Graham Elliot – Chicago, IL
I would be lying if I said I didn’t have a crush on Graham Elliot Bowles.
Sure, I pretty much have a crush on any degree of attractive dude holding a chef’s knife. But when I was first introduced to Bowles on Top Chef Masters, I was immediately drawn to the rolled-up sleeves of his whites that exposed…what is that? A Jawbreaker tattoo?! Who is this dude, and why have I not been following his career since I was born?
Of course, I am always drawn to chefs because we have an obvious common interest. But first and foremost, independent music is my everything and the single most definitive thing that makes me who I am. I’ve been going to shows for over ten years, watching (and in several cases, nurturing) bands from my area outgrow basements and side stages and sometimes get too big for their britches. I travel the country to watch my favorite bands and have been devoted to many for close to a decade. It’s serious business.
That said, the media has their quintessential bad boys and girls in either demeanor or in physical attributes. Having tattoos doesn’t necessarily make someone alternative. Just because Megan Fox has tattoos doesn’t mean we are in the same scene by any means. So as much as I love the pigeonholed “bad boy” chefs like Anthony Bourdain and Michael Symon, I don’t consider them people to whom I can relate.
There are obvious presumptions that can be made by any guy that is ink-covered and/or beard-clad. I felt an immediate affection for Kevin Gillespie in the last season of Top Chef because he looked like someone whose crew I could roll with. But to see Bowles with a tattoo of a band I love, I immediately rooted for him, felt instant kinship with him, and became incredibly intrigued by his cuisine that was seemingly kickass. I wasn’t left wondering about this dude – I just automatically assumed he was awesome. And then I started following him on Twitter and saw his exchanges with The Get Up Kids (one of my favorite bands), solidifying every suspicion of awesomeness I had.
I swear this wasn’t supposed to turn into a profession of love for Graham Elliot Bowles.
But, actually, it was – because I finally tried the food and was happy to discovered that my adulation was not in vain.
Graham Elliot was my most highly anticipated meal of my trip to Chicago, largely because of this connection I feel with my fellow music fans, no matter how much or little I know them. But if I found out that some chef from Wyoming had a Saves the Day tattoo, I would gladly visit his restaurant, too. I think that a certain level of creativity and artistic merit comes with involvement in punk and hardcore, so I knew to expect some nontraditional combinations. Not to mention I had read articles about Bowles’ affinity for Cheez-Its, a sentiment I can back entirely and without hesitation.
Thanks to Lauren, we had a primetime reservation: Saturday night at 8:15. We were a little peeved to arrive about five minutes before our scheduled time and be seated about 15 minutes after our reservation time, but we patiently waited it out in the crowded bar area. The decor of dark woods was warm and cozy and not at all pretentious. Lauren noted, and I agreed, that it was awesome that servers were allowed to dress casually and comfortably. Definitely establishes a level of ease with the clientele.
Once we were finally seated, we were presented with menus and a basket full of popcorn in lieu of bread. If you know me, you know I have very strong feelings about popcorn. And by “strong feelings” I mean it is pretty much my favorite snack food and I can wolf down bagfuls at record speeds. This was absolutely, without a doubt, 100% right up my alley.
My main issue with this popcorn is that I WANT TO EAT IT EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY. It was freshly popped and warm when it arrived, dressed lightly with white truffle oil and I think parmesean cheese? Maybe some herbs? I don’t even know, I just know that it was stupidly delicious and addictive. I have literally been fantasizing about this popcorn since it arrived to our table. Is it impolite to ask for seconds? Thirds? Because we didn’t and I wish we had. The popcorn wasn’t greasy or heavy at all – just different, delicious flavors and intensities with each handful. We concluded that this popcorn would definitely be featured on The Best Thing I Ever Ate: Snacks if Food Network ever puts us on the show. Graham, if you ever read this, please ship a monthly bucket to New Jersey.
