TPG CHI XMAS DINNER

As this was my last trip to Chicago for the year and we were ending the year on a very good note with some very nice new business, I decided to take my two partners, Lakeview Coffee and Ricardo out to dinner. It has been a year with lots of personal challenges. All of us have had medical issues and family issues of one sort or another mixed in with our business challenges. In spite of it all it has ended up being a pretty good year.

We went to one of my favorites, Custom House, a part of the Spring Restaurant Group. Both Custom House and Spring have been among my favorites because in my opinion they marry innovation with tradition. Custom House specializes in meat. Being winter, I was in the mood for something with plenty of braised meat options that would go with a good red wine.

For our first course Ricardo and I split an order of sweet breads braised with bacon (neither sweet nor bread by the way) and some duck proscutto with fresh mozzarella cheese and a confit of onion.while Lakeview went with a winter squash soup. The sweet breads were excellent. Neither Lakeview nor Ricardo had tried them before and both passed positively on them. The soup was very good as well but the duck proscutto was in a class by itself.

Duck Proscutto and Sweet Breads

Winter Squash Soup

For our main courses, I went with braised veal cheeks. These were awesome - so tender and rich. Ricardo had braised short ribs - another excellent dish but an entirely different flavoring, more tart, and of course the mature beef has a more full texture. Lakeview had grilled duck breast with a pomegranate sauce that was not too sweet at all. We also ordred three side dishes; a gratin of potatoes and sheep milk cheese, a puree of yukon gold potatoes with cream and chives, and brussel sprouts sauteed with bacon. The gratin was kick butt. I thought the puree ok but not over the top. And the brussel sprouts were to die for - and this is from some one that is not crazy about them!

Our two potato dishes

My Veal Cheeks - I love the way they serve the braised items in little cast iron pans

That's Ricardo's Short Rib Plate across the table - BTW along with that was a 'cream puff w/ a savory cheese cream filling - neat

Lakeview's Duck with the Brussel Sprouts

Our wine was a very nice 2000 Margaux from Bordeaux, that I found at a pretty reasonable price. We ended up splitting a dessert (some sort of ice cream float thing?) that I don't remember too well with a couple of glasses of Sauterenes.

A great way to celebrate the end of our year.