city with the big art

the day after trotter's we took the el down to the art institute so that DH could check out the modern wing. first, we walked through millenium park to check out the new burnham pavillion. would like to see it at night with the interplay of light on it.



can you guess what paintings these closeups are from?


i learned that in this corner of "la grande jatte," seurat started with the water, and that is why the strokes were larger; as he painted, the strokes became more and more pointillistic.


a few of our favorites.



this was a painting done by someone who was primarily a potter by training. you can tell where his loyalties were.


once again, the japanese screen exhibit was my favorite. they switched out about a third of the screens in august so some were new to me.

and some were not, but i could look at them all day.


afterwards we tried the new restaurant - i hear it's the same chef as spiaggia, which is one of the obamas' favorite restaurants - and ate outside. fun courtyard! this marble is surprisingly ergonomic.

trotter's: The Experience

how does one begin? i suppose the entry is as good a place as any.

here is the view from our seat.

the chefs in action. note the clean white paper in the plating area - placed there to mimic the white tablecloths, so that they can see exactly how the plate will look on the table.

executive chef matt merges. you can tell he's at the top of the hierarchy by his lack of a toque.

i got to plate one of the dishes! i learned that to plate sauces, it works best to hold the spoon near the round part (rather than from the distal end of the handle), and flick your wrist just so.

some shots from the kitchen. they had the cutest little 1-cup size sauce pans - a whole array of them for each sauce for each delicately portioned dish.

here is the array of options for plate toppings.


here is one aisle of the red wine cellar. note the lack of a sharp corner.

the oldest bottle in the cellar is at the bottom of this picture; i think it was 1870? the most expensive is a 1945 bottle at the top of this picture. 35K.

the white wine cellar (one of the aisles).

a bottle rescued from a 1910s shipwreck. valued at a mere $10K.

the studio kitchen where his pbs specials were filmed. (can't figure out where and if i can still view these.)

the sauces inside one of his studio kitchen cabinets. love that you can see them all on this very shallow shelf.

happy anniversary :)

trotter's: The Dessert

Dessert 1. Lychee Sorbet topped with a Green Tea emulsion & Roasted rice. Note the sweet lychee meats under the sorbet.
Paired with a Niagra Grape juice and Adelsheim "Deglace" Pinot Noir 2007.

Dessert 2. Raspberries with honey ice cream sprinkled with honeycomb and sage.

Dessert 3. Late summer apples with caramelized white chocolate ice cream. note the apples prepared 3 ways - the dehydrated thin slice, a chutney sort of thing, and baked? i can't believe i'm already forgetting. i thought i'd remember this forever.

Dessert 4. Arbequina Olive Oil-Chocolate chip parfait with Fraise des Bois. A small amount of olive oil was drizzled on the ice cream! This was my favorite dessert. The chip is a savory sourdough, balanced by the chocolate drizzle.

Dessert 5. Chocolate sorbet with cacao fruit & smoked vanilla.
These last two were paired with Dow's 10-year tawny port.

Petit fours: a raspberry gelee, pepito brittle, and truffle. there was also an almond which was consumed before i remembered to take a picture.

trotter's: The Meal

last week, we had the best meal of our lives. at the kitchen table, we had our own menu chosen for us and presented with perfectly choreographed service. it started with light amuse bouche and became progressively heartier with each course. a symphony in the mouth.

we had 2 sets of beverage pairings that we shared: a wine pairing and a non-alcoholic beverage pairing. when we were in between the non-alcoholic beverage pairings, she poured the "twelve" beverage which was fabulous. created by a group of culinary students in new york, it's a complex mix of savory flavors that seems to enhance every dish. i want a case.

each dish was a constellation of flavors that i would never have associated together, but taken as a whole was an exquisite and surprising explosion for the palate and mind. even more so when paired with the drink. we were particularly impressed with the non-alcoholic beverages - after all, there are professional sommeliers, but who does complex non-alcoholic drinks to pair with food? yet each drink was absolutely amazing. none were cloying, none were too sweet like you might expect from a juice.

1. Presented in a 3 tiered bento box, unlayered at our place. Clockwise from top:
English cucumber with Manila clams & Coriander
Peekytoe crab & smoked salmon terrine in a yuzu gelee
Effingham oyster with sake & relish

Paired with a sparkling pear & rosemary cider, and a Champagne Laurent Perrier "Brut LP" NV.

