Steak in Chicago - Gibsons vs David Burke

Image courtesy of Anotherpintplease on Flickr via Creative Commons

Chicago is my kind of town. Urbane. Steeped in exciting history. On a lake so big it feels like an ocean. The home of the skyscraper. Oozing exciting restaurants like Alinea, Charlie Trotters and Moto. Posted there on work for a few days I put some feelers out about where to eat. Fiona Beckett, the Frugal Cook, came up trumps by sending me a brilliant article she had written on the subject. I used it as my bible!

Top of my list were Frontera Grill, which is famous for its Mexican food and a bunch of steak houses. My theory is that Americans do steak and Mexican food far better than we tend to over in Blighty. Sadly, we had to spurn the Frontera Grill, in favour of focussing on steak. In part this was due to their website which looked like it had been created in the 1980s by someone afflicted with colour blindness.

Our first port of call was Gibsons. 2 large, sipping tequilas and a couple of beers to the good, we were in the mood for embracing our inner carnivore. The restaurant was packed. Throbbing. A seething mass of greedy consumption. Just how a good steak house should feel. Not quite and deferential. But bristling with steak knives and humming with bravado and virility. For me nothing gets closer to the spirt of America than a restaurant that specialises in overfeeding people with expensive (and delicious) meat.

Upon arrival we jested around with the girls at the front desk. Jokingly I asked what she recommended, expecting her to say "steak", but instead she spent the next minute or so expounding the virtues of their double baked potato. I pictured this as simply being two baked potatoes. But it turned out it means a potato that has been baked twice!

We were lead to our tables, having been fashionably made to wait by a gentleman dressed in a white jacket. No sooner than we had sat down than we had been given a glass of iced water each and another white jacketed waiter was showcasing a range of tantalising steaks. It has only struck me what a great marketing ploy this is. And bravo to that. We couldn't resist and almost tripped over ourselves as we pointed and blurted out medium rare.

I had W.R.’s Chicago Cut and Patrick very modestly went for a small rump along with a small side salad (that was vast) and some creamed spinach. Apparently the W.R. Chicago Cut is quite famous. It is a bone in rib eye named after William Rice, the Chicago Tribune Food and Wine Columnist who used to adore it. I really am a sucker for a steak with a bit of history.

The steaks were both excellent. Mine was moist, charred, juicy, tender and seemingly never ending. I loved the crispy fat around the bone and the way the meat takes centre stage, just as Sinatra and Streisland used to here in the restaurant's former years. There's no messing around with chips, salads and dodgy tomatoes (unless you ask for them). The Americans do steak so much better than we do. They treat it as an art form and aggressively debate the merits between wet and dry aging. At Gibsons they wet age their meat which is frowned upon by the steak-onados. I cheekily asked whether the cattle had been grass fed and was laughed at as the man in the white jacked proudly explained they were grain fed USDA prime. This steak was hard to fault. The only slight whiff of criticism would be that the meat could have had more depth of flavour.

All around us groups of men (with a few women scattered in for equality's sake) gorged themselves on giant lobster from Australia, steaks the size of Chicago and cakes that burst out of the normal confines you'd imagine constrain the word gluttony. We couldn't help but be charmed by the intoxicating atmosphere and left both physically and emotionally fattened up.

The following evening I went to David Burke's Primehouse at the James Hotel for part two of my steak adventure. The website claims, impressively:

"The restaurant features meats hand-picked from Creekstone Farms in Kentucky that are dry-aged on the premises in a Himalayan salt-tiled aging room....

... Prime is the name of our prized bull. Residing in the bovine splendor of Creekstone Farm, this magnificent 2500-pound Black Angus senior herd sire has a proven ability to breed offspring that achieve the highly coveted USDA quality grade in Creekstone’s proprietary progeny testing program.

Marbling is what imparts the unique flavor and juiciness of high quality beef, and Angus beef is recognized as the superior marbling beef breed. But Prime takes it to the next level. Based upon computer modeling of Prime’s lineage and offspring, he ranks in the top 2% of the active 14,361 Angus bulls in the United States with recorded purebred offspring. That means Prime’s unique genetics and offspring provide the finest dining experiences across the United States."

Wow. That's some serious attention to detail. I'd kill to see inside their Himalayan salt-tiled aging room. And to actually feature the exact bull that is the sire of all the meat is even more AWEsome. Having said all this, it does make things feel a bit cryogenic and weird! It takes away the image of cattle grazing on the Welsh hills and a bit of the magic. They even supply the name of their beast - Prime 207L.



