Emma's Birthday Dinner

My 23rd birthday is tomorrow, November 4th. So, today, Wayne and I went out to celebrate my birthday at Graham Elliot.  The chef, Graham Elliot, appeared on Top Chef Masters in 2009 and was also on Master Chef as a judge. So we had some pretty high expectations.

The atmosphere of the restaurant was very trendy and chic with sophisticated lighting.
To start off we ordered wines. I decided to get the 2011 chateau pradeaux rose just because it was pink. lols I thought it was really good, it was a little dry but had a very smooth finish.
We decided to do the prix fixe for dinner. Wayne got the butternut, lamb and chai. And I decided to go with the pear, sturgeon and chocolate.

 

Our waiter came out with a complimentary tasting from the chef. We weren't too impressed by it. I think it had shishito in it and some type of foam. The tasting dish provided the taste bud pallet with a mixture of textures and flavors. It just wasn't something I'd reach for to taste if it wasn't given to me though.

 

For our first course, my pear dish was amazing. All of the elements of the dish complimented each other. The prominent flavor of the roquefort, the sweet and juiciness of the pear and the surprising mostarda. The dish consisted of: pear, roquefort, peppercress, and mostarda.

Roquefort is one of the world's best known blue-cheeses. The flavor was pretty mild and ends with a little bit of salty after taste. I also know that peppercress comes from the mustard family. But I had no idea with mostarda was. After looking it up on Google, I found out it was an Italian condiment made from candied fruit. Weird! But it was pretty tasty with the dish. It is kind of like a ball of jelly.

 

Wayne's butternut dish was a butternut-like soup with noisette, chestnut and sage. I thought his dish would be more like a butternut squash soup, but instead it was just a broth. Noisette is when unsalted butter is melted over low heat and it begins to brown as a liquid in the process. The chestnut was like shavings and added a bit of a crunch compared to the liquid. It was pretty good. I expected Wayne's dish to have a little more butternut flavor. Instead it was just a hearty brown broth with textured chestnut shavings. Again, I wasn't too impressed by it. But Wayne thought it was pretty good.


For our main course I had the sturgeon with rutabaga, apple coleslaw, and Gruyere. Now I gotta say, the best dish for the night was my sturgeon. The sturgeon was perfectly cooked. It was a little fishy but because it was cooked to the T, it was savory and smooth for a fish dish. The rutabaga was kind of breaded and provided a little bit of contrast to the texture of the fish. It was almost like a crab cake in presentation and texture.

Wayne got the lamb with an eggplant, pistachio and yogurt. I thought the eggplant puree was pretty good under the lamb. Wayne and I both thought the lamb was pretty good in texture, it just was a tad bit salty. I think the eggplant was mixed with like chickpeas or something with pistachios. The puree added another texture to the lamb's meaty flavor. However, I felt like the dish needed one more thing crunchy or sweet to add another dimension to the dish. But it was still pretty decent.

Then for dessert we got the carrot with maple, ginger and raisin and the chocolate cake with gianduja and mexican. They both were pretty good. I thought my chocolate dish would be a little more chocolatey. The cake was kind of bitter instead of sweet. Which I can understand, because it's dark chocolate and gianduja is pretty bitter. I just thought they should have added an element to counter the bitterness with a sweeter chocolate or puree or something.

 

We ended the night by getting another drink at Union Sushi Bar & Grill. If you ever get a chance to go there, you should! It's like sushi/robata grilled tapas.  Also it sounds silly, but I thought they would at least say happy birthday to me. Wayne had specifically put on OpenTable that we were out celebrating. Oh well.

So note to self: if having expectations for a fancy restaurant either forgo the expectations and just eat and be happy OR  just go to my favorite fancy place and all of my expectations will be met.

 

 All decked out in my orange dress & my black rabbit fur coat from South Korea.