2. Cold poached cod cheeks with heirloom tomato relish. That thin chip on top is a thinly dehydrated piece of tomato. I think there were 3 different mushrooms.

Paired with Merry Edwards Sauvignon Blank, Russian River 2008.

3. Lemon Verbena Spoon Bread with Honey & Chervil. The sorbet is chamomile. The texture was like cake crumbles, the flavor exquisitely herbal. Not a fan of chamomile by itself but paired with the verbena bread it was fabulous.

Paired with a pineapple & geranium juice! and a Gruner Veltliner Federspiel "Loibner" Knoll, Wachau 2007. The pineapple and geranium matched incredibly well with all the herbal elements of the dishes - the verbena and chamomile in this dish, and the rose in the next.

4. Confit of sockeye salmon topped with a black tea emulsion, sprinkled with rose bits.
Paired with Ginja Shizuku "Divine Droplets" Junmai Daiginjo-shu, Takasago Shuzo, Hakkaido-ken sake.

5. Rabbit Loin with Swan Creek Farm Ricotta, Vidalia Onion Marmalade & Arugula.
This was the one I got to plate so I remember it the best! First I flicked a white ricotta sauce on the plate. Then they placed a fried ricotta stick on the plate. I scooped a chunky vidalia onion marmalade. They placed they tiniest chops - rabbit - on the plate. I drizzled with veal jus and sprinkled with arugula sprouts & flowers.
Paired with Bourgogne Blank Domaine Chevillon 2006.

6. Tempura of Sardine with Plum Consomme and Spanish chorizo. Note that the "chip" on top of the sardine is actually a chorizo mash very thinly spread out and dehydrated/crisped. There was also chorizo diced into tiny bits.
Paired with roasted garlic and cumin "juice"! Not something you'd sip with your morning paper, but absolutely fabulous with the savory dishes. Also a Riesling "Charta" Barth, Rheingau 2005.

7. Suckling Pig with fuzzy melon & kumquat. The skin was a nice block of crunch. 3 preparations: loin, rib, and belly.
Paired with Terlato Family Vineyards Pinot Noir, Russian River 2007.

8. Grilled Cockscomb (!) with ash baked eggplant, green curry & chanterelle mushrooms. The cockscomb was a bit like calamari in texture.
Paired with a smoked seaweed and chervil "juice"! The smokiness enhanced the ash baked eggplant in this dish, and the seaweedness worked well with the next. The wine pairing was a Barbera d'Alba "vigna Martina" Elio Grasso 2005.

9. Japanese Mizutako (baby octopus) with squid ink & rishiri konbu crackers. The smoked seaweed essence paired really well with this dish. The little crispy things sprinkled around the edge were little prawns. I think the foam was seawater foam but we don't recall precisely.
I murmured something to A. about being able to eat the crackers all night long, and almost immediately a plate with two more crackers appeared at my elbow. (just one cracker in this picture - by this time of the evening i had to be reminded to take a picture before i started digging in. not sure if it was because of the wine or because i was dizzy from the sheer spectacle of it all.)
Paired with Etna Rosso "guardiola" Tenuta delle Terre Nere 2007.

10. Crawford Farm Lamb Tongue and Belly with Black Mission Figs & Charred Cinnamon.
This was the only dish that was different for the two of us; mine was served on a bed of crushed pistachios, and his (he had a separate dish because of his nut allergy) had truffle gelees with a crisp made out of mesquite and bean.
The tongue was delicate and tasty. Though I don't think I'll ever eat it again. The lamb belly was possibly one of the best parts of the meal - and I don't even like lamb normally.

Paired with a black tea & fenugreek infused "juice." Also a Bandol "Cuvee Classique" Domaine Tempier 2006.

11. Triple Seared Bison Tenderloin with an Umeboshi emulsion (providing just the meat-tenderizing hint of sourness) & bonito.

Paired with Hourglass "Blueline" Merlot, Napa Valley 2006.

12. Pecorino di Pienza Morchiato with a cracker made with cocoa seed & pequin peppers. on top are the pecorino shavings, on the bottom is a flan-like circle of whey. A lovely transition from savory dishes to the sweet fantasies to come.

Paired with Dios Baco Oloroso. The first sherry that I have actually liked.

I have to put the dessert courses on a separate blog post because there are too many pictures!