Graham Elliott Bistro

We went to dinner at Graham Elliot Bistro in the West Loop. This is not the first time we have tasted GE's food - two years ago we went to Grahamwiches, a Graham Elliot sandwich shop and we enjoyed it, but unfortunately it is now closed. We thought about going to the main Graham Elliot restaurant in River North but around the time we were thinking about it, the executive chef had recently changed and we didn't like the menu as much (and actually the main GE restaurant will be closing at the end of 2013).  So we needed to get to this restaurant before anything happened to it.

Grilled Flatbread

The menu is not that large but there were lots of items that tempted us. It is gourmet American fare and changes seasonally. We ordered lots of smaller dishes so we could try a lot.

Grilled flatbread with ricotta, onions and lardon (pork bits) - this was warm and crunchy and all of the flavors were balanced.

Shaved Asian pear salad with celeriac, puffed greens and shaved sheep's cheese.  This was light and crisp with a smooth finish because of the cheese.  It was a bit of a different salad because there wasn't any type of lettuce in it - but that actually made Natalie like it even more.

Shaved Asian Pear Salad

Chantarelle risotto with truffle, Parmesan reggiano and egg yolk.  Nick was concerned about this dish because of the egg yolk.  He is not a fan of runny egg yolks so we weren't going to order this.  But we were talking to the waiter about liking risotto in general but not the concept of the egg yolk in particular.  The waiter did a great job of explaining the dish and actually alleviated Nick's fears - in fact the dish is kind of like a carbonara pasta dish where the egg gets cooked as it is mixed into the risotto itself.  So by the time it was all mixed in it was rather tasty. The risotto ended up as Natalie's favorite dish of the night.

Chantarelle Risotto (before egg mixing)

Wild Boar Papardelle

Wild boar papardelle with tuscan kale, juniper and maitake mushrooms - this was Nick's favorite dish. He liked the hearty flavors of the boar and vegetables with the fresh pasta.

Cornmeal crusted skate with beluga lentils, leeks and caramelized cauliflower.  Cornmeal crusted must be the way to prepare seafood as we had some other seafood prepared this way a few weeks ago.  The fish was nice and moist and the sauce very tasty.  We appreciated the other savory dishes more than this, but the skate rounded out a good meal.

Skate

We saved room for dessert and sampled both the Smores and the Dreamsicle.  Both came out served in glasses so they had a different sort of presentation.  The smores dessert had a chocolate mousse, graham cracker crumble and burnt meringue layered in the glass. Although tasty this didn't fit Nick's expectations of a smore.  The Dreamsicle was a vanilla panna cotta with orange and lemon layers.  This lived up to its name and fit well within its presentation.

Final thoughts on Graham Elliot Bistro:

Smores (up front) and Dreamsicle (behind)

Food - nice overall meal; we loved some of the dishes.  It is a little pricey for what you get but you are dining at a "celebrity" chef's restaurant.

Dreamsicle

Service - excellent service.  The waiter talked us through the menu which was helpful as the menu isn't that descriptive.  The utensils and plates were changed after every course we had.
Atmosphere - the inside is a bit reminiscent of a church (as its is a described as a church to food). There are saint candles lining the walls but instead of real saints they have pictures of friends and fellow chefs.  (For example there is a candle to Joe Bastianich one of Graham Elliot's co-judges on Master Chef and it says St Joe Bastianich, Patron of Death Stares and has a picture of Joe sitting on a throne like a Sith Emperor from Star Wars.) Guess it is funnier seeing it in person. The interior is not that large, but it looks like there is an outdoor area for the warmer months. The bill came out attached to an old record - an interesting and novel way to display the check with a rock n roll vibe.