GAF wrote:I just received the following from Intro's hyper-local menu:

Chef CJ Jacobson is introducing a five-course menu that is rustic-refined. His cuisine combines flavors foraged from the local terroir of Chicago combined with hyper-seasonal, local California ingredients he highlights in his West Coast kitchen.

I confess some puzzlement with Chef Jacobson's idea of locavore cuisine. EVERY ingredient is local SOMEWHERE. I guess he is shipping his shipping his ingredients in, but after all that is what fusion chefs do. What differentiates this is that the ingredients all come (presumably) from Chicago or California, I guess.

Given that the main protein is lobster, I am not quite sure whether those delicacies are from Oxnard or DeKalb. (Could be California Spiny Lobster, I guess).

They're hyperlobsters!

He's lucky the weather has been generally mild and the ground isn't frozen.

Chef CJ Jacobson is introducing a five-course menu that is rustic-refined. His cuisine combines flavors foraged from the local terroir of Chicago combined with hyper-seasonal, local California ingredients he highlights in his West Coast kitchen.

*looks out window*

Yeah. Good luck with that, Chef.

sundevilpeg wrote:

Chef CJ Jacobson is introducing a five-course menu that is rustic-refined. His cuisine combines flavors foraged from the local terroir of Chicago combined with hyper-seasonal, local California ingredients he highlights in his West Coast kitchen.

*looks out window*

Yeah. Good luck with that, Chef.

This will definitely make foraging for lobster difficult!

sundevilpeg wrote:

Chef CJ Jacobson is introducing a five-course menu that is rustic-refined. His cuisine combines flavors foraged from the local terroir of Chicago combined with hyper-seasonal, local California ingredients he highlights in his West Coast kitchen.

*looks out window*

Yeah. Good luck with that, Chef.

Ha ha ha!

Who's up for snow cones?

Has anyone been to Intro yet?

They just opened last night - looks like there's tons of availabiity every night except this coming Saturday. (Interesting aspect of the ticketing game is the view you get of bookings).

The article on the Zagat website has a photo gallery showing most of the dishes on the menu:

Intro Opens Tonight with CJ Jacobson's "Rustic-Refined" Menu

Interesting that they're hiring someone to take reservations over the phone. With experience with OpenTable. Thought the point of Tock was to save that expense. But maybe having lots of available reservations online looks bad?

http://www.leye.com/employment/hourly/j ... ns-staff-6

I wouldn't read too much into that ad, its probably LEYE boiler plate. Even though they're using the ticket system, they need somebody to be by the phone to handle calls such as questions, etc. I have no inside knowledge but any restaurant would need someone to handle calls during business hours.

Does anyone remember City Porch when it first opened at Navy Pier, maybe 2012? Their concept was similar to this. They had a different chef each month, it was Heather Terhune the first month, followed by Tony Mantuano, and then Jimmy Banos. I was excited to try this and I think we went twice. Once there it appeared more that the chefs were the consultants than they were actually there, at least the nights I was there. I thought this had potential but it just did not pan out. AND, you did not have to buy tickets in advance.

Amuse:
Twist! It was in front of us the whole time! Those white rocks in the centerpiece are actually a merengue, along with a shot of supergreen juice. I forget what it was made of, but the merengue tasted like good dirt and the juice tasted of citrus and algae. It reminded me of my youth, drinking Sunny D in the old bog.

Bread:
A massive loaf of warm, crusty bread, torn into infant head sized chunks, presented on a massive platter with a gorgeous snowdrift of golden butter. We were hungry, and this was destroyed in under a minute.

Side Note:
Do not order the gin & tonic. If you think you’ll look like a cool, sophisticated older gentleman in front of your perky twentysomething date, you’ll be wrong. This Gin and Tonic is orange and served in a Scandal Sized Wine Glass with a full sized straw. Any hopes I had to be taken seriously as a famous food blogger and potential sex partner were dashed as this pastel goblet plunked down in front of me.

“What did you order!?” she snickered, her hand moving discreetly towards her phone.

