Zealous- Fabulous

Went to zealous with the Fiance on Saturday and had a lovely time. The interior is stunning, high, high ceilings, tree size plants, and a huge wine cellar visible in the back. Service was attentive without being intrusive and the food was more than solid, if not revelatory.

Started out with comp glasses of bubbly as the wine I selected off their huge and extremely impressive wine list was not available. I have a nack for picking wines that are out of stock, but this was the first time I got anything other than an apology and advice on something else to pick.

Amuse was crab salad over a gazpacho paste, perfect for waking the pallet, and great with the champaign.

For apps I had the tuna tartare, a lovely column of tuna topped with caviar, a scoop of avocado paste, and wonderful califlower bellinis. Fiance had lobster ravioli over roasted salsify. Both were outstanding. We paired this with a 97 Pouilly Fusse.

Entree...I had the lamb loin with cracked wheat stuffed onions and fig suace, she had the filet with mashed potatoes, roasted carrots and mushrooms. Both were great. A '02 D'arenberg Rhone Blend was recommended and a wonderful match, although it would have went with almost anything.

We split a cheese course, Camenbert, a very mild blue, a cheese I can't remember, and a roquefort. This may have been my fav part of the meal.

Deserts were banana tiram... (sp) and deconstructed black forest cake. Two glasses of port finished everything off.

A lovely meal, in one of the most beautiful dining rooms I've had the pleasure to eat in, with impeccable service. Chef Taus stopped by to check on us several times and was extremely gracious. We will def return, and I recommend.

Chef told us they will be offering their 5 course tasting menu for $45 (down from $85) in July to celebrate their 13 aniv. We'll be back with a larger group for that deal.

Zealous
419 W. Superior
the have a website and a phone number you can look-up

(as usaul excuse my awful spelling)

We had a wonderful meal there for my birthday last week.
Apps: Seared LaBelle Foie Gras, Caramelized Blood Orange, Blue Goat Cheese Crème Caramel for myself. This was amazing - nicely seared, melt in your mouth Foie gras and the caramel/blood orange was a nice accompaniement, tangy/tart.
Hubby had the Vietnamese Spring Rolls of Star Anise Braised Pork Belly & Red Cabbage-Green Papaya Slaw. This was pretty good, but you couldn't taste the pork belly enough. The slaw was crunchy and refreshing.
Mains - I had the Seared Sea Scallops with King Crab-Exotic Mushroom Cannelloni & Tomato Emulsion It was excellent, the scallops were perfectly cooked, and the cannelloni had an intense mushroom earthy flavor, but the crab was a bit muted. My only complaint is that for $33 they could give you a bit more- I wasn't quite satisfied appetite wise.
Hubby had the Monkfish Osso Buco Poached in Lobster-Black Bean Sauce with Scallion -Turnip Cakes. This was interesting, the black bean sauce was a bit overwhelming and the scallion was overpowering the turnips. His portion, though was huge. It was good, but I am not sure I would get it again.
Desserts - he had the deconstructed black forest cake - mmmm - very very good, cake, and I can't remember the details of how it was deconstructed. Whipped cream was light and rich and wonderful.
I had the banana tirmasu - it was pretty good, not too sweet, but nice intense banana cake with creamy filling.
The wine we had was wonderful and the sommelier was very knowledgeable and helpful. I can't remember what we had unfortunately (i hope hubby does)...He gave us a few samples before we decided.
The room is lovely and the tables roomy. Service was prompt, not overbearing. I definitely would go back for a special occasion.
For my birthday, they had written happy birthday in chocolate sauce on our dessert.
LO

Paul Barman wrote:We split a cheese course, Camenbert, a very mild blue, a cheese I can't remember, and a roquefort. This may have been my fav part of the meal.

Very interesting that they'd serve a mild blue along with a Roquefort -- I'd think the milder cheese would be "submerged" beneath the more potent.

A cheese course is my favorite way to end a meal. I think I prefer the saltiness of the cheese to the sweetness of most desserts. I was reading Morehead's The Blue Nile, about 19th century European invasions in Egypt, and after one meal the French enjoy "anchovy toast," which I thought sounded like a marvelous way to conclude dinner.

