We Ate 'Whipped Chlorophyll' At The Peninsula Chicago's Avenues

October 22, 2009 at 2:02 PM | by JetSetCD | Comments (0)

Only days before Chicago's Peninsula Hotel was voted second in CN Traveler's Top Hotels in the United States, we finally sat down for a meal at the hotel's celebrated and highly awarded Avenues Restaurant. Already intimately familiar with the hotel, including their afternoon tea service, we expected this last missing piece to completely blow us away.

And the thing is, our meal at Avenues did so much more than delight our tastebuds; it caused an epiphany in response to the service from the maitre d' and wait staff. Read on for the whole story and the drool-worthy concoctions including "whipped chlorophyll."

Having lived in Chicago for a period and experienced most every hotel—not an exaggeration—through their afternoon teas, restaurants, bars, or actual rooms, we nonetheless have remained always a few steps away from dining at Avenues. For one, the pricetag stopped us (an 8-course meal, with each course consisting of about three bites, costs $118), and we also could never rustle up friends to accompany us and appreciate it.

But with the electricity out in a friend's apartment on his birthday, we decided that it was time for Avenues.

They took our reservation with only one hour's notice, and we arrived to the restaurant just off of their lobby lounge around 8pm. We are often taken by surprise, over and over, at how genuinely friendly the staff are at what are supposedly the snootiest of restaurants. The host addressed us directly by name from the first, and all of our stupid questions ("how do you get milk from an apple?") were answered as though it was their greatest pleasure to enlighten us. Jesus, we thought, if the service is this truly pleasurable, then what's the food going to do for us?

Although we still shied away from the prix-fixe tasting menu, we did manage to taste a variety thanks to having two friends along for the experience. You can view some of the plates in the gallery above (sorry for the horrible lighting—didn't want to break out the powerful flash in such an intimate setting), and drool over the descriptions below:

· Burgundy Truffle $22
Cow's milk infused with 10 year old parmesan cheese, chewy tapioca, crispy sable, chives & blossoms.

· Alaskan King Crab $19
Poached in citrus with elements of cucumber, steelhead roe, kalamansi puree, floral & tangerine lace.

· Faroe Island Salmon $21
Olive oil poached with caper seeds, greek yogurt puree, apple milk & whipped chlorophyll.

· White Pumpkin 22
White pumpkin soup with finger limes, bitter chocolate, duck confit, red & gold purslane.

· Wagyu Beef Cheek & Ribeye $48
White sesame seed pudding, black sesame seed sponge cafe, sudachi & coriander blooms.

For dessert, we decided a change of scenery would be best, so we headed into the lobby lounge for lemon cheesecake, creme brulee and assorted sorbet. It was our first time at Avenues and it'll probably be our last time, but not because of any fault from the restaurant. Quite the opposite; how can we return and expect to top this meal? We can't—simple as that. And it's not like there aren't other restaurants in Chicago we haven't tried.

Full Disclosure: The Peninsula and Avenues had nothing to do with our visit. They simply served some people a meal, which we paid for ourselves, and that was that.

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