“Gin & Tonic!” I shout-sobbed, voice cracking. Luckily we were interrupted by the first course.

Fluke:
Lightly cured fluke petals with radish, avocado and Christmas Tree. The avocado was a bit hard, and brought to mind ceviche, so I ate it separately after the first few bites. Paired with Cava.

LEYE Famous Bowls:
Potato shaped into noodles, topped with chicken skin, seaweed, crème fraiche, and mugwort. Basically a loaded mashed potato in a comparatively massive bowl. Big, hearty comfort food and a bit out of place in my opinion. Chicken skin was delicious, perfectly crisp and just the right amount of grease. We were given only a spoon for this dish, which meant that the big chicken skin planks are eaten with your hands or broken up by mashing them into the bowl. After the skin and greens, I was left with half a bowl of mushy white potato noodles. This dish is hurt by its size, and should be half of what it is. Paired with an oaky Chardonnay type wine. I forget what it was called, but the pairing was spot on.

Ramen:
Rutabaga noodles, what appeared to be a hardboiled egg yolk. Chef poured the oxtail broth (tea?) when served. The oxtail beef itself was perfectly tender, flavorful and proportioned to the rest of the dish. Aronia berries were a nice contrast to the egg/beef but also a little distracting, mainly because of the temperature difference between them and the broth. My companion really enjoyed this. Paired with a sweet licorice-y Porter.

Lobster:
Half a steamed lobster tail and claw. Blood orange, black trumpet mushroom, snap peas, foam. Lots of coarse cumin and salt on the plate. The lobster itself may have been a bit overcooked, but that is more of a footnote than judgment on the dish as a whole. The blood orange, cumin, lobster combo was something I’ve never tasted before and was thinking about it long afterwards. Paired with Barbaresco.

Dessert:
Kombucha Juniper Snow with hunks of chocolate clay. The tartness of the snow masked the chocolate a bit too much, but this was a refreshing end to the meal. This chocolate was so rich and thick I didn’t know it was chocolate at first. Paired with a sticky sweet ‘85 Sherry that was older than my date.

Service:
Our waitress was dynamite, an L2O vet who answered our questions confidently and poured the wine with the grace and confidence of a gay swan. The expediters and water attendants on the other hand, were as clumsy as gay sea lions. They set our plates down hard, moved glasses by holding the rims, and were often more a nuisance than a necessity. I don’t need my water glass refilled to the brim after every sip, and especially not when I’m nearing the punch line to my hilarious anecdote. In comedy, timing. Is everything.

Bathroom:
I give these bathrooms 4 Michelin Stars. Small and private, with great lighting. I felt like I was in a Cialis commercial by myself, and regained all the confidence lost from the Gin & Tonic mishap. The bathroom fish tank however, leaves a lot to be desired. Sparsely stocked and questionable choices. This 200 gallon showpiece fish tank is peppered with two or three orange Rasboras, one drab Ciclid and a handful of gloomy Marsh Shrimp? You think this will make me sit down to pee? Slide whistle down.

Overall:
I’d go again. Two of five courses were excellent, two were good, and one was just a little off logistically. Unexpectedly big portions, and relatively cheap. The tasting menu was $65, and the tier 1 booze was $30, which is what we both had. Pairings were wonderful, in some cases essential. Tier 2 booze was $50.

It’s a great room, but a downright beautiful kitchen...one of the best I’ve ever seen as you would imagine.

Oh and the kitchen staff does stay the same through the rotating exec chefs.

Lovely, funny post!

Also, $65 tasting menu? That is CHEAP.

lookjerk wrote:I felt like I was in a Cialis commercial by myself...

lookjerk, your post is so full of banner quotes, I hardly know where to begin. But I'll pick that one.

While I haven't been to Intro, I used to work at L2O and will alert the management to your post.

Please note that the two 100-gallon shellfish tanks are in the kitchen, not the bathroom.
The bathroom tank is far smaller, and it was originally designed to hold only aquatic plants. It's not a great space for fish (very tall and fairly narrow), hence the small number.