Hammond

PS. I remember going to Zealous when it was still in Elmhurst. Chef Taus used to have a rep for being insane, but in a good way ( )

A week ago, I received a rather unexpected dinner invitation. When my dining companion left the restaurant choice up to me, with the suggestion that we should hit a place that was upscale and stylish but not a massive production, I started on a search that led me to Zealous. So tonight, we went. It's fine dining, so we went with the intention of having one of the tasting menus. Opting for semi-restrained opulence, we skipped the seven-course in favor of the five and settled in.

(All images are of the "click to enlarge" variety)


We started with a little amuse, which I felt was a little meh. It was a watermelon gelee with a bit of mint puree and black sesame. Amuse, to me, needs to pop. When all you're getting is the tiniest of tastes, it had better be explosive, and explosive this was not. The gelee was nice enough, if a little overly firm, and a mint accompaniment is a gimme, but the sesame wasn't working for me. My companion, however, seemed more enthused than I was. Your mileage may vary.


Our first official course was a deconstructed dragon roll. I realize that dish deconstruction is a controversial topic. People tend to love it or hate it. I'm in neither camp. I'm skeptical but open, and I'm appreciative as often as I'm disappointed. In this case, it seemed a little unnecessary, which bothers me only if it hurts the dish. Thankfully, it didn't in the least. The dish was slathered with an avocado-wasabi puree, topped with three primary components... rice, tempura shrimp and grilled eel... and drizzled with a little teriyaki-esque sauce, a mango puree and a bit of powdered nori. So it was essentially a pretty presentation of a common dish. Okay, it was a very pretty presentation of a common dish. But it was, to be fair, uncommonly good. There was a part of me that didn't want to be overly impressed with a fancified neo-sushi standard, but the part of me that flat-out enjoyed it won out. I dug it.


The next dish was a bit of a challenge. It was a piece of seared duck breast with a morel risotto, citrus foam and a fennel and green apple salad. I felt the risotto was rather flat, but its weakness was less glaring when taken purely as a component of a larger whole. While many are rightfully sick of foam, I thought it worked here, giving a very nice, light citrusy edge that wouldn't have been the same were it in liquid form. What caused me some consternation, however, was the duck itself. I have a very, very high tolerance for raw and lightly cooked meats. While I generally order medium-rare, I don't think I've ever been served a piece of meat that was too underdone for me to enjoy. But this duck was barely warm. It would have been very rare for beef, much less poultry. Years of meals in China have made me bolder than I should be when it comes to potential foodborne illnesses, so I wasn't overly concerned, but my companion inquired just to be safe. We were assured that it was, in fact, prepared just as chef had intended. After working through the dish and taking it at face value, I wasn't bothered by the light cooking, but I'm not convinced it was the best choice. At the very least, even if the center were barely cooked, I felt it needed a more aggressive searing. The beautiful, thick layer of fat was clearly visible right under the skin, looking almost raw, its rich potential begging to be set free. I'm still mulling this one over, but while I firmly support utilizing the full range of doneness to varying effects, I'm leaning toward the belief that this dish could have been better with a little more heat. As served, it was good, but not excellent.


The third and final savory dish was enjoyable, but illustrative of one of my Chicago fine dining pet peeves. Here in Chicago, we've clearly come a long way in terms of high-end dining sophistication over the past 5-10 years. But despite this awakening, we're still a meat and potatoes city at heart. As such, it's my experience that tasting menus citywide serve an absurd number of beef filets. It's as though these restaurants feel they have to provide something beefy and hearty for at least one dish, lest they lose a chunk of their audience. In truth, they're probably right, but it's doubly frustrating that the most common beefy outlet is the most uninteresting and tasteless cut available. Timidity is not a quality I admire in my fine restaurants. But that said, as meat and potatoes goes, this dish was particularly well-executed and had a couple of nice touches. To appeal to diners like me, or perhaps to the chef's own sanity, the filet was paired with a bit of shredded short rib that was topped with a shallot confit. The dish was then rounded out with some light and yet pleasantly gummy potato gnocchi and a corn fonduta. The filet was a filet, the short rib (I adore short rib) was tasty but less exciting than I might have hoped, the gnocchi were simple and delightful, and the fonduta was an unusual and very much appreciated accent. All in all, a very well-composed dish, if somewhat conservative.


