The braised veal cheek starter was quite pleasant, melt-in-your-mouth tender, paired with white wine cabbage, half a Thumbelina carrot, fried garbanzo beans, chickpea puree and a smear of curry aioli on the plate. I loved that waft of warm spice from the curry as I worked on the dish, even though I’m not sure if it really belonged with the other flavors on the plate.
For entrée we got the ruby trout, which was a rather tiny
piece of fish, though cooked to perfection with sublimely crispy skin. This had
a side of sautéed spinach and faro, pickled cauliflower, dill, orange and
salmon roe. At this point we peeked at the table next to us and noticed how
much smaller our portion seemed in comparison. Hmm…maybe that voucher wasn’t so
much of a deal after all.
After the entrée came a surprise course on the house:
kicked-up grilled cheese sandwich. I don’t remember exactly what was in it, but
vaguely recall the words: grilled Wisconsin cheddar, cherry mustard and
caramelized onions. It was paired with a glass of hard cider. The server was
thoughtful enough to ask if we are both ok with the alcohol. Given my
next-to-none tolerance for alcohol and for the sake of other drivers sharing
the road with me, I opted for the non-alcoholic substitute…which was some weird
concoction from the bar mixed to taste like the real version. I didn’t taste
the alcoholic one so I can’t comment on how successful the imitation was, but
mine tasted like cloyingly sweet lemonade with some dead bubbles. I liked the
cherry mustard and onions in the grilled cheese sandwich, but found the
exterior of the sandwich too greasy, and that grease made the weird drink taste
worse. Not my favorite part of dinner.
Finally, dessert came. I have a big sweet tooth, so I was
really looking forward to this. I had the Grape, which was composed of grape
jelly, peanut butter ice cream, toasted hazelnuts and some sort of shortbread.
Friend got the Chocolate, the components of which I have completely forgotten.
My grape jelly looked like a piece of lavender soap, but once I got over the
looks it actually tastes quite nice, light and slightly fizzy, like it was made
of sparkling grape juice.
The peanut butter ice cream was the most memorable
part: it was so goddamn salty! The amount of salt in it would have been too
much even in a savory dish, let alone a dessert (and ice cream!). I took two
swipes at it with my spoon and just couldn’t stomach it anymore. That was the
first time I’ve ever left dessert unfinished.
Friend’s chocolate mousse was
rich and luscious, but I’ve never been a big fan of rich chocolate desserts, so
I’m not going to say much about it.
All-in-all, it was a rather disappointing experience. Perhaps my expectations were too high. Perhaps I'm still suffering from my over-eating in October. My overall impression at Sprout was too much work on dish
composition, not enough in terms of flavor combinations. Also, portions were woefully small. For $40 per person, I
have had better & more satisfying food elsewhere. Without the voucher, this would've been even more difficult to stomach. I’m afraid chef Levitski
will need to step it up in order to survive in a city with so many good dining
options.
1417 West Fullerton, Chicago, IL
(773) 348-0706
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