Danny and I arrived early and were immediately shown to an empty booth. The restaurant was very smart as you'll see from the image above, but lacked the buzz of Gibsons and felt a bit flat. The waiters here wear black as if to add a more scientific and premium edge to contrast with the white jackets further uptown. Our waiter was extremely efficient and professional. It was the sort of performance that would see him alone being reviewed ahead of the steak back in London. But here this sort of service is the norm. When Danny and I noticed that he reminded us both of Ben Stiller's performance of a nurse in Happy Gilmore we almost had to walk out because we couldn't contain ourselves.



Instead of bread we were given what can only be described as a very well cooked Yorkshire pudding in its own little saucepan. A great touch of theatre, even if it was a bit odd and failed to satiate my desire for bread!

Then came some miso glazed scallops which looked sad, small and lacked any miso flavour. The lobster fried rice they came with was only two thirds accurate and missed the only exciting ingredient. Never over promise like this. It made me wish I had order the Angry Lobster, which has to go down as one of the best named dishes I've seen in a long time.

We were both drawn like mosquitoes to a flame towards their 55 day aged 20oz bone in rib eye which the menu proudly points out was voted Chicago's best dry aged steak in 2008. It was served perfectly medium rare. It had a slight crust and deep flavour. The flesh melted away to the soundtrack in my head of Blur's "Tender". Our Caesar salad was made at our table for added drama and extra freshness. It was all hard to fault. Prime 207L is one impressive beast.

I loved the contrasting experiences. The steak at both was excellent with David Burke just shading it for the flavour added by the dry aging process. But overall, the atmosphere at Gibsons far outdid the stiff and slightly contrived vibe at the DB's Primehouse. It's quite telling when you look at David Burke's website and find his range of flavour mists, dusts, pastrami salmon and salt. He's obviously a hell of a cook, but it just all seems a bit false and gimmicky. As a result Gibsons wins this little battle. Next time I'm keen to try out Morton's which steak-onados seem to approve of. I'm now looking forward to continuing my quest for the perfect steak in London. Any suggestions?

Alinea, Chicago

Most reviews of Alinea point out very early on that it was acknowledged as being the best restaurant in America in 2006. Most diners at Alinea have never seen anything quite like this before. Most diners don't come here on their own!

So I rocked up to 1723 N. Halstead Street on my own and tried not to look too much of an idiot as I walked up to an unidentified door and pushed on it. Luckily I had got the number right and I walked in to a kaleidoscopic hallway with a medley of fibre optic, futuristic lights. Whislt being drawn in by the tractor beam some doors automatically slid open and I found myself inside the nerve centre of America's most cutting edge restaurant.



Having arrived 15 minutes early because the traffic wasn't as bad as I was expecting I was offereed the option of going away to the bar next door and coming back quarter of an hour later or sitting in a chair in the hallway and watching the action in the open kitchen. Being on my own I made the slightly awkward choice of sitting in the hallway gawping at the intense activity in the kitchen.

15 long minutes past before I was lead to my table, tucked away in the corner of a spacious dining room, next to the servers's cutlery and wine station. The benefit of this was that I always had something to look at whilst twiddling my thumbs between courses. I had decided not to bring a book or camera with me so I had a lot of time to people watch and contemplate.

Having decided to go for the 12 course tasting menu I turned down the attempt to upsell me on the wine matching option and allowed the sommelier to choose a lightly oaked American chardonay for me. He was a fantastic sommelier who kept me company when it seemed like I wanted to talk to somebody!

Rather than give you a blow by blow account of the food, I'm just going to describe the highlights and add some of my thoughts. The menu is just as shown below:



Steelhead Roe:

A lump of coconut and lime cream with a string of steelhead rowe arrived on the end of a vanilla looking like an old fashioned in pot and quil. A refreshing, intriguing start. And a sign of the brilliance that was to follow.

Spring Garlic:

A forkful with 3 jellies: parsley, lemon and chicken and a bowl of garlic soup. First eat the jellies and then let the warm garlic soup glide over you like an unexpected treat. Delicious. Has the flavour and depth of the best roast chicken. Incredibly smooth. And very clever.

Ice Fish:

One of my favourite things on the menu. It is fish and chips but deconstructed. Tiny slithers of fish are served with the component parts of tartare sauce scattered over the long thin plate. When they combine together in your mouth you are unexpectedly transported to the Godlen Hind on Marylebone Lane! Highly unusual. Great success.

