June Restaurant - Peoria

I wanted to start a thread about Josh Adams' June restaurant in Peoria Heights, since he is on the long list of 2010 James Beard nominees for Rising Chef (and had cooked at Alinea and Vie). I haven't been to the restaurant, but I hope that once some of us venture down, this can be a place in which comments are placed. The menu seems quite impressive, although for Peoria the prices are not cheap, and one always wonder whether there will be enough of a customer base. Will he eventually move to Chicago or St. Louis?

Once the weather warms up a bit, I would be interested in organizing a caravan to Peoria. Perhaps June in June?

June Restaurant
4450 North Prospect Road
Peoria Heights, IL 61616
309-682-5863
http://www.junerestaurant.com

The vegetarian hub and I are now relocated in Blormal (aka Bloomington-Normal) and if we are around in June, we would love to try and join you all! From what I've read, Josh Adams is a Peoria native and looks like he wants to give it a go in Peoria. We might try and go sometime in the near future and if we do, we'll definitely put our comments in this thread. Thanks GAF for starting it!

I might be interested, I live closer to Peoria than Chicago, and even from Chicago it isnt a long trip. Im typically inerested in getting together with LTHr's

As a side note there are people with $$$ in the Peoria area who could support a restaurant like this(the menu prices didnt look bad at all). It also seems from reading the restaurants website, this restaurants mission of being close to his food sources, and farm they will want to stay out of Chicago, etc. Believe it or not, some folks like rural areas, and think big cities are nice places to visit but wouldnt want to live there.

I have a very large in-law family in Peoria and can only think of one of them that would probably go there only because he has a high end business profile and entertains as part of it. Everyone else I know are very plain eaters, meat and potatoes. They tend to think of Olive Garden as a fancy place to go. It has been a challenge visiting for weekends, not that we are fussy but that we like all ethnic foods and things with a little more flavor and taste. We might try June but I know we couldn't get any family members to go, especially because of the prices.

The issue isn't whether there are people in Peoria who would like the food at June. The issue is whether there are enough people who would go often enough - on weeknights and not just weekends - to make the restaurant a viable financial proposition. Again, I haven't eaten there and I've only been to Peoria once (I would have gladly eaten at June's). When I lived in the Twin Cities in the late 1970s, there was a very fine, cutting edge restaurant in Northfield (Les Quatre Amis). Northfield is a college town (Carleton College, St. Olaf's) about an hour south of the Twin Cities. After a few years they moved to the Twin Cities (and soon disappeared). Peoria is further, it is not a tourist destination, and it is not (despite the presence of Bradley University) a college town.

Time will tell. I wish them well, but I plan to visit sooner, rather than later.

I've worked with June since prior to it's opening and can vouch that it's worth the drive. Josh is in the process of building a geothermal greenhouse (I believe it will be the only one in the state) so his commitment to the area is strong. He's very committed to working with local farmers and by building the greenhouse, allowing other local restaurants accessibility to sustainably grown greens year round. If you do make a trip down in the summer, there is a nice farmers market right outside of June, I think it's on wednesdays and saturdays but the restaurant could confirm. The June team cooked at the Beard House recently and offered the same menu at June - it presold immediately (they then added a third night, which also sold out - and this was tues - thurs) so there is an audience down there hungry for this level of dining.

I ate ate June on my birthday about a year ago. I was with a group of 10 or so. Everyone liked the place, but nobody was in a hurry to go back. I can't really give a blow by blow, detailed account of the meal because it has been so long and because I was somewhat underwhelmed. I do remember that the service was solid and the presentation of the dishes was very nice. But I also remember a very dry duck pieriogi, and my pork was either prepared via sous vide or was steamed. I honestly don't know, but I much prefer a nice brined double cut, bone in pork chop prepared on my Weber kettle. It tasted good, but it lacked a satisfying texture from caramelization.

Now that the place has been open for a while maybe it's gotten it's legs and I'll have to give it another shot, but from my one experience I'd much rather spend that amount of money on any number of 3 star type places in Chicago, or to spend even less for much superior meals at Publican or Avec. I really want the place to succeed because I like what it brings to Peoria, and I respect what the chef is trying to do, but I'd much rather eat at PV II, which is the best restaurant here, or Jim's Bistro or Two Twenty Five.

Maybe you can post on PV II?

