837 W. Fulton Market

We got a hint of what the Publican was about from Anthony Bourdain, got a good view from Check Please and when we saw a rerun of the former it all made sense. There was no doubt we had to get ourselves over there as soon as sensibly possible and we were pretty certain a group of more than just the 2 of us should be the preference.  Our group of 5 worked out perfectly, and although we did miss the others originally planning on joining in (we'll start working on our next together soon to correct that!), hindsight suggests 7 of us wouldn't have worked out quite as well as the 5 did in the Publican environment.

It's almost invisible from the outside.  It's clearly a restaurant with a smallish patio section open and moderately full even at the almost Floridian (yep, we chose to eat super early again A Previous Article so as to get into a place - but on the plus side they take reservations here) dining time of 5:30, but I totally missed anything that indicated the name of the place - I may have been concentrating on crossing the street at the time, so I won't be swearing anytime soon that there is absolutely not a sign out front.  Therefore, it's possible it's not really invisible.

Inside there's a small entryway with the host stand but once past the host it's one big open room with the open pass area and the kitchen in one corner, a big communal table taking up most of the space is set up in a big 'U' (ahhhh, Conference Centre Set Up Flash Backs...), some cattle boxesbooths along the wall (I get booths, I like sitting in them, but I don't get the logic of these boxed in booth things), a few regulation two tops by the front window, no bar and a few high-top type standing only tables inside the communal table which serves as a wait-for-your-party-and-grab-a-beer area (no sitting before you're all here at this place!) but we did see a couple of people eating there too - wouldn't be my first choice for a place to eat. 

If there was music playing when we got there it didn't take long for the crowd noise to drown it out - not obnoxious noise, just people talking to their friends in a restaurant noise, but at times I couldn't make out what was being said at the other end of our little group (and had we had a group of 7 that would have happened more often).  The place is well lit and there are only a couple of large hog paintings up as artwork.  The bathroom area is not your standard presentation, but works adequately - the first description made it out to be Aly McBeal like, but it's not exactly like that.

It seems they do a good job of managing the seating around the communal table in that once the place was full, it was full with not a stray seat left anywhere.  Well done!  You're close to your neighbors, but not too close.  There's certainly lots of looking at what your neighbors are getting and a little chatting goes on too.  If you're on a Special Date, I'm not sure what you'd need to do to get one of those few 'real' tables by the window, but I think you might feel a little less special on the big table.

Our Server took great care of us early on (actually, to be fair the whole night), but as the place turned from busy to really jamming we didn't see as much of her - no drama in our situation because it sort of kind of gave us the opportunity to hang around a bit longer than we thought we would be allowed based on our early (only option) starting time.  She explained how things worked (our kind of place - menu designed for sharing, some dishes come in small and large, and dishes come from the kitchen as they're ready), she knew the menu well enough to guide us through it and she answered all but one of our questions without assistance, but that's ok as it's a pretty big menu and it could be argued a pretty obscure question.  She bulliedtalked us into ordering everything we thought we would want at the same time (I think you know by now that the two of us really prefer to order a dish or two, enjoy it and then order more) and that she would make sure it didn't all come out at once.  It started off that way, but we got a crowded table to finish up - not a deal breaker by any stretch. 

She was perhaps more knowledgeable with the Beers (or maybe she just really likes her beer?).  Armed with her knowledge and wanting to make sure we knew all the facts (which we appreciate, really!), she almost talked us out of ordering what turned out to be my favorite Beer of the evening.  They do have a wine list, one with not many things most of us would recognize straight off the bat, but I'm sure your Server could help you through it.  And, although I strongly subscribe to wine with just about everything, the Publican just feels to me like a place you should grab up a beer instead - especially with the fun range of beers (and knowledgeable staff) you won't see every day.

It's a fun menu.  Pork focused for sure, but not completely.  Some of the 'nasty' bits available - I've become a little more adventurous on this front but not a lot this night.  Oysters Oysters everywhere.  Plenty of seafood in there too.  There's no delineation between Starters and Mains, but they present the menu in increasing size of dish so if you really really had to have a regulation 3 course meal you'd be able to figure it out.  As it turned out, everything we ordered split up nicely 5 ways - perhaps half of them would have been a struggle to get 7 shares out of.

