Coming to Chicago we planned to do one swanky
meal along with what now seems like hundreds of classics. Having
wanted to try something by this chef in Vegas we were thwarted when
the Vegas property was closed (with a number of other joints) in
response to our fabulous economy. Now we had a second shot and this
place has been getting a lot of very positive press as of late. Chef
David Burke not only opened a restaurant but bought a big ol’ bull
named Prime who sires all of the beef for the restaurant. What was
once more commonplace is now rare and only done in places like
Primehouse. Dry aging.
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Most subprimal cuts of beef are cryovaced in
plastic bags and the enzymes are allowed to work on the meat for a
couple of weeks until you get a particular product. Here the meat
sits in a temperature and humidity controlled room, just hanging out
on a shelf until it’s ready. It is a much more expensive way to do
steaks and the meat itself shrinks a great deal the longer it dries.
There is one dish that distinguished Primehouse from others…they
have a steak that is aged for 75 days. Average is 10 – 28 days. What
in the world are they doing here? We arrived to a very trendy hotel (James). Seriously, they have a piece of “art” in the lobby. It is a stack of suitcases filled with a hotel room. The idea being it is the opposite of what is expected. You take your stuff out of the suitcase and put it in the room. This dude went to a hotel with a sledgehammer and apparently without their permission destroyed everything in the room and stuffed it into the suitcases. Welcome to planet why?. |
A Very Odd Lobster Bisque with Apple Essence...Mulligan's was Better in Canton OH |
Surf and Turf Dumplings...Interesting but Not Stupendous |
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Now, from worst to best. We split three apps, three salads and all
ordered the same steak, I almost stuck with the salad but that
seemed even more moronic than not having a particular dish. The
steak was a 55 day dry aged ribeye. It was different than nearly any
steak I have eaten. Grassiness from the feed and complex layers of
flavors; even the char from the grill had a unique taste. Juicy (yes
dry aged steaks are juicy and one of the most concentrated beef
flavors I can remember. It was even better with an extra dose of the
orange-pink Himalayan Sea Salt (HSS). It was good, just cause a
dead horse could use a beating every now and again…it made me wonder
what the 20 extra days would have done. Okay that’s enough.
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Outstanding Bleu on the Wedge |
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The desserts that followed the steak were a trip and a half. We
tried a banana split, key lime pie, and the cheesecake lollipop
tree. The banana split was prepared tableside where the
caramel-chocolate ice cream was mashed into a brick of HSS and then
plated with caramelized banana, brandied cherries, spiced pecans and
roasted pineapple. The whole shebang then got a squirt of caramel
sauce and a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream. Overall very good,
particularly the ice cream. The cherries had so much brandy in them
that any sliver of the fruit quickly slayed the rest of the dish.
The key lime was just as insane with a foot-stompingly tart key lime
filling, a quenelle of white chocolate mint ice cream, and
raspberries all decorated with toasted meringue. Not all agreed but
mixed together I really enjoyed the combination, the ice cream and
meringue allowed you to temper the tartness to whatever degree you
preferred. I could have done without the raspberries. The cheesecake
lollipop tree comes right from the Mad Hatters Tea Party. Tiny rounds
of cheesecake are sticked and dipped into different chocolates and
toppings, arranged on a “tree” and served with a raspberry whipped
cream…fun and delicious. |
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Loaded Chop Salad...Serious Bacon Working Here |
Arugula with Truffle Smoked Tomato, Pine Nuts, and get this Goat Cheese Fondue!!! |
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Our appetizers consisted of the Surf and Turf Dumplings. A pair of
braised short rib nuggets and another pair of what are called angry
lobster. I don’t know that I understand what was angry about the
lobster…I was worried it was going to be some super spicy
preparation that kept you from tasting any lobster but it was tasty
with perfectly cooked seafood. We tried the Lobster Bisque which was
just plain strange. There was a lobster spring roll which had a
lobster spring roll fashioned around an antenna. The soup itself was
poured at the table…over the pile of green apple and other
chunkiness…and it didn’t taste anything like lobster bisque. Until
you scooped up some of the apple lumpiness with it. I can’t imagine
how but that’s the way it is. This was one dish that just went over
my head. I will settle for Mulligan’s or
Craftseak’s simple but
excellent soup any day. Lastly we had the Wagyu Beef sashimi which
was resting on a block of HSS and served with chives, mushroom chips
slices of bread and a truffled mayonnaise. The beef itself was
fabulous and just melted away into a beefy haze. The other
ingredients were good but I preferred the thinly sliced sheets of
raw beef with the chives and chips alone. |
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Beautiful, Complex, Unique |
Still Only 55 Days Aging...Sorry Still Bitter |
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Now for the surprise. I think the best thing we had all night long
were the last thing we sort of ordered on a whim. At a steak joint
what really stood out were the salads. Steph was certain she had
gotten the best one on the table with her first bite. The Loaded
Chopped Salad had roasted peppers, cucumbers, feta cheese, chick
peas, red onion, bacon and a beautiful red wine vinaigrette. The
bacon in this thing was ridiculous. Almost over smoked it had an
almost belly leather texture and would have been suspiciously smoky
(like when the wind shifts at the camp fire and your eyes burn
smoky) but when you eat it with the rest of the salad…Aaahhh
Haaahhhh! We also had the Arugula (Rocket) a peppery leaf which was
served with truffle smoked tomatoes, pine nuts and sat in a pool of
a divine goat cheese fondue. Lastly the wedge was adorned with both
blue cheese and a blue cheese dressing that smacked you right
between the eyes with its blueness. There was some debate over the
tomato vinaigrette under the whole mess but all I could think of was
that BLEU cheese, intense but perfect for the salad. |
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No Kidding. A Cheesecake Lollipop Tree |
KEY LIME Pie. Getting Out There |
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Far from perfect Primehouse did have some
excellent high points throughout the evening. One last thing should
be noted. In one way or another the magical salt (HSS)/orange and
pink crystals/Himalayan Sea Salt kept appearing throughout the
evening. The beef is dried in a room full of it, it’s on the butter,
in the ice cream, the the grinder on the table, under the sashimi,
and on and on and on. As a matter of fact, when we left there was a
lingering salty tone on our palates for a couple of hours. All of
this without every encountering “too salty”. We also noticed that we
weren’t driven to drink a gallon of make up water in an attempt to
restore our chemistry. The side effect we did notice (and at least
blamed on the salt) was our odd state of mind (inebriation) leaving
the building, Giggles grew to laughter, everything was genuinely
funny, we couldn’t seem to work the machines to pay for parking, or
even hold on to the ticket for that matter. When we talked to my
cousin from the car she thought we might be hammered. We didn’t
drink. Was it the whimsy of the chef, the caloric intake, of
something they are pumping into the dining room? Dunno for sure. We
still blame the ubiquitous salt. No officer, I have not been
drinking but I might be DUS. |
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Dude Works Our Ice Cream Into...What Else Himalayan Sea Salt |
The Banana Split with Salted Caramel Ice Cream, the Cherries Are Ridiculous. Too Bad. |
Ratings | |||||||
Food |
Service |
Ambiance |
What's Best |
What's Worst |
Overall |
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B- | B | B | A | D- | B | ||
Salads...Can't Believe It | Cherries and Short Menus |