The Purple Pig

We went to dinner at The Purple Pig in Chicago. This restaurant has only been open a few years but has received lots of awards including James Beard awards.  It is located on Michigan Avenue, is very popular and doesn't take reservations so it can get very busy.  We saw reviews that talked about 1 1/2 to 2 hour waits.  We decided to go there on a day when we carpooled together to work so we could go straight to dinner.  That way we got there at 5pm.  This was on a Tuesday and we were able to walk right in and get a table. By the time we were leaving all the tables were full and there were a lot of groups waiting, so we lucked out.

Cheese Plate

The Purple Pig does have a lot of pork related dishes, but that is not all. Their menu is quite extensive and there are antipasti items, smears (to spread on bread), fried items, cheeses, paninis and a section called a la plancha (which literally means cooked on a griddle).  They claim that their dishes are more tapas/small plates style so they encourage you to order more than just a couple of things. We found that some of the dishes were indeed tapas size but others were more regular size and therefore we were pretty full by the end of it.

What we ordered:

Greek Cornbread with honey and cheese

Cheese plate with Hickory Kidde, Owl Creek and Chocolate Goat cheese. We started with a cheese plate with 3 different cheeses on it. There were 25 different cheese selections so we had to rely on the waitress to tell us about some of them because the descriptions were not listed and all of the names don't necessarily tell you much either. One of them was sort of Gouda-esque, another wasn't that memorable and the Chocolate Goat is what it sounds like, chocolate goat cheese.  This was really fun and interesting and almost could have been a dessert.

Bobota "Greek Cornbread" with feta, mizithra cheese (sheep and/or goat cheese) & honey - this was really good and unique; a play on cornbread with the traditional honey and then with a couple of Greek cheeses to make it more interesting.  It all tasted great together and it is something that could be done easily at home to jazz up cornbread. The creaminess of the cheese offset the sweet honey to find a perfect balance to complement the cornbread.

Eggplant Caponata with Goat Cheese

Eggplant caponata with goat cheese - this was one of the smears that you put over bread.  The bread was already covered in goat cheese and then the eggplant went on top. It was quite a large portion (larger than just tapas size).  It had a thick coating of cheese which was almost too much (although it is quite difficult to say that you ever have too much goat cheese). Because of all the cheese and the "smear" nature of the eggplant it did get a bit messy as well. We both really enjoyed all of the flavors but for a tapas style dish it was overwhelming for just 2 people.

Chorizo Stuffed Olives

Chorizo stuffed olives - just what they sound like these were olives stuffed with chorizo.  They came from the fried section of the menu so they were lightly fried and served with a creamy sauce to offset all of the robust flavors.  These were the perfect size and gave us just enough of a taste to leave us wanting more.

Pineapple Glazed Rib Tips

Pineapple glazed rib tips with grilled fava beans, green onion and fennel - we really enjoyed this dish but when it came out to the table we were taken aback because it was really not a tapas size at all; it was pretty much a full entree size so we were starting to get full.  The topical flavors were nice with rib tips.  We wished we could order it again without have ordered as many other things to fully enjoy it.

Pork secreto with roasted red pepper, leeks pickled watermelon rind - this dish sounds better than it actually was. The pickled watermelon rind was different and not what we expected.  But overall this dish just couldn't compare to the rib tips.

Pork Secreto

The dessert was a chocolate mouse tart with candied popcorn.  It was playful and reminiscent of something Graham Elliott would do.

Final thoughts on The Purple Pig:
Food - lots of options which could be overwhelming.  We enjoyed several of the items but there were a couple of misses as well. Also we are fairly adventurous eaters but there are some dishes we felt were a little scary including tripe, pig's feet and blood sausage.  So be aware when looking at the menu.

Chocolate Mousse dessert

Service - it was good to have a very knowledgeable server who was friendly and willing to answer all of our questions. Maybe if we had asked a few more questions we would have been steered into different (and maybe better?) dishes
Atmosphere - the interior of the restaurant is not very big.  Although they have seating outside during warmer months we opted to still eat inside because it was so hot outside. Inside there are a couple of long communal tables.  We were happy to have arrived early enough to get our own table. The restaurant is also known for wine which seemed to be quite plentiful so there are lots of wine racks making up the decore. They were playing rock music a little loud to somewhat drown out the noises of the exposed kitchen.  Overall we would consider going back if not for the potential long waits because they don't take reservations.