Our meal went a little like this:

• Dragon's Milk Oak Barrel Ale (Michigan) - an old time favorite ordered with no hesitation.
• Belhaven Scottish Ale (Scotland) - The memories of Scotland A Collection of Articles are still very fresh and this was one of our favorites.  Not quite the same coming out of a can instead of a pump, but a creamy treat that is just nice to have in your hand.
• Domain DuPage French Style Country Ale (just up the road...) - quite light, easy on the head, went down easily and quickly.
• Broederlijke Liefde (Michigan) - I swear I've spelled that correctly!  I didn't get a taste, but there appeared to be happiness.
• Gin & Tonic
• charcuterie plate
  • pork pie - really yummy, but make sure you get a scoop of the saucy thing with it.
  • guinea hen mortadella galantine - not sure what I expected, but missed it when it was gone.
  • head cheese - not for everyone, rich.  No need for mustard or anything else.
  • black pepper salumi - the strongest flavors on the plate
  • morteau
  • pickles & mustards - thanks for being there...
• sardines, cranberry beans, peanuts, picked shiro plums - it's possible I preferred the ragout type thing with them, and don't expect to see anything like what you get in a can
• boudin blanc, potato pancake, aged balsamic, goldenrod grapes - a great sausage made better with everything else joining in.
• country ribs, melon, mojo verde, cherry tomatoes - really tasty.  Juicy and tender and could have come on their own.  The melon was different because it was compressed somehow and I enjoyed it more as an end to the dish rather than with the ribs
• peaches, burrata & pistachios - perhaps the surprise dish of the evening.  Really really tasty.  It's possible the cheese was made with fresh ripe peaches in mind?
• bouchot mussels, geueze, bay, celery, butter, garlic - a yummy beer sauce.  A toasty crunchy bread for sauce dipping.
• Brouwerij Lindemans (Belgium) - the same style of beer as the one that came with our mussels.  Very spritzy, almost champagne like (which is consistant with it coming in a champagne style bottle - I think it had a cork?).  Quite dry.  Sour was the warning we were given, but what sour we found was pleasant.  It worked ok with everything, surprising well with the peaches.
• Brasserie Thiriez (France) - quite hoppy.  Actually, a lot hoppy so not as popular amongst our anti-hop preferring consumer.  Quite light and somehow was a good match with the cheeses.  Massive head - take it easy on the pour.
• Taste of Three Hams - I have no reason to disagree with the descriptions provided.
  • serrano (Spain) - rich, wild
  • la quercia amercano (Iowa) - mild, smooth
  • edward's country (Tennessee) - smokey, young. I was a bit surprised to find this my favorite.
• blueberry fool - a pork heavy place can't skip having it on dessert menu.  This is the place.  Not a big bacon flavor going on, but you know it's there and it's that good salty / sweet thing going on.
• bitter coffee & dark chocolate - tasty.  Gone in a heartbeat.  Rich.  I could argue too rich if you were not sharing it 5 ways.
• cheese plate - no shortage of bread, fun accompaniments with each cheese
  • black sheep (sheep) - didn't know it was a blue, but that's a good thing because we would have skipped it and missed out on a pretty good cheese.
  • 3-year bandaged cheddar (cow) - rich, sort of dry but sort of creamy too.

We're very glad our TV shows steered us this way!  The place is so popular I'm sure it would have gotten on our radar some other way sometime soon, but sooner is definitely better than later.  We'll be back, and probably pretty quick. There's a couple of dishes we really want to have a go at that didn't make the short list this evening.

Do yourself a favor.  Get to the Publican, please, and try something fun!

Stay JOLLY!
DKate, Pete & Kris

1113 West Randolph

We had an early dinner A Related Article and were certainly not ready to go our separate ways. We had a couple of maybe-we-can-get-in-for-a-cocktail places in mind, but weren't particularly optimistic. Market was a close by emergency backup.

The place is easy enough to find with a bunch of security and 'important' people milling around out front.  There's a restaurant (maybe even two) down stairs, but we were only here to get up on the roof and have a cocktail.  Sorry, no idea what they serve in the Restaurant or how good or bad it may be. 

Past a couple of security type people who think they are far more important and useful than they really are and somehow my shorts and sandals didn't keep us out.  A quick chat with the host in the restaurant, and then off to the roof we go.  A supposedly broken elevator meant a quick jaunt up 5 or 6 flights of stairs - ultimately not too stressful.  Greeted by a big beefy security dude in a fancy(?) suit, and again my attire was somehow acceptable but I was easily the least dressed up in the whole place.  A short negotiation and we got a booth.