Honestly guys, MK Restaurant was the best ever.  Seriously though I've never had a better experience. It seemed like everyone (to the waiters to the busboys were on their A game.) When I had gone there with an ex, almost everyone at MK said happy birthday to me. And when Wayne and I had gone to celebrate our 1 year, they came out with a desert plate saying happy anniversary. I mean when we're shelling out the big bucks, I expect a great experience/accommodations for our money. Because honestly, it's the little details that matter the most. I'm honestly surprised that MK doesn't have higher ratings on yelp.

In short, our experience at Graham Elliot was nice for a birthday celebration. It just didn't hit m expectations for a really fancy restaurant.

BUT I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world though because I got to spend it with the most amazing guy ever. And honestly, that's all that matters to me. :) Thank you Wayne for taking me out for my birthday. I love you. <3

As always,
"The Couple that Grubs Together, Stays Together"

-Grub Couple-

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One Year Anniversary Dinner

Wayne is going to take me to MK Restaurant for our one year anniversary dinner.  It's my favorite restaurant in Chicago. One reason is because the food is amazing. The last time I had went there I had gotten the salmon and it was perfect. The salmon flaked off almost immediately. I remember I had also gotten concord grape sorbet and dark chocolate creme brulee for dessert and it was absolutely delicious. I also remember the concord grape sorbet was very fruity yet tart and the creme brulee was absolutely smooth and flavorful. The second reason why I love this place is because the atmosphere is great. The last time I had gone, it was for my birthday. Many of the staff members wished me a happy birthday which made the experience more memorable and enjoyable. Plus the service was impeccable and everyone was friendly. So,  I'm really excited to go and experience MK with Wayne.<3

To be continued... :)

**Update**

I'm going to let Wayne write on our experience at MK since it was his first time going there.

Wayne here. Going to talk about our experience at MK and OMG was it terrific! We told them in the reservation that we were celebrating our 1 year anniversary and it seemed like everyone from hostess to waiter to the manager knew of our special occasion. First there was the custom menu below greeting us. I love little things like this because it shows the staff cares about our experience. What I love about the menus are that they are seasonal including the drinks. They tasted sweet with blends of citrus fruits.

 

The menu when we arrived said happy anniversary!

Me looking pretty spiffy drinking my MK's 10 Year Anniversary cocktail

-hangar one buddha's hand citron, st. germain, grapefruit and mint-

 

Emma's cucumber martini

-effen cucumber vodka, coconut water, and lemon-

Emma looking pretty in her blue dress

Our first dish was this awesome tasting watermelon dish. Again they know how to take what's in season and do something special with it. All watermelons should taste as well seasoned as this. Now the scallops were perfectly cooked and the puree complemented it like Pippen did with Jordan. The fries rock. That's all I have to say about that. 

 

Watermelon, pistachio and feta cheese

 Scallops

Amazing gourmet fries

For the entrees, we had the duck and halibut. Both were wonderfully cooked as the texture for both made me think miracles happen. With the duck came some cous cous that made a good side with the duck, vegetables, and sauce. The halibut did not taste like fish, but instead like eating a juicy cloud. Both duck and halibut are often overcooked, so eating them nice and tender makes them worthy entree items. For dessert, we shared each other's beautifully blended pieces.

Duck 

-Grilled la belle farms duck breast, ramps Italian cous cous, green garlic puree

 

Halibut 

-Asparagus and other yummy ingredients that I can't remember-

 

They wrote happy anniversary on our dessert plates :)

 You Put The Lime In The Coconut

Coconut panna cotta, young coconut gelee starfruit, lime, cashew passion fruit sorbet-

Two Bananas Walk Into a Bar

Banana souffle cake, marshmallow macadamia nut, dark chocolate malted banana ice cream-

Cheers! To One Year!

In conclusion, MK did a fantastic job taking multiple flavors and feelings to create something even better. What wonderful imagination this place is and having an impeccable and unpretentious staff is icing on the cake. And what made this dinner so special was the fact that we were able to share two great places we enjoy (Publican and MK) while creating new memories together. :)

As always, 

"The Couple that Grubs Together Stays Together"

-Grub Couple-

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