Brasserie Jo - Chicago

Happy 4th of July to everyone! I am going to a friends house for a barbecue and some pool time later; I am bringing a new dip recipe, but I haven't made it yet so that post will have to be for another day. In the meantime, I thought I better get going on my Chicago posts so I don't get too far behind.

My sister and I went to Chicago over her birthday, so it was only appropriate that I take her out to a nice dinner to celebrate. About a month or so before our trip I called her up and asked her what kind of food she wanted to go out for, and not surprisingly she wanted French. I am not sure when she became such a French foodie, but it is her current love (we even went for French with our parents when we got back home!). I did some research online and found Brasserie Jo, not only did it have good reviews, but it was only 2 blocks from our hotel. I made us a reservation online and we were all set!

Our reservation was for 7:30, and when we arrived we were given the choice of sitting inside or on the patio. It was a nice breezy evening, and since sitting on the patio in Phoenix right now is not an option, we opted for the patio. While we were scanning the menu, a waiter brought out some bread and butter and some herb marinated carrots for us to munch on. We had never been served carrots quite like this. Basically, they were carrot sticks that were marinated in olive oil, garlic and herbs, they were quite good and a nice fresh start to the meal.

The bread was just your typical baguette and butter, but it was nice and crusty and the butter was soft and easy to spread (I HATE when restaurants serve you hard, cold butter with your bread). We both thought that it was very cute that they served it to you in a bag with their logo, rather than your typical bread basket.

The menu was quite vast, including separate sections for hot and cold appetizers. The one appetizer that caught our eye was the Beer Cheese Beingets. First of all, I think my sisters obsession with French food really stems for her love of beingets. Secondly, I had already inquired, and they did not have beingets on the dessert menu, so I think my sister figured she had to get her beinget fix however she could! They came out golden brown and served over a bed of shredded cabbage, with a remoulade sauce spread on the plate. The presentation was just lovely, and so was the flavor! Neither of us had ever had beer cheese before, but I would describe it as having a bit of bite much like a Swiss cheese. The creamy goodness of the center just melted in our mouths. I especially liked putting some beinget and cabbage on my fork and then dipping it all in the sauce. We both were very happy with our choice of starter, and couldn't wait for the main dishes to come.

For her main dish, my sister ordered the Duck entree. She was very excited because she loves duck and it came with it prepared two different ways; a roasted duck breast and a duck leg confit. My sister had never had duck prepared confit style before, but we have heard about it from our mom because it is one of her all time favorites. She always tells us that if she ever gets diagnosed with a terminal illness, she is going to eat duck confit everyday! The duck was served with fingerling potatoes and braised turnips and a slightly sweet glaze. My sister thought this dish was excellent! She said the sauce had a touch of sweetness that complimented the richness of the duck, but was not overly sweet. She absolutely loved the potatoes, and was pleasantly surprised that she also liked the turnips. She ate the duck breast first, and when it came time for her to try the confit, she was in heaven. The crispy skin of the duck was superb, and she realized what our mom has been talking about all this time! She was nice enough to give me a little bite, and it really was delicious. After she was done eating, all that remained on the plate was the bone from the duck leg...so I am thinking she liked her dish.

When it came time for me to order, I just couldn't quite decide. I wrestled with getting the spinach crepes or the macaroni & cheese, but decided that those just seemed too heavy. I also was considering the lamb with sounded delicious, but ultimately, I decided to order something that I had never had before (I sure am a daredevil, huh?). I ordered the Sauteed Skate Wing. Now I had never had skate, let alone had I ever really seen it on a menu, but for some reason I just wanted to try it. For those of you that are not familiar, skate is a mild, white fish....and it is delicious! I almost couldn't believe that I was actually loving fish this much! While I love fish tacos, tuna and sushi, I am not a huge fish person, I don't eat it very regularly, so this was an odd choice for me. But this dish has turned me into a skate fan! It was sauteed in a caper brown butter, that just made the fish melt in my mouth. It was served over pommes puree (mashed potatoes) and spinach with some crispy potato strips piled on top. This dish was amazing, and the portion was huge, as much as I loved the dish I wasn't able to finish it. My sister tried a bite and declared that she too loved it. We both became fans of skate this night...thank you Brasserie Jo!

Since we were celebrating for my sister's birthday, we had to order dessert too! Knowing that they did not have beingets, we scanned the dessert menu and ultimately decided on the "World Famous Profiteroles." They were described to us as being a pastry shell, filled with vanilla ice cream and then covered in chocolate sauce. The presentation was very nice, they came out without the chocolate sauce, then the waiter poured it over them so we could see the chocolate envelope the pastries. We both took a bite, and well, we just thought that they were okay. The ice cream was really hard, so it was hard to get a bite with all the components. And the pastry shells were pretty flavorless, and kind of dry. I had imagined that they would be more like an eclair or cream puff, but with ice cream, I guess I imagined wrong. We nibbled on these, but ultimately decided they just weren't worth the calories!

The waitress had gotten wind that it was Laura's birthday, so she brought out a small container of chocolate mousse with a candle in it. It was cute, and the table behind us even joined in with signing happy birthday! The mouse was pretty good, we were glad we got to try it, but a whole order of it would have been way too much, it was pretty bitter tasting.