On a very clear evening, it's a pretty cool view back to the city skyline and getting the booth gave us some room to stretch out.  I certainly felt the urge to take a peek more than once.  The music is fairly loud (no idea what was playing), but they had the Bears game on - I wonder what was on later in the evening?  We needed a credit card on file just to order a round of drinks, they add a service charge on, and it was a drama to get the check split - ultimately not what we requested.

No food up here, not a lot of cocktails, but they do have a number of Vodkas (perhaps other things too?) by the bottle which has a moderately annoying process for delivery - firework type devices attached to the neck while parading it through the place.

We had some cocktails

• Cocktails - nothing special, nothing memorable

I don't need to go back.  The view from the roof back towards downtown is pleasant enough, certainly photogenic (many times, actually!), but the 'view' in the place does nothing for me.  It clearly serves a niche of evening revelers (not sure how we'd define it exactly), but I'm clearly nowhere near that niche in cocktailing needs / wants / expectations. 

Stay JOLLY!
DKate, Pete & Kris

3819 N Broadway

On the slim chance you are as confused as I was regarding the naming of the place - Hearty Boys (on the building) or just Hearty (on the window)? - here's what the Server explained.  Hearty Boys is the original catering company (that still exists!) that opened in this spot and is now the name of the overall enterprise.  Hearty is the name of the restaurant, relatively recently opened.  So easy when someone who knows what he's talking about spells it out...

It's actually pretty low key from the street, but not hard to find.  Inside, it's also fairly low key.  I know orange is the wrong official color, but orange walls, white table cloths and a pretty nice fancy wood bar to greet you as you enter.  One wall is exposed brick with a sort of stained glass thing going on - kind of odd to me, but kind of cool at the same time.  And, there's a 'fireplace' that was right over our table.  We also got to debate the bathroom decor.  Mens & Womens are the same but different in result / execution, but same in theme (girls had needlepoint, boys got oil(?) paintings) - the question to us was "are the pieces special in some way, or were they rounded up at random garage sales".  I don't know the answer, but they were different, fun and conversation helpers (although we had a good chat going all night and could have survived skipping the bathroom discussions...)!  There's an outside area, but it wasn't visible from the street and we didn't bother taking a peek.  It seemed to be fairly busy out there earlier in the evening as we saw a couple of groups leaving from that area about the same time we were settling in.

If you like flowers on your table, stop by and check these ones out.  We had a vase full of Dr Pepper and Diet Coke, and another made of other non-adult beverage cans.  Yep, flowers made out of an aluminum can!  Different, fun, clever and certainly catches your eye.  Normally we get to acknowledge that there's some music going on, but also that we're not really sure what it is.  This time there was no doubt (not that No Doubt!) and it was good.  More often than I can remember at any meal anywhere were there so many songs noticed, discussed and enjoyed as a matter of course by all 5 of us.  A pleasing musical change!  I think it was early 80s, perhaps some late 70s in there too?

Our Server took care of us.  He was around when we wanted him, and no where to be seen when we didn't.  He left us to order in our own time with absolutely no pressure to do anything we weren't ready for - not even batting an eye lid when first we asked to just do the smalls first and second when he came back for the big orders and we said we weren't decided yet.  Thanks!  He answered our non-food questions (see the first paragraph) and he could answer our food questions without a quick dash to see the chef.  He also didn't nag for us to settle up as we chatted for a good while after finishing up dessert.

The menu is comforting!  I'm not sure if the philosophy is 'comfort food' revisited / improved, or if it's 'comfort food' used as inspiration.  Probably a bit of both, but I would lean a little more toward the former if I was forced to lean.  It wouldn't be hard to argue all your old favorites (or classics) are there - Pot Pie, Corn Dog, Mac & Cheese, Deviled Eggs, Chicken & Waffles, Brisket, Meatloaf, Tuna Casserole and more...  It's a fun menu, and more than enough for any one (or group) to choose from, no matter their dining inclinations.

