Clark St.
Chicago 60640
773-334-9851

That's one of my faroite meals right there. I prefer the mussels in the ale, I find it just fits better. I also really really like the frites and aioli. In fact when I go with a friend, instead of ordering Mussels for Two, I get the Mussels for One as you get two orders of frites.

I generally pair it with the St. Bernardus or the Kwak, last time I was there I had the Saison Du Fin which was also very nice.

Hopleaf is one of my regular stops. Love it! Although a couple of nights ago there with my partner in crime(wife), and we were told we couldn't stand in the corridor waiting for the table, otherwise very smokey in the bar area. This was with a new hostess. Hope she doesn't last long. The other servers, Carolyn, Katie, and one I don't know the name of. Carolyn and Katie are great, the other may be the Lisa Loeb you were referring to.

Love the mussels, frites with the aioli, and the Neuske ham sandwich, which comes with more frites. For beers: Dirty Bastard, Duchess Borgogne, Delirium Tremens, Alpha Floyds Three Kings (great, hoppy). then i have been going down the list of Belgiums with the help of Rob, one of the barkeeps. I enter each one in my palm pilot so as not to repeat: Cantillon Gueuze, Grand Cru , Kriek, Blaugies Saison d'Epeautre, Saison Dupont, Orval, Westmalle Tripel, Bush, XX Bitter Br. De Ranke,Arabier de dolle Brouwers

Michael the owner is a great guy, would be fun to do a Belgian Beer Tasting there sometime.

psychchef

HI,

I believe you have zeroed in on the ditz we were working 'with.' We arrived three strong with two tables empty. We were told to come back in 10 minutes, which we started to do until we decided to hang out. We felt we were at least the one in the hand, while she chased two in the bush.

Others who came after us were sometimes told to come back in 10 minutes, a standard request, or more shockingly, "Go away." This young lady did not know how to handle this situation.

After a while, a busboy sort of gestured why weren't we taking a table. Another waitress simply suggested we take the table anyway and promptly started taking drink orders. Our fearless hostess now party hunter saw us and continued on her fruitless hunt.

Oh yeah, David sort of took a seat after a while anyway suggesting he had leg problems a la Nixon. Whereas Carolyn and I continued to be delightfully cheery pests waiting in the aisle.

You know, we enjoyed the post-theater theater of the hostess with the missing clients. Then again, we are people who make lemonade out of lemon situations. Sometimes it's all in how you choose to look at things.

psychchef wrote:Michael the owner is a great guy, would be fun to do a Belgian Beer Tasting there sometime.

Yes, it would. I'd be very interested in doing back-to-back tastings of a few dozen Belgian beers.

Hammond

David Hammond wrote:I'd be very interested in doing back-to-back tastings of a few dozen Belgian beers.

Why just a few dozen? How about 101? You remember the Belgian beer tasting next Saturday, right? I’m not suggesting this as a substitute for another trip to the Hopleaf, mind you. Just a supplement to carry us through until then.

Rene G wrote:

David Hammond wrote:I'd be very interested in doing back-to-back tastings of a few dozen Belgian beers.

Why just a few dozen? How about 101? You remember the Belgian beer tasting next Saturday, right? I’m not suggesting this as a substitute for another trip to the Hopleaf, mind you. Just a supplement to carry us through until then.

Whoa, Rene, for some reason this was off my radar. It's only $35 at the door the day of the event. I'm seeking clearance from the tower, and would like to make it.

Hammond

What are the Hopleaf's closing (and food-serving) hours on Friday/Saturday nights? It would be an AWESOME place to go after the quite frequent trips to Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind that we make.

http://hopleaf.com/

Kitchen
Fri and Saturday - 5 - 12

Have a Tripel Karmaliet.

Evan B. Druce wrote:What are the Hopleaf's closing (and food-serving) hours on Friday/Saturday nights? It would be an AWESOME place to go after the quite frequent trips to Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind that we make.

unfortunately the kitchen closes too early for the friday/saturday shows. go ahead of time, I guess.

I just noticed that Seth's play, "Patriots," is favorably reviewed in the Tempo section of today's Tribune (but, outrageously, no mention of LTH Forum! )

Hammond

Inspired by my experience at Hopleaf, I went to the Belgian Beer Celebration at Kendall College last weekend, where I had opportunity to sample 150 Belgian beers (I tried only 32). My favorite was Hoegaarden, which is a cloudy "white" beer with a somewhat bitter nose and a freshly fruity taste (due, perhaps, to the lemon peel and cardamom which, I was told by the charming Brit server, are added somewhere in the fermentation process).

Last week, I bought a six-pack of Hoegaarden at Binny's ($9.99) and found it remarkably refreshing all alone but mostly lost in food (not sure why that would be). This is going to be an excellent summer beer, but I do not think I would drink it with dinner.

Hammond

We had a fantastic meal at the hopleaf last night before seeing the Santa Abductions at the neo-futurarium.