As for dessert? I'm admittedly a little handicapped when it comes to dessert appreciation. I always enjoy my sweets, but I'm rarely impressed by them. We first received a bit of sorbet which, oddly enough, comprised an entire course. One was coconut and lychee, the other was... I think... passionfruit, and both were seated atop strawberry slices and a vanilla-pineapple juice. Both were refreshing and enjoyable, but unexceptional.


This was followed by a duo of desserts that, in amoeba-like fashion, apparently divided into four on the way out of the kitchen. I think the chef was feeling charitable, and it was greatly appreciated. There was a creme brulee, a banana tiramisu, a cheesecake with berries (the nature of which I missed), and a deconstructed Black Forest chocolate cake. Again, all enjoyable, all quite beautiful, none exceptional.

In the end, I can definitely say I enjoyed my meal, but not so much that I feel compelled to return. I didn't feel the food was lacking, exactly, but the presentations were more impressive than the flavors, which isn't a good sign. To be quite frank, I thought one of the biggest problems was price performance. I'm not the least bit opposed to spending obscene amounts of money on divine food, but $85 for the five-course menu seems rather steep for what we received, especially since it felt more like 4.5 courses, given that two were dessert and one of those was a little sorbet that was, in fact, presented as a "palate-cleanser". And I don't think the price would have bothered me for a moment if it had been a really spectacular meal, but there wasn't a single "Oooooh, that's really good" moment. I think this sounds overly harsh... I did enjoy my meal... but I think the restaurant is positioned a little higher than it should be. It was creative and extremely beautiful. But while tasty, there was nothing gripping or inspiring, which I expect at this level. In any case, one thing is certain. It appears that I'm not the only one who doesn't feel compelled to return. Our reservation was, as my friend described it, "Outrageously early. Like, senior citizen early." So, on a Thursday night, we walked in at 5:00 and walked out at 7:30. During that time, when I say we had the place to ourselves, I don't mean it as a figure of speech. We were the only diners in the joint. With attendance like that, compelled or no, it would seem that returning may not be an option for very long.

Yesterday's Chicago Tribune noted that Zealous will be offering its 5-course tasting menu for $45 on Tuesdays through Fridays in July. Apparently, the price is meant to celebrate its 13th anniversary and roll back the price of the tasting menu to what it was in 1993 (or perhaps its simply an excuse to get people in the door if that many tables are consistently empty -- not many people celebrate 13th anniversaries in such grand fashion).

In any event, $45 seems like a very good deal. I was there last in December and recall having a good meal, but probably not worth the $85 price tag -- but at $45, I think I'll need to try it again this month.

Y'know, I agree... at $45, I'd probably feel very differently

But this duck was barely warm. It would have been very rare for beef, much less poultry. Years of meals in China have made me bolder than I should be when it comes to potential foodborne illnesses, so I wasn't overly concerned, but my companion inquired just to be safe. We were assured that it was, in fact, prepared just as chef had intended.

This wasn't in China but did anyone see that Iron Chef Japan where the ingredient was turkey, and the Iron Chef had never worked with it before, so he made turkey sashimi? And not one person brought up salmonella or anything. I always wondered how many of the judges got sick after that meal.

We were actually back last week and had another fabulous meal.

I had the poached lobster to start and the lamb chop on homemade bbq suace. My date had the crab cake and rib eye.

Wine selection is stellar, and service is attentive without being overbearing.

I love the room, it deserves to be filled up.

Great pics Dmnkly

Interesting about the fabulous reviews. Went to Zealous last year with a fellow culinary student. I agree, the decor was beautiful. Service was attentive and helpful. The food was totally forgettable. We had a skate wing for the appetizer with abosulutely no discernable taste. My friend had the eggplant which was a soggy, dry greasy mess. My entree was steak and much better but not amazing and desserts were OK. The chef came out several times and pointedly ignored us, no idea why as the restaurant was not very full for a Friday night. He visited a nearby table of 4 at least five times during the course of the meal. Perhaps we should try it once more. But it seemed for the price of admission, Chicago has much better.