Our meal went a little like this:

• Victory Golden Monkey - description said cloves, I didn't get that but I got something a bit different
• Elderflower Gimlet - so good, more than one was had around the table...
• Brown Derby
• Kali-Hart Pinot Noir - chosen by one who didn't feel like a cocktail, enjoyed immensely by all - it's on at least one shopping list now. At the gentler end of the Pinot Noir scale, so I'd say medium bodied and very nicely rounded.  No hesitation grabbing up a second.
• Deviled Eggs (beet, pesto, curry) - 3 styles, vastly different.  Not great for sharing, but everyone got at least a half of their first choice.
• Rabbit Corn Dog - a couple of the team didn't want anything to do with this, but if we just gave them 'a corn dog' I'm pretty sure we could have snuck it past their concerns.  I bare them no grudge, of course, for their choice!  Way juicier than any corn dog that's ever come my way before, mild, tastes like chicken, not at all gamey, almost refreshing.
• Sage Pear and Blue Cheese Tart - sneaky!  Closer to a pizza than a tart, but really yummy.  Sometimes the cheese is a bit too much, not this one.  Great for sharing.
• Special Salmon, blackened - no hesitation selecting this pretty much the second our guy stopped explaining it.
• Smoked Beef Brisket - perhaps not as much smoke as expected, but a nice piece of meat with a great corn, chorizo and sweet potato sauce type thing as a 'side'.
• Lobster Pot Pie - great sauce, fine pastry top, generous amount of lobster, easily could do this again.  Really want to go this again!
• Diver Scallops - melt in your mouth, almost like butter.  A good kick of pepper from the crust and a fun match with a lima bean / pea puree.
• Lamb Burger - it comes with Sweet Potato Tots (which we found out later you can just get a side of for fun).  Didn't last long, so must have been good.
• Cold Milk and Cake - not just cold milk, but Ovaltine...  A refreshing end to the meal.
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie - a little rich, more chocolaty than peanut buttery.
• Chocolate Martini
• Kahlua & Milk

Score one for the comfort food place!  A big score!  This was a really nice place to enjoy the company of our friends over a great meal.  Absolutely we'd like to go back.  When is always the question, but the next time we have a hankering for some comfort style treats Hearty will be right up at the top of the short list.

Stay JOLLY!
DKate, Ron & Diane

ps.  If you take a seat at the bar waiting for the rest of your team to arrive, it's probably a good idea to sit on the seat the right way around - not compulsary, just a good idea.

2556 W Fullerton

On our previous A Previous Date Night Article visit we noted that we'd like to return but that it was just outside our convenient location range for that to happen too often. We got to return a bit sooner than we realistically thought because our inconvenience just happened to be our friend's convenience - they benefit from an Expressway being close by.  We confidently suggested (k)new and all was well.

Decor wise, nothing has changed.  Still almost a secret from outside, still the same non-bar bar (they're 100% BYO), still the same music (which most of the night we didn't really notice due to it being a fairly busy night and we were more interested in our friends) as far as I can tell, still the almost secret walkway you can wander down to take a peek in at the kitchen from (and yes, the chef was in again for us), and no change to the artwork that my practiced eye could detect.  I don't think I've ever felt the need to mention the bathrooms before, and unless prompted, probably won't again - although I admit to ocassionaly (very occasionally) suggesting to my wife that she has to take a peek in the Men's Room - but our friends felt they had to mention that it was nice that the bathroom matched the restaurant in quality and cleanliness.

Our Server was great.  Nervous, but great.  I think it's fair to say she's more vested in the outcome of our dinner than a 'normal' Server because technically she's an owner being married to the chef and normally works the host stand, but losing a Server right before service they found it easier to find an emergency host.  She admitted to it being years since she actually worked the floor as a Server but had she not said anything I don't think it would have crossed our minds.  She knows the Menu, she knows the Specials, she made sensible (and useful) recommendations to our ordering, she allowed us to order in our own time, she was around when we needed her and checked in on us about the right amount.  She was perhaps marginally more chatty (that's how we (k)new they lost a Server) than we were after, but no reason not to like her for that.

I don't think the Menu has changed much.  As a group we selected 2 Appetizers that we had last time and I managed to pick the same Main.  No regrets.  We've become very Appetizer-centric, often ordering more than one each and perhaps sharing a Main, but it's hard to do that at (k)new due to a quite short Appetizer section and an interesting array of meats in the much large Main section - not a bad thing, just hard!  Four vastly different bottles arrived and the three we got through paired up nicely with what we as a group chose to eat - perhaps not the dessert.