Lobster:

Wow. So clever. With a fair amount of American fanfare a large bowl was placed front of me with a slightly smaller bowl inside. The outside bowl had a sprig of mint and spearmint jutting out of it. The inside bowl contained an instensely flavoured lobster and pea broth with a lobster foam. The server elaborately poured some boiling water into the outside bowl which caught hold of the mint sprigs and forced all of their refreshing vapours straight up my nostrils like a big, pleasant, hit of Morocco! Memories came flooding back of long afternoons walking around the Medina and causal breakfasts in our Riad. Then when I tasted the lobster broth I was in Rick Stein heaven! The chunks of lobster were soft and sweet. The liquid itself was deep and smooth. Much finer than a typical lobster broth and depth charged with something called ramps - apparently they are a type of leek that is native to the Chicago area. It was a work of genius. My only criticism was that the peas were hard and chewy. For some reason I felt compelled to tell the sommelier. But only because he asked. I was astonished when appeared back minutes later with the chef's appologies! Only in America. If Ramsay was down there he would have thrown me out there and then!

Wagyu Beef:

I have had wagyu beef before and was deeply disappointed. Not this time. Disappointment simply wasn't an option. Whilst I was waiting for my chicken and garlic soup, a gentleman all in black very earnestly put a bizarre looking frozen thing on my table and explained in great detail that it was a slice of wagyu beef frozen in liquid nitrogen and should be left to defrost at my table. Then when the time was right a scorching hot oblong plate arrived with a cube of potato on that looked as lonely as I must have done! It was wrapped in a very thing slice of black truffle. 2 waiters performed the ritual of folding the now defrosted wagyu beef over the top of the warm truffled potato and hot plate. The marbled meat gently let go of some of its fat and yielded to the warmth to take the chill off. A third waiter, the most senior of the now triumvirate ceremoniosly spooned some vinagerette over the beef and then crowned it with 2 thyme leaves. Wow. What a theatrical experience. A minute later it was all gone and I was sighing with approval. Delicious. The temperature of the raw wagyu beef meant that it simply melted in mouth and the truffle left my mouth feeling like it had just french kissed a whore house - in a good way! The thyme and vinagrette then cleaned away the delicious filth and left me wanting seconds!

Bacon:

Erm. Bit of a weird one. Out came a device looking like it had been used by the CIA as some sort of rendition initiation or as a brace for someone who had broken their neck. From the high wire dangled a slice of crispy bacon topped with an apple and butterscotch glaze designed to bring back memories of the bacon and wafles you had for breakfast - or so the waiter told me when I asked what the idea was. Very cool. Very photogenic. Very tasty. Nice story too.

Persimmon:

Having no idea what persimmon was I soon discovered when I put the myriad component parts in my mouth that this was Hansel and Grettel on a plate. It was a deconstruced ginger bread cake. Very clever. Big round flavours.

Chocolate:

Very hard to describe - but I'll have a go. Raw egg yoke in a sphere that oozes everywhere as soon as your curious spoon gets close. A chocolate shell surrounding a loose creamy centre that was delicious. And then a bunch of smokey salt spots drizzled around the plate. In addition a bit of dried orange peel added an architectural flourish. Fantastically rich feel in the mouth and stunning presentation.

Having bored you to death with my gushings about what I liked I'd better explain why I haven't reviewed each course. Essentially, whilst everything was really interesting to eat and experience, I didn't feel it was all perfect either in its execution or its conception.

Fava Beans was something you had to see to believe. But was bland to taste and I didn't understand the idea.

Hot Potato was a medley of hot and cold potato with what tasted like a mushroom soup. I got the feeling it was being clever for the sake of it and wasn't really going anywhere. Essentially like eating a punctuation mark.

Short ribs were oh so tender and tasty. But the combination of peanut butter and Guinness seems wrong. Maybe my palette is too basic. I took some time trying to work it out and decided it was like in MasterChef when Gregg and John tell the participant that what they've done would be great as two different dishes - but not on the same plate. Beef and peanut = satay beef. Great. Beef and Guinness = a classic. But all together tastes like a badly edited Wikipedia entry. Full of clever stuff. But unreliable and confusing.

