Review: TRU

Last weekend when in Chicago we had the opportunity to dine at TRU. You will recall that last time we went to Chicago we went to TRU to enjoy pastry chef Gale Gand's desert's. This time we went to enjoy Rick Tramonto's cuisine. I called to make reservations back in September and was able to secure TRU's Kitchen Table. We more or less got to eat in a small room just off their kitchen, we got to see the inner workings of the restaurant. At the Kitchen Table they prepare a 10 course collection that is presented and explained by the chef.

Upon arrival we were whisked back to the Kitchen Table where upon we met our waiter for the evening, Carlos. Carlos would take good care of us throughout our nearly four hours of dining. We started with a pair of amuse bouches, the first being fennel on a spoon. The second being some sort of squash that was supposed to resemble an egg. I frankly didn't care for either one and Janna for the most part agreed, though she liked the second better than the first.

Our first course was a Selection of Sashimi Grade Fish with two sauces, one of which being a organic soy sauce shipped from Japan. The fish was top quality, raw of course. One was a smoked salmon that had been marinated in Earl Grey, the other two I didn't catch. Accompanying the fish were these red threads that chef was very excited about. They weren't hot but they were warm in the mouth. The fish melted in my mouth and the soy sauce was excellent. I'm here to tell you, I absolutely loved this course and Janna was in complete agreement.

Our second course was Alpine Bay Oyster, Tempura Uni and Sorrel. I'm here to tell you I hated this course and it has nothing to do with the quality of the food, I simply don't like oysters. This was meant to be a somewhat deconstructed oyster chowder. Janna enjoyed it more than I did, I frankly couldn't bring myself to take more than a bite of the oyster.

Our third course was Duck Consommé, Duck Confit, Chestnut, Black Trumpet. This was hands down the best course of the meal, it was absolutely perfect. It was a cold day and this soup was the kind that you would just love to have curled up next to the fireplace. The Consommé had a background of sage that hit you right in the nose, it was wonderful. The chestnut whipped cream was excellent and the black trumpet mushrooms added real depth of flavor. And how can I forget the duck confit, perfectly sweet and succulent. This dish was worth every penny we paid for dinner.

Our fourth course was by far the most out there of the meal. Liquid Parmesan Gnocchi, Hedgehog, Serrano Ham. The chef explained that this was like a Parmesan gusher, he used some sort of solution to create a skin which contained the liquid inside. They were quite interesting, molecular gastronomy lives at TRU. I thought this was a fascinating dish, the hedgehog in particular. The Serrano Ham added the perfect touch of saltiness. Janna and I both enjoyed this dish.

Our fifth course was Nantucket Bay Scallops, Cauliflower, Chickpea, Meyer Lemon. I had told Janna earlier in the day that I hoped we would get scallops and we did. They were absolutely wonderful, perfectly sweet. The chickpea was fried and tasty, the cauliflower came in both puree and fried form, I thought was a little to much. The Meyer Lemon added a perfect kick of acid. All in all, a very good dish that we both enjoyed.

Our sixth course was Scottish King Salmon, Granny Smith Apples, Coconut, Thai Long Peppercorn. The salmon was poached in olive oil, it was perfectly moist. I thought the apples were a somewhat odd pairing but what are you going to do. I thought it was a decent dish, Janna didn't like it so much.

Our seventh course was Roasted California Squab, Butternut Squash, Hazelnut, Farro. This was absolutely fabulous. Squab, for those of you who don't know is pigeon. It's dark meat was cooked medium rare and it was out of this world excellent. This dish was probably my third favorite, Janna enjoyed it to. I will be getting squab wherever it's offered.

At this point we took a break, we were given a tour of the kitchen and restaurant. The main dining room has a number of interesting modern works of art, which if you're into that you would be in hog heaven. Carlos ran through the list of awards Tru has received, it's one of the top restaurants in Chicago, consistently getting the highest rating by reviewers. Once our tour was finished it was on to the eighth course a selection of Cow, Goat & Sheeps' Milk Cheeses. We each had a number of different cheeses that were all quite good.

Now it's time for our final two courses, both deserts from Chef Gand's kitchen. We both got a desert amuse bouche of devon cream with polmagrante sauce and pop rocks. It was fabulous. We were each given different deserts, Janna started with Lemon Chiffon, Vanilla Pot de Crème, Lemon Curd Ice Cream, Citrus Suprêmes and I started off with Roasted Pineapple, Coconut Sorbet, Cashew Frangipane, Sourwood Honey. We tried a bit of each others, I can tell you that Janna's lemon chiffon was excellent. I'm not usually a big fan of pineapple or coconut but this desert was excellent.

For our final course Janna had Dense Chocolate, Hazelnut Ice Cream, Coffee Fluff, Vanilla Salt, Hazelnut Crunch and I had Chocolate-Port Semifreddo, Spiced Chocolate Bisque, Orange-Cinnamon Truffle. Janna's was excellent I must say. Mine was also quite good, the spiced chocolate bisque was a bit much in that there was way to much of it. Other than that, the semifreddo was excellent.

Once desert was over we got a selection of Mignardises & Lollipops. At this point, I was to stuffed to continue eating, though I did have a nibble or two. We each got a lollipop to take home, what Janna did with them is beyond me. In any event, our meal was fabulous and I must say that TRU lived up to its reputation. This isn't the sort of place you pop into every Friday for dinner but my goodness would I like to. The experience was excellent, a real blessing to see God's creations cooked up in such imaginative ways. We both highly recommend TRU, it deserves the 5 stars it consistently gets.