The Comfort Zone

We have had a lot to celebrate recently, so we treated ourselves to two fun dinners. Last week we went to Graham Elliot Bistro. This Thursday we went to Graham Elliot to really celebrate, as it was also our dating anniversary. That is to say that six years ago, Mark asked me out. I can't believe that we have been a part of each other's life for about a quarter of our lives.

When we started dating, we often went to places like California Pizza Kitchen (we love the club and barbecue pizzas), Outback Steakhouse, or Chili's. In college, it stayed pretty much the same, although we added P.F. Chang's to our rotation. When we got engaged Mark took me out to a steakhouse in Waco called 135 Prime, and we ordered a bottle of wine for the first time ever. We love these places! They serve familiar foods like pizza, steak, burgers, and fries, at pretty sweet prices. You know when you go to these places that there will probably be something on the menu that you recognize and like.

Now that we are in Chicago (where strange, but excellent food is more readily available than it was in Dallas), we have been pushing ourselves to eat things that are out of our comfort zones. It can sometimes be is still difficult for me to look at a menu and see nothing that looks familiar or normal. How is anyone supposed to know if they will enjoy a dish featuring a strange protein (I still haven't tried turbot yet), or a more recognizable protein like striploin accompanied by a strange combination like roasted chanterelles, pocha beans, apples (whew--something I know I like), and seaweed pesto (huh?)? Will all of those things really taste good together? When we went to Girl & the Goat we ordered some things that we would usually ignore on a menu. I mean, I ordered something called Kona Kampachi Crudo. It was a fish I had never eaten before, prepared raw. I happened to enjoy it, and was happy that I had taken the chance to try something new. On the other hand, we also sampled a dish there that I did not like, but I could at least appreciate how the flavors and textures of the dish worked together. I almost finished my half of that dish. As far as I am concerned, that was a triumphant moment for me. As a chile, I once went to a friend's house for dinner and told the mom that I was deathly allergic to beans, which were slated to be a major component of the meal. Has anyone else ever done anything like that? Anyone? Just me? Okay, then. But at least you get the idea that I have come a looooong way in appreciating foods that don't necessarily appeal to me.

These past two weeks we may have gone too far. Graham Elliot Bistro was pretty good. Overpriced, for sure, but pretty yummy. The music and decor had a cool rock vibe, and the drinks get two thumbs up. We tried two kinds of oysters. Neither of us had ever had oysters before, but they were actually alright. Some people are really into oysters, but we aren't there just yet. Our appetizers for the night were a sweet corn soup with avocado, coffee spiced granola, and poblano peppers (mine) and cured pig belly with whipped ricotta, Suffolk grapes, and mustard greens. I couldn't tell you which one was better because I loved them both. Mine was a perfect blend of spicy and sweet, and the hint of coffee in the crunchy granola was surprisingly good.

Then we got to our main courses. I had a pork chop with black beans, huitlacoche salsa, and burgundy okra. I would like to point out that the dish had beans. I loved them, by the way. Mark had charred octopus with spaghetti nero, piquillo puree, and baby mizuna. Now, I only know what spaghetti nero is because of a story my father once told me about a business meal he had once endured while overseas. I didn't think Mark knew what he was about to order--and he didn't, but he decided to order it even after I told him that his pasta would be covered in squid ink. He was thrown off by his initial bites, but ended up enjoying it. I tried his pasta and couldn't stomach more than a bite. Usually, I avoid octopus that hasn't been fried, and combining it with the fishy taste of squid ink was not the most pleasant combination for me. IF this were a competition, this would have been a palate development failure for me and a win for Mark. Dessert was a deconstructed indoor s'more with chocolate mousse, graham cracker crumble, and burnt meringue. We almost didn't order it because we were pretty full, but it was worth it. As far as GEB being overpriced, it would not have been so bad if we had ordered salad or pasta dishes for the main course. Also, we both had enough leftover for lunch the next day, so one could probably skip the apps or oysters or something (but not dessert, DO NOT skip dessert!) and still leave satisfied. 