Our meal went a little like this:

• Chilean Chardonnay - almost buttery on the palette.  Not a big nose, perhaps citrusy in the finish.
• Chilean Red of a variety not seen before (perhaps a Carmenère?) - earthy and perhaps some tannins playing nicely with a spicy smoky berry sort of flavor.
• Smoked Salmon, Potato Nest, Horseradish Crème Fraîche - looks are not the highlight of this dish - not unpleasant, but it really does work better as an eating dish than a looking dish.
• Prime Beef Tenderloin, Maytag Bleu Cheese, Fresh Ginger currant Demi-Glace - good thing we still had some bread left for getting the last of the sauce, but the Beef was the star - and cooked just right
• Scallops, Grilled Pineapple - something wonderfully interesting happens to pineapple that has spent time on the grill.  It matched up wonderfully with the perfectly cooked scallops and probably didn't even need a sauce.
• Bogle Red - hard to go wrong with this one.  No complaints from our fish, red or white meat eaters.
• Rack of Lamb, Purple Spinach Garlic Mashed Potato - generous in size, cooked as requested and some might argue not enough mashed potato.
• Duck Breast, Mushroom Risotto - I love a great risotto.  This one could be a dish on it's own, but then you'd miss out on a great piece of duck.
• Halibut - looked good across the table and nothing left behind.
• Chicken Breast, Cognac Butter Emulsion - looked good next to me and nothing left behind.  I'm kind of sorry I didn't think to grab a try of the sauce.
• Dark Chocolate Fudge Cupcake Brownie - if some how this appeared on my dinner table at home I'd be very very happy
• Blueberry Crème Brûlée - good enough to be all gone, not quite good enough for me to remember without assistance.

We're glad we were able to get back so soon and we're double glad we got to share our find with our friends and triple glad that they enjoyed the meal (and the place and our Server) as much as we did.  Again, we hope to be back soon but can't commit due to the not-quite-useful-location-for-us that they selected when opening up.

Stay JOLLY!
DKate, Ron, Diane

1475 W Balmoral Ave

A Holiday get together that rounded up a smaller but familiar crowd A Previous Article.  It's not quite a tradition (arguably well on the way), but we really do enjoy spending an evening over dinner and wine with these friends - apparently we'll be dining in Iowa next time...

Just off Clark Street I think it might be a hard place to find by accident.  One of our group again showed how good she is at finding hidden gems - and one we almost never would have found on our own.  Thanks!  It's technically not hidden, but it is just a simple double-store front size with no flashing lights, just a simple sign over the windows.  Looking at their website there is evidence of an outside area, but on this wintry evening none at all, which would do a good job of attracting some attention.

Inside it's not brightly lit, but more than enough to read the menu and check out what's on your plates.  It kind of looked like more of a bar type arrangement in the half with the front door but more restauranty in the other half where we sat.  If it had music playing it must have been quite low because I have no recollection of it at all - I don't think that matters at all as we had more than enough of great friends a useful Server to keep our attention focused.  Actually, I'm not really sure what the decor was either.  Oh well...  I'm going to go with ok based on the logic that if something was really odd or really bad it would have grabbed my attention.

Our Server did a great job!  He knew the menu, he offered suggestions, he was happy to 'chat' with the chef to answer our questions, he was available, he gave us flutes for our bubbly wine, he was a nice guy who came across as enjoying doing his job.  Thanks Nice Guy Server!  He also had no problems with us ording a Main Course as a group starter, contemplating life for a bit, ordering a couple of appetizers to share again, and then a Main Course each. 

The menu is easy enough to navigate with dishes we can only assume to be Dutch in nature and is kind of fun.  And, if you like mussels you just can't go wrong.  There are dishes where the name meant nothing to any of us, but the descriptions get you pointed in the right direction and our Server filled in any other gaps.  I don't recall if we were given any Specials.  If they did, sorry.  If they didn't, we didn't need any.  They advertise as BYO friendly with only a small corkage charge and we made use of this. 

