Ever (**) Chicago
Been following Curtis Duffy since before he left Alinea, and after 15+ years I finally took a Chicago trip and got to try his food.
Definitely not worth the wait. It was a solid meal, I'd still recommend it, but I don't feel the need to go again. I expected a certain amount of 'avant-garde' that just wasn't there. I did Schwa and Feld on the same trip and would revisit both of those multiple times before Ever.
The positives:
- NA drink pairing - Honestly, I saw more standout creativity here than anything else. Two of them - a chamomile-cocoa soda and a mushroom cordial - were easily my two favorite things of the night.
- Buckwheat dessert - The only food I had that was truly out of left field. Had the nice tang of a good bread, while still sweet and a perfect final dessert.
- White asparagus with caviar and potato - definitely nothing new, but still absolutely delicious.
Negatives:
- Every dish came with a minute-plus-long explanation of what Chef likes and how he likes death metal and why the butter is skull-shaped and he likes sweetness with his mushrooms so here's some kiwi and he likes candy so here's a room of candy... it got grating, especially after hearing from a friend that he's apparently rarely at the restaurant during service. Came across as insincere.
- 'Thai Curry' coconut soup with roasted chicken - A whole lot of technique and presentation went into something that didn't taste notably different from a $10 tom kha gai takeout.
- Wagyu course - It tasted great, but really didn't feel substantial enough for a final savory course. It came on a giant square plate that the servers literally joked about the size of... it felt like the living embodiment of the "fine dining is never enough food" stereotype.