GAF wrote:Maybe you can post on PV II?

Sure. PV II is the former Ponte Vecchio that was in Sheridan Village for several years. The owner had some financial issues and had to close down late last summer. The chef and his wife, who was the front of the house person there, tried to buy the business but it didn't work out, so they opened PV II this winter in a space on Allen Road close to Route 6. The food is exactly the same as Ponte Vecchio, with some additions such as osso bucco, which is excellent.

In my opinion Ponte Vecchio was always the best Italian restaurant in Peoria, and PV II has maintained that status. And like I said, it is my favorite restaurant here by far. They have some of the standard red sauce items, but their cream sauces and pink sauces are very good, and their rotolo is fantastic. They make their own crusty bread fresh as well.

Here is a Journal Star review:

http://www.pjstar.com/entertainment/enterainmentcolumns/x1530315567/Dining-Out-Same-good-food-returns-with-PVII

Keep in mind the Journal Star loves everything though, but their descriptions in this case a pretty good.

And here is their facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Peoria-IL/PV-II/153298316050#!/pages/Peoria-IL/PV-II/153298316050

For those who want a taste of June without the drive to Peoria Heights:

From the 6/9/10 Dish column:
Reserve a seat for a dinner at North Pond (2610 N. Cannon Dr.; 773-477-5845), hosted by the rising star Josh Adams, the executive chef at June in downstate Peoria Heights. It’s $95 for six courses, on June 16th.

I hope to have the time to write a more complete description of my dinner at June, which included some exceptional food, but in the meantime, I attach a menu and photos and a short discussion at the end:



Spence Farms Spring Peas, Coconut Milk, Finger Lime, Thai Basil, Hawaiian Black Salt - a splendid dish


Dayboat Blackmouth Chino Crudo, Smoked Steelhead Roe, Sea Beans, Arame, Smoked Oyster Dressing


Meadow Haven Farms Egg, Housemade Pancetta, Coffee Smoked Shiitake, Brioche, Hollandaise


Dayboat Alaska Halibut, Locally Foraged Black Trumpets and Chanterelles, Living Earth Farms Garlic Scapes, Ice Onions, Pickled Ramp Emulsion


Veal Sweetbreads, Housemade Parisian Gnocchi, Baby Fennel, Pickled Baby Fennel, Hazelnuts, Red Ribbon Sorrel - probably the high point of the evening.


Housemade Berkshire Cotechino, Wieland Farms Cranberry Beans, Hartz Produce Savoy Cabbage, Dried Cherry Jus


Squab, Black Garlic Squab Pate, Carrots, Hartz Produce Red Cabbage, Toasted-Sesame Caramelized Onion Puree, Ginger Squab Jus


Snake River Farms Wagyu Short Rib, Laughing Bird Shrimp Dumpling, Carrots, French Onion Dashi


Spring Berries, Corn Meal Tuile, Anise Hyssop Ice Cream, Meyer Lemon Sherbet


Carbonated Black Corinth Grape Tartlet, Peanut Cream, Caramelized Banana, Coffee Ice Cream


Kilgus Frames Yogurt Panna Cotta, Lemon Fennel Cake, Strawberry Rhubarb Compote, Housemade Streusel, Rhubarb Sorbet


Chef Josh Adams works very much in the style of Modern American Cuisine with (as is evident by the titles of the dishes) a farm-to-table sensibility). I myself could do without the list of farms; I'm here for the taste - whether it is from the lab (a la Moto) or the barnyard. Perhaps one would say that by working - very effectively - within the tradition, there is no single dish where one could say, "Gosh, I have never had something that was anything like this - a dish that opened by eyes to the possibility of food." Still, there were so many tasty, creative dishes that this seem like a petty complaint. The number of transformative geniuses is very small (can you say "Grant Achatz" or "Ferran Adria" or "Alain Passard"). Although I remember the opening pea composition, and the sweetbreads, I also will always remember fondly the carbonated Corinth grape tartlet (the desserts were not as remarkable as the savory courses, for the most part).

Every serious diner in Chicago - and elsewhere - should visit Peoria, now the heartland of Modern Cuisine with all of its successful themes integrated into a symphonic combination. Chef Adams surely belongs in the top tier of American chefs.
June Restaurant
4450 North Prospect Road
Peoria Heights, IL 61616
309-682-5863
http://www.junerestaurant.com