We shared a bottle of Saison Dupont, which was very nice to me but a bit much for Beth's taste. Although once her entree came, she was amazed at how well the beer cut the rich/greasy aioli.

We started with the croquettes, which, while nice, aren't likely to show up at our table again. We'll just start with an order of frites, probably.

She had the BLT, which was smoked bacon, lettuce, roasted tomatoes, and tarragon aioli on grilled rye. Served with frites, as all sandwiches are and should be. She absolutely loved it. Really smoky bacon, garlicky herbaceous aioli, sweet tomatoes, crisp lettuce, and great bread. It was by far the best BLT she'd ever had, and she's a big fan of the genre. She wants me to note that she described the BLT as "a campfire on a bun".

I had the hanger steak, also with frites. Perfectly cooked, slightly chewy as a hanger steak should be, nicely seasoned, with tons of char, which I appreciated. It came unsauced with haricot verts. And it was really lovely.

The aioli reminded us a lot of the toum we got at Lebanese restaurants in the Detroit/Windsor region, but richer and greasier. The toum at Semiramis is completely different, and not nearly as nice, to my taste.


As for the Santa Abductions:

I thought it wasn't as good as the other stuff we've seen at the Neofuturarium. Slow, some jokes falling flat, etc.

Beth agrees that it wasn't fantastic OMG YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS, but it was a lot better than any other christmas-themed play she'd seen.

It's only $15 ($10 for students/seniors, pay what you can on Thursday shows), so you might want to check it out anyway.

The Santa Abductions

gleam wrote:As for the Santa Abductions:

I thought it wasn't as good as the other stuff we've seen at the Neofuturarium. Slow, some jokes falling flat, etc.

Beth agrees that it wasn't fantastic OMG YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS, but it was a lot better than any other christmas-themed play she'd seen.

It's only $15 ($10 for students/seniors, pay what you can on Thursday shows), so you might want to check it out anyway.

The Santa Abductions

Quite amusingly we were at the exact same show on Friday night. I wished I'd thought of hitting Hopleaf (we ended up running down to Wabi, instead).

Yeah, I don't have much to say about the play, I found myself bored and wishing it'd end after the first 20 minutes or so.

I think my husband & I have figured out the prefect HopLeaf dinner for two: you order the mussels for one, which is quite generous and comes with pomme frites (and for the record, they (the mussels not the french fries) are (supposedly) simmered a la gueze, a Belgian Ale that's mostly like a white wine. These are served with hunks of Red Hen Bread, it's all about sopping, sop, sop sop. Then we get the Charcuterie Plate which has hunks of various happy sausages and smoked pork chops and sauteed apples and saurkraut; and then we get the salad of the season. What's not to love? Oh, it may be smokey or the hostess is stupid, but it's still a nice neighborhood place.

cheers!
bjt

I used to wonder whether the food at Hopleaf was really great, or if I was just so happily buzzed on Belgian brews that anything hearty would taste fantastic. After careful consideration, I've come to the following conclusion:

"Who cares?"

In all seriousness, however, I'm a champion of Hopleaf. No, it's not a life-altering experience, but it's a comfy neighborhood joint with a comprehensive drink menu and a kitchen that would be worthy even if it weren't an add-on to the bar (they were just a bar originally, weren't they?). They don't try to get cute with the food, and what they do they do very well. I've come away happy every single time, so allow me to add my voice to the chorus of recommendations.

Dmnkly wrote: (they were just a bar originally, weren't they?)

Yes. Used to be, you could bring food in, but I got to admit, it's easier to have them bring it to you while you quaff excellent Belgian brew.

With mussels, I prefer Duchess of Bourgogne, a rich burgundy-colored and deliciously sour cup.

Hammond

I especially love the selection of Gueuzes (how many bars can you name with a selection of Gueuzes?). But I'm particularly impressed that, for the most distinctive beers, they take the care to serve each in its own specific glass. That's one of the reasons The Lovely Susan likes to get Kwak there (no, it's not just for the name).

Mussels and frites are also outstanding.

nr706 wrote:I especially love the selection of Gueuzes (how many bars can you name with a selection of Gueuzes?). But I'm particularly impressed that, for the most distinctive beers, they take the care to serve each in its own specific glass.

Kwak in the wooden stand is one of the first beers I ever had at Hopleaf. The bartender told me that the big wooden handle made it possible for carriage drivers to hold out their hands as they drove by, grab a Kwak, and keep going. Not sure if it's true, but it's a good story, and as plausible an explanation as any for that odd glass holder.

Hammond

I don't know if they still serve it, but I was surprised to see Lake Erie Perch, described as such, on the menu at Hopleaf. Lake Erie Perch was the fried fish of my childhood.

I heartily endorse both the Neo-Futurists and Hopleaf. I don't get to either near often enough.

Although it's been a while since I've been, I thought I'd chime in with a recommendation for their desserts. It allows the non-drinkers among us to keep up, calorie for calorie, with the drinkers. I fondly recall a chocolate torte from last year that was very rich, and very, very good...