The bathroom fish tank however, leaves a lot to be desired. Sparsely stocked and questionable choices. This 200 gallon showpiece fish tank is peppered with two or three orange Rasboras, one drab Ciclid and a handful of gloomy Marsh Shrimp?

I think I see the problem.

We used to have a fish tank with a variety of fish, including a blue African cichlid. Then we had fewer and fewer fish, as the cichlid methodically picked on, bit the fins off of, and killed all the others. Then we had a fish tank with just the cichlid, who---because of course the children had long since lost interest---I cared for until he finally died of old age. I developed a certain fondness for him, even though he was a cold-blooded (ha ha) killer. I used to call the fish tank the Blue Man Group when it was the cichlid and the other fish; after he killed them all, I just called him Blue Man. I would have liked to add more fish to the tank but was advised that many aquarium varieties of cichlids are so aggressive they often can't even be kept with other cichlids of the same species unless they've known each other ever since they were small fry. Perhaps I should have deep-sixed the cichlid and started afresh, but capital punishment troubles me, so I let him live out his days in solitary confinement.

(Not to stray too far from discussion of food:) Turns out, tilapia are cichlids, but of a peaceable algae-eating variety, which, as the Wikipedia article puts it, "reduces pressure on prey species" and makes them suitable for farm-raising.

I suspect those rasboras are, sadly, not long for this world; the cichlid is bummed about his dwindling bullying opportunities; and the marsh shrimp are gloomy because their psycho roommate is killing all their other roommates. Underwater, no one can hear you scream.

Katie, your post gave me a great Sunday morning laugh. That last paragraph is pure gold. Thanks.

Hopped Up wrote:Interesting that they're hiring someone to take reservations over the phone. With experience with OpenTable. Thought the point of Tock was to save that expense. But maybe having lots of available reservations online looks bad?

http://www.leye.com/employment/hourly/j ... ns-staff-6

Just an update on this; Intro does now offer the option of making a traditional reservation via Open Table for weeknights; $75 is the cost of the meal for reservations made on Open Table. Also it appears that recently the menu has changed a bit (prime steak instead of lobster for one).

Been hearing nothing but good things from friends, social media and professional reviews. Am actually heading here tonight; I was a bit skeptical at first about Intro but am really excited for my dinner. Hopefully everything will be as good as I have heard; will report back later.

Gonzo70 wrote:Just an update on this; Intro does now offer the option of making a traditional reservation via Open Table for weeknights; $75 is the cost of the meal for reservations made on Open Table.

Gonzo, does this mean that a pre-payment of $75 per person, charged to one's credit card, is required at the time of making the reservation on Open Table? Or merely that one is informed on the website that the cost of the meal will be $75 per person to be paid at the conclusion of the meal?

riddlemay wrote:

Gonzo70 wrote:Just an update on this; Intro does now offer the option of making a traditional reservation via Open Table for weeknights; $75 is the cost of the meal for reservations made on Open Table.

Gonzo, does this mean that a pre-payment of $75 per person, charged to one's credit card, is required at the time of making the reservation on Open Table? Or merely that one is informed on the website that the cost of the meal will be $75 per person to be paid at the conclusion of the meal?

One is informed the cost will be $75 - but no money is collected at the time of booking with Open Table. They do not even ask for a credit card number to hold the reservation. Interestingly the link to Open Table is on the restaurant's website when I access it via my IPad, but not via my desktop.

Overall had a very pleasant meal at Intro last night. Did the five course plus shared the supplemental course (risotto with shaved black truffle and a side of popcorn with truffle) and the standard beverage pairing (a bargain at $30; included a cava, two whites, a beer and dessert wine). Along with bread service (really delicious sourdough) an amuse, intermezzo and final bites this ended up being a surprisingly filling meal - definitely left stuffed which I was not expecting.