Laura's birthday dinner in Chicago turned out to be a success, the weather was beautiful, the food was wonderful and we had a great time people watching. If we ever make it to Chicago again, I definitely think that it would be on our list of places to return to. And, oddly enough, as we were walking out of the restaurant we ran into one of my co-workers! I knew that he was going to be in Chicago during the same time, but what are the odds in a city that big to run into someone for back home...crazy?!

Brasserie Jo
59 W. Hubbard St.
Chicago, IL 60610
www.brasseriejo.com

Metro Brasserie & Bar

It was a Saturday afternoon, and my sister wanted to get out of the house for a bit, so she called me up to see if I was interested in joining her. While I really wanted to be at home watching the NFL draft, I agreed to just read about it later and said that I would join her. I asked her what it was she wanted to do; but that she did not have an answer for. We tossed around some ideas back and forth and finally she decided that she really wanted some beignets. We had become hooked on beignets ever since we first had them at the Grand Lux Cafe a little over a year ago, and while we don't indulge in them often, sometimes you just need a beignet! Since it was Saturday afternoon, I didn't want to deal with the madness trying to park at the mall where Grand Lux Cafe is located, so I suggested that we try a new French place that is across the street from the mall where the parking would be easier. She agreed and then suggested that we call our "sister" Karen. We called Karen and she was up for it, so off we went to Metro.

Metro is located on the Scottsdale Waterfront (aka canal) right by Fashion Square. About two years ago the area was redeveloped and a bunch of new restaurants have popped up, though Metro is only about 6 months old. Metro occupies the space that was originally called The Foodbar, which didn't last long due to its confusing layout and lack of indoor seating (I mean who wants to sit outside in July???). I had been to Foodbar once, and wasn't impressed, so I was anxious to try its replacement.

It was around 3 o'clock by the time that we arrived, and we happened to be having an unusually cool day, so we decided to sit on the patio. Not surprisingly, there was only one other table occupied, but as we walked through the restaurant I did notice that indoor seating options had greatly improved. Laura and I scanned the menu while we waited for Karen to arrive. Our mission for the afternoon was beignets, but since we had both not had lunch, we decided that we would just order some snacks to share before we got down to business. Once Karen arrived, we decided to order the Onion Soup Gratin ($8), a side of Macaroni & Cheese ($5) and the Moules Frites ($18).

The food came out very quickly, which should have not been surprising considering we were basically the only ones there. The Onion Soup Gratin looked decadent as it was placed on our table. It was quite a large crock's worth of soup, so it was plenty for us to share. The bread used to hold the thick layer of Gruyere cheese was a brioche, which added a rich element to the dish. The soup was excellent, we all agreed that it had great flavor without being overly salty. And we were very happy with the generous amount of cheese on top of the soup. It was a great beginning to our lazy afternoon.


Laura was the first to try the Macaroni & Cheese, and she immediately declared it to be excellent. I tried a bite and had to agree. It had just the right amount of cheese sauce covering the noodles, which were cooked perfectly. The sauce was not overwhelming or rich, it just had a nice smooth flavor. Karen tried a bite next and agreed that it was a very good dish. Laura ultimately decided that this was her favorite Macaroni & Cheese to date, and the portion was just the right size.


Next, a large cast iron black pot was placed on our table, when the waiter removed the lid we were in awe at the huge amount of mussels that were hidden inside. The pot was filled to the brim; Laura grabbed her fork and grabbed the first one. She scooped it out of the shell and dipped it in the broth below before popping it into her mouth. I went to grab one myself, and noticed that Karen was being a bit hesitant. She said that she had never had mussels before, so we gave her a little lesson on what to do, and she was then ready to dig in! She really enjoyed her first mussel experience. The broth that the mussels had been steamed in was light and flavorful, with the most prominent flavor being garlic. Next we tried the Frites (fries) that came with the mussels. They were served in a tin bucket with a dipping sauce on the side. The Frites were delicious; they were served hot and had been sprinkled with sea salt and herbs, and the dipping sauce was an herb mayonnaise. The dipping sauce really made these Frites, it was spectacular, the Frites were good as well, but in general, I like mine to be a bit thinner than these were. We had only made it about halfway through the giant pot of mussels when we realized that if we didn't stop now, we wouldn't be able to complete our mission; beignets!. So we gave up on the mussels (with great sadness) and awaited for the star of our meal to arrive.

The beignets came out, and before I could snap a picture, both Laura and Karen grabbed one off the plate! For those of you not familiar with beignets, they are basically a sweet dough, deep fried and sprinkled with powdered sugar (very similar to a donut). These were served with three different sauces on the side; chocolate Nutella, vanilla bean and raspberry coulis. Laura's favorite way to eat these is to mix the vanilla and the raspberry, while I like all three together! Since this was also Karen's first beignet experience, she experimented with the different sauces and determined that she liked the vanilla best. Laura and I decided that these beignets were the best we had had yet! They were warm and cooked all the way through, so they were not doughy in the middle. They were the perfect finale to our mid-afternoon snack!

The three of us had a very nice time and a wonderful meal at Metro. We are all eager to return for a "real" meal so that we can explore the menu a bit further. Unlike most of the restaurants in the area, they are also open for breakfast, which I am eager to try, as is Laura once she noticed that they have Eggs Benedict! We left Metro and strolled around the shops at the Waterfront for a bit to "walk off" our meal, it was a lovely afternoon and I can't wait to go back!

Metro Brasserie & Bar

7114 E. Stetson Dr.

Suite 105

Scottsdale, AZ 85281

www.metrosouthbridge.com