Lamb was similarly complex. Again it may have been my stupidity but it was a collection of 4 or 5 dishes in one that baffled rather than delighted. Lamb with mint. Fine. Lamb with mushroom. Fine. Lamb with red wine. Fine. Lamb with red pepper reduction. Fine. Lamb with smoked walnut. Really interesting. All together on one plate? Weird. No wonder the menu listed this as "diverse embellishments"!

Rhubarb appeared in the form of a spherical shot with ginger and basil. It was stunningly refreshing and I am told is a parody of an American ice cream. But the waitress cleared away my glass whilst I was still eating it. Why? Just to be efficient? It's probably an American thing. But I found it incredibly rude.

Don't get me wrong. I loved the experience. It was fascinating and delicious. Having eaten at the Fat Duck and El Bulli I am lucky to be able to place this meal in context. El Bulli is insurparsable. And the Fat Duck probably is too. But this was good. It lacked consistency. Whereas there were themes and riffs running through the experience at the Fat Duck and El Bulli the menu at Alinea doesn't seem to have the same fluidity. Whereas El Bulli constantly surprises and plays the menu at Alinea is more expected in the flavour deparment and relies more on visual techniques. El Bulli pushed my culinary boundaries into places I had never been before. Alinea didn't. It was far safer. At times Alinea over-complicated to the extent that you don't get the idea.

I have been wanting to go to Alinea for around a year now and am delighted to have had the opportunity. It was a very special evening. Being alone gave me the chance to really think about each mouthful which is not really what eating is all about. And as a result, maybe I have been overly critical. The highlights such as the lobster and wagyu beef will stay with me for life and the bits that confused are just me being a snooty food snob.

Don Roth's Blackhawk Prime Rib in Deerfield, Illinois

I've just come back from my first business trip to Chicago and have a wealth of foodie experiences to share! Having arrived in Chicago on Monday night I was feeling a bit disorientated and thought I would ground myself with some steak!

I asked the friendly staff at the Embassy Suites where I should go and they recommended the Black Hawk. Great atmosphere. Awesome meat. A free shuttle ride later and I was sat at my table in an empty restaurant! It was a Monday night so it wasn't really a surprise. With Jay Rayner's aptly keeping me company I had plenty of time to take in my surroundings and take stock of all the Blackhawk's back story.

Luckily most of this is on their website so here's an extract:

"Don Roth's Blackhawk in Wheeling has over 37 years experience serving great steaks, prime rib and absolutely fresh seafood in the historic home of the famous "Spinning Salad Bowl". Enjoy the history of Don Roth's original Blackhawk restaurant, which played a significant role in the big band era, and continues to exceed expectations daily.



At Don Roth's Blackhawk Restaurant, the atmosphere is paramount to good eating. In our restaurant, you will be surrounded by memorabilia from our original Blackhawk Restaurant in Chicago. The items that are seen in our establishment played a significant role in the dining and dancing era of the 20's, 30's and 40's.

Moreover, your ears will be filled with music that will delight your senses and appeal to your sense of nostalgia. Our staff is poised to serve you an excellent meal at your own pace. After all, the overall dining experience is our specialty."

There was plenty of memorabilia, in the way that TGI Friday's has mock memorabilia. And as for atmosphere. You could have cut it with a thing that doesn't cut very well. Apart from me there was a group of 5 fat middle aged salesmen and an elderly couple trying to pay with out of date vouchers!

My "server" Mary Beth was a gem. We bizarrely got into a chat about her forthcoming pilgrimage to Europe to do a tour of The Virgin Mary's holy sites. This is not an area that I feel very comfortable with so in some ways it was lucky she took the lead and just talked! She obviously thought that being on my own I need to have my ears filled with something!

When it came to ordering I asked for a black and blue Prime Rib and was greeted with a short, contrained laugh. Prime Rib is not steak. Whoops! It is a hunk of beef slow roasted for 10 hours and then served quiveringly soft with some chips and a light "au jus", or meat juice. My girls' size steak came with some horseradish cream and tasted delicious. They have a speciality and they do it superbly well. I have never had beef as tender as this. Why don't we have Prime Rib joints in London? Maybe because our meat would make it too expensive...

The Prime Rib was preceded by "Don Roth's Famous Spinning Salad" which simply invoves a blue cheese dressing salad being made at your table by the server who spins the aluminum (sic) bowl on a bed of ice for some showmanship.

To be fair to Don Roth, their specialities were fantastic. It's just a shame that the atmosphere they boast about on the website is so lacking in reality. Maybe it was my fault for arriving jet lagged, late on a Monday night!