First course – hated the presentation and loved the dish. It was listed on the menu as tuna carpaccio, but I was beyond delighted when a plate of white tuna arrived to the table. The slices were accompanied by avocado mousse, passion fruit puree, crispy plantain, and dusted with cocoa nib. Sounded crazy on the menu, but the combination was brilliant. I think that the cocoa nib was was really brought the entire dish together and set it over the edge from being good to awesome. The flavors were bright and distinct; you could taste each ingredient within each bite. The very definition of clean flavors.
For the main course, I got the Waygu beef with fingerling potatoes, cippolini onions, watercress, and cabernet jam. I requested my beef to be cooked rare, and rare it was! Look at the gorgeous, deep crimson of that meat. The texture of the beef was smooth and buttery, able to be severed with just a single knife stroke. The cabernet jam was perfectly sweet, tart, and almost a little smoky, like barbecue sauce. All of the other flavors worked together tremendously, but for personal preference, I would have cooked the onions softer, cooked the potatoes crispier, and julienned the watercress – it was a bit difficult to eat such large pieces of leafy watercress and a couple of pieces stuck to the back of my throat.
Lauren’s lamb entree came out perfectly cooked but cold. She understandably asked for it to be redone – I mean, if you are spending a pretty penny on a dish, you want it to be worth what you’re spending. The staff could not have been more understanding and accommodating, insisting they remake the dish. They even offered to remake my dish, so as to not make either of us uncomfortable. For reasons of waste , I declined. I thought the offer was very generous and considerate. When the lamb came back, it was cooked a little over, but Lauren said it was still incredible – just took it down from being an 11 to a ten.
I don’t even know where to begin with this dessert. On the menu, the combination sounded a little weird – chocolate torte with Frangelico financier, apricot jam, salted caramel, and cream cheese ice cream. Sure, chocolate and caramel, or chocolate and cream cheese – but all together? I love all of the elements separately (seriously, I wish it were socially acceptable to eat cream cheese out of a tub), but my curiosity was piqued by the combination. However, I firmly believe that if a trusted chef puts seemingly weird things together, it has to be good and I usually trust his/her judgment.
The plate arrived and I examined it with wonderment. I was expecting something much richer, much heavier – and I couldn’t have been happier that it wasn’t what I was expecting. I love chocolate, but I think a lot of places are a bit heavy-handed when it comes to chocolate desserts. This was like nothing I had ever seen and nothing I had ever tasted. Definite Best Thing I Ever Ate status.
I got all of the elements onto one forkful – the financier (which is essentially spongecake), the torte, the jam, the caramel, the ice cream, and the crisp cookie that was set atop – tasted it, and was instantly sent into total dessert euphoria. My eyes widened and I immediately slapped my palm against my forehead, giggling with delight at how blown away I was. The cream cheese ice cream was cheesy but still mild (unlike Ben and Jerry’s Imagine Whirled Peace, which is disappointingly and vomit-inducingly sour) and the sea salt sprinkled on the chocolate provided the perfect balance among the sweet and sour elements. The cake itself was light and airy, but still not overpowered by the chocolate. Overall, it was delicate, satisfying, and in a word, perfect.
Aside from what I thought to be a small main course, my dinner at Graham Elliot far exceeded my already-high expectations. I had read in reviews that the staff was pretentious, but I found nothing of the sort. They were attentive and knowledgable, and in fact, I appreciate the honesty of our server. When Lauren ordered her dessert (strawberry shortcake) and an iced darjeeling tea, our server made a face and suggested that the tea was really plain and would probably overpower the dessert. Most places probably wouldn’t offer that advice, but I was impressed that she felt that would be valuable to us.
Bowles is slated to open a new sandwich shop, Grahamwich, any day now. It will feature sandwiches, snacks, housemade sodas, and housemade soft serve – so, pretty much, it’s going to be awesome. From the articles I have read, I’ve gathered that the truffle popcorn will be featured. And the second the opening is announced is the second that I will be researching when to go back to the Windy City. I miss it already.