Of the six courses by far the standout was the potato soup course; really delicious, comforting and flavorful with a variety of textures imparted by the potato skins and chicken skins and a nice aroma from the herbs. The other five courses were all quite satisfying, but none on par with the potato course. Probably the most disappointing was the new prime steak course; beautifully presented as all the courses were, but compared to other steak courses I have consumed over the past few months during tasting menus, this iteration was definitely the weakest quality beef - despite being cooked a perfect medium rare it was a tad tough and dry; it also was over-seasoned for my palate and lacked beefiness. The other components were nice and it was not a bad dish by any means, just the weakest of the night. The "foraged" aspect bantered about earlier this thread was present in various courses in the form of herbs from California (where Chef hails from).

The meal ended on a high note; the single dessert course was delicious, also a great job utilizing a variety of textures and flavors in a harmonious manner; the intermezzo and final bites were quite tasty as well.

Service was excellent. We had Cara as our primary server who we knew well from Senza (she ran the front-of-the-house there while her husband was the executive chef); she is one of the best in the business. The rest of the staff we encountered was quite pleasant as well. Chef CJ was also often visible, serving some courses and checking in on tables. The dining room was surprisingly packed; from looking at the ticket site it seems like they are not selling well, but they actually have several tables per time slot so it is deceiving. By 7:00pm the dining room was nearly at capacity and was still quite crowded when we finished our meal.

The final tab came to about $180 per/person for the tasting menu, shared supplemental course, wine pairing, pre-dinner cocktail (an excellent play on a Manhattan with some spices to give it a kick and an ice cube that imparts a cherry flavor as it melts - the woman in charge of cocktail was retained from L2O's cocktail program), tax and gratuity (20% is automatically added to the bill when you book via Open Table versus utilizing a pre-paid ticket). For the quantity and quality of food and beverage we received as well as the ambiance and level of service I found this to be a good value.

Definitely a fun evening. I would love to see Chef CJ stay in Chicago; lots of potential there and I would welcome the opportunity to try his cuisine again. Will likely return to Intro for the next menu if prices remain reasonable and the next chef rolls out an interesting menu.

I'll echo the (mostly) positive comments so far. Had a terrific mid-week meal at Intro last Wednesday. The space is beautiful as always (going back to the L20 days) and all five courses hit the mark for me. The prime ribeye w/ oxtail course--a recent addition/change I believe--was easily the best single course I've had in the last year.

We paid $132/person all-in (including tax, tip, etc) for 5 courses w/ wine pairings. I can't think of a better fine-dining deal in Chicago right now. Highly recommend checking it out.

Any comments on the wine pairings? do they only do pairings or wine by the bottle or glass?

Heading there this week with a friend and looking forward to seeing what they're doing.

Siun wrote:do they only do pairings or wine by the bottle or glass?

I don't know the answer, but I have yet to encounter a restaurant that only does pairings and does not also offer wine by the bottle or glass.

Also, Intro's website notes you can bring your own wines for a $30 per bottle corkage fee.

Yep - I saw the corkage info and am considering bringing something myself but remembering Next's policies for example where it was pairing or nothing I was wondering if Intro had adopted that in addition to the tickets.

They also have wines by the glass, cocktails and wines by the bottle. Not the biggest selection and I didn't look too hard as I opted for the pairings since they were such a good value.

Thanks Gonzo ... I'm excited to see what they do ... will have to talk to my friend and see what beverage route we're going. Will definitely report back.

Siun wrote:Thanks Gonzo ... I'm excited to see what they do ... will have to talk to my friend and see what beverage route we're going. Will definitely report back.

You're welcome, have a great meal - I really enjoyed it there. Might even go back next month for the joint dinner Chef is doing with a colleague if the menu looks good.

Intro has announced that Chef Erik Anderson (formerly of Noma and Catbird Seat) will be the second chef to take the reigns at Intro; he will be starting in mid May (tickets supposedly go on sale later today). I had the privilege of enjoying Chef Anderson's cuisine when he did a collaboration at El Ideas with Chef Foss a while back and absolutely loved that meal. Am very excited about this news and definitely will be returning to Intro in May.

Great news and the prices for the food have not gone up either. Looks like the beverage pairings have, but if it's a bump up in product, I'm fine with that. Really tempted to book in advance on this one.