Not great pictures, but you get the idea. Also, the drinks are
a Manhattan and an Aviation.

On to this week's trip to Graham Elliot. Holy cow. We were not prepared. At least we knew it would take us three to four hours to complete dinner. GE offers only tasting menus, and since we can only go to a place like this once or twice a year, we decided to go all out. GE has two Michelin stars, and this was our first time eating somewhere with two stars. Our last trip to a Michelin-starred restaurant was Blackbird, which currently has one star. We ordered dishes a la carte there, although they do offer a tasting menu. At GE, one can choose between a ten-ish course tasting menu and a fifteen course chef's menu. Their wine list is (according to other people better qualified to judge it than I am) exceptional. We went with the chef's menu and decided to get the beverage pairing so that we could sample as much food and wine as possible.

It's possible that we made a mistake. Don't get me wrong--the food was amazing. There were strange but delicious combinations, food taking crazy forms (dressing that had been turned into glazed chips, foie gras turned into the filling of a figgy oreoish thing), beautifully plated dishes, and excellent service. But, I felt incredibly guilty not completely finishing every glass of wine or course that was brought to us. As far as the wine goes, my MO was to take a sip before the food came, and a sip after every bite. We were served nine different wines and the pours were generous, so if you do the math, drinking all of it would have equaled too darn much wine for me. That said, they were all delicious and really paired well with each course. There was one wine paired with a cold corn soup that actually smelled like creamed corn. I didn't believe the sommelier when he was describing the wine, but it turns out that he was right! 

So, I have established that the wine was great, right? Well, the food was, too. In fact, it was better than great. It was excellent. But we BOTH started getting full around course eight. Eight. We had seven dishes to go and were just starting the halibut, hen, beef section of the meal before sliding into desserts, and the thought of food was becoming slightly nauseating to me. I was overwhelmed by all of the new, strange flavors, and had completely finished every course before the hen. From the hen all the way down to the last lollipop, I finished nothing. Cue the guilt. I felt awful not finishing everything (I didn't want anyone to think that I didn't like the food!), but my stomach and taste buds just couldn't handle it. I won't rehearse every dish (and some of these I probably won't get quite right--between all of the wine and the fact that twenty dishes were described to me, I just can't perfectly remember everything), but we especially enjoyed:
1) our first gelatinous lollipop that had fennel and rhubarb,
2) the amuse which was a mini version of a bagel with salmon, cheese and dill,
3) a cold corn soup with lobster, fingerlime, and dehydrated roe,
4) a perfectly cooked piece of halibut with a delicious crust, some squash, and some caviar,
5) and a prawn with caviar, prawn mousse, avocado sorbet, and tiny rings of crispy plantains.
I didn't take pictures, but Graham Elliot Instagrammed pictures of six of the dishes the night we went, so I have posted those below.

Clockwise from top left: cheese with candied nuts/cubed fruit,
the salmon bagel amuse,
salad with compressed curried pear/tofu chips/Asian dressing turned into glossy chips,
hazelnut mousse/grape jelly/raspberry sorbet dessert,
halibut,
and prawn (it looked like the prawn was jumping through hoops at the circus)

They gave us these bags of rosemary truffle popcorn and a menu to keep
 that listed the main component of each course and the wine pairings

The meal was such a win for both of us as far as palate development goes. We tried everything. We finished everything from courses one-eight, which included prawn (a first for both of us, which we can't wait to have again), a pear salad with flavors we wouldn't normally try, and a charred octopus dish  (I LOVED it and couldn't believe it after my octopus experience at GEB last week). Perhaps next year we won't be so overwhelmed, or maybe we will just go with the smaller menu, but either way we will be back because it was some of the best food we have ever eaten--even if we didn't finish every course on the back end. We are going to keep pushing ourselves outside of our respective culinary comfort zones and hope that you will, too, whether that means making your own mac and cheese with strange cheeses, cooking a meal with exotic ingredients, or ordering something you usually avoid at a restaurant.