Our meal went a little like this:

• Chandon California Brut - it's Chandon.  A good honest sparkling, dry without being too dry.  Even though the mussels were in beer, it worked out fine.
• Mussels Amsterdam, Beer, Anise, Fennel, Garlic - definitely get the Anise coming through.  The beer makes a nice change to the broth.
• Something Red - technically we'd started with this one before getting to the restaurant.  Played really well with the the Headcheese.
• Bogle Red - richer than the first, but not big in wine terms.  A definite nice food wine, almost certainly no matter what you chose.
• Housemade Pate & Headcheese - if you don't already know what headcheese is, you probably don't want to ask.  I was a little surprised we got group consensus on this dish, but we all gave it a try and at least 2 of us were pleasantly surprised how tasty the headcheese actually is and won't just skim over it next time it appears on a menu.  The pate was creamy and not as rich as we have come to expect, but tasty indeed.
• Endive and Mixed Greens, Walnut, Apple, Gouda, Mustard Seed Vinaigrette - an eclectic mix of goodies that actually worked well together.
• Something Else Red - we just needed a couple of glasses more than we brought.  We may have chosen a Merlot, or big Pinot Noir?  Nothing to complain about.
• Grilled Lamb Burger - definitely not your Burger Joint Burger!  Lots going on in and around the burger.  Perhaps sounds a lighter dish than it really is.
• Mussels Normande, Cider, Apple, Garlic - again, fun to have a non-white wine sauce.  A little tart, but not unpleasantly
• Duck & Roast Pork Cassoulet - very tasty, very hearty, a definite dessert buster.  And, funny in a good way, our next Daring Kitchen challenge A Daring Kitchen Article (available Jan 14).

We had fun with great friends and were taken great care of.  We'll go back on a date probably sooner rather than later and line up all the mussels (there were 3 other varieties we didn't get to) and hopefully have room to try a Dutch dessert (they have them, right?).  We then might go back again so that we can try out some of the dishes with names we probably would have to order by pointing at rather than saying which look like they could be fun too.

Stay JOLLY!
DKate, Pete & Kris

4111 N Lincoln Ave

Our group was coming from various parts of town so we were never going to arrive at the same time.  No drama as a drink at the bar is rarely a bad way to start the night, but on a night when the restaurant was never full we, as the first to arrive about 10 minutes early, were not given the option to sit at our table - which as it turned out was just sitting there waiting for us - until our party had arrived.  Whatever!

A relatively unassuming place from the outside which kind of matches the feel of the menu. There's a small outside area that probably doesn't suffer too much from the traffic, but not an option on a rainy and coolish Spring evening.  Inside the decor is neat and tidy, but relatively simple.  The bar at the back seemed too tall, but maybe the chairs were just a little short.  And they've been doing ok with awards so there's a section with them all proudly displayed.  We were seated right by the kitchen, but never was bothered by kitchen noises or the staff traveling back and forth.  It's interesting how that worked out because that is not always the case...

We were in absolutely no rush being with friends we don't see quite often enough.  Our plan was to order some 'Smalls' to share, maybe order some more then move on to the 'Bigs' - a plan that has served us well many times.  We got a sort of lecture from our Server that the Kitchen prefers that we order everything and that things might be delayed.  She clearly was not happy when we declined her 'advice'...  She was back trying to get our 'Bigs' before we'd finished our first round.  We did eventually order a second round of 'Smalls' but against my (and really only my) objections we also gave her our 'Bigs'.  For the record, there were no delays other than perhaps how long it took her to get a replacement bottle of wine - and had she not been bothered by our ordering preferences I probably wouldn't have noticed.  And for the record part 2, had we relented at the beginning and order 'the correct way' we would have missed out on the treat of the Stinging Nettles Tagliatelle!

Everything tasted wonderful.  They're very much about sustainable and local product and proudly display their suppliers.  Most would argue this adds to the goodness of the tasting, but I'm not convinced - yet.  Cooked right, presented nicely, matched up with the accompaniments finely!  It all came in a timely manner that suited our mood for chatting slightly more than eating.  We just felt a little rushed in regard to getting the order in, and on a night that our table was never at risk of needing to be turned.

The chef (no idea where he sits in the hierarchy) was out on the floor, but not to visit us.  There was a table of 12 or 14 where we saw him a couple of times and there's no way to know if he usually wanders around or if there was a relationship there - which is of course fine as we've been on the chef-loves-you-more-than-his-other-guests-this-night table and it's nice.  Hopefully he's the chef because it's always nice to know that the chef is in the building and if not actually cooking for you, at least keeping an eye on what is leaving his kitchen!

Out Meal went a little something like this:

• glass Robert Mondavi Chardonnay
• Wither Hills Sauvignon Blanc - some glasses turned into bottles - we liked it and it worked well enough with everything ordered.  
• Pommes Frites - The Gruyere Fondue worked really well, but we found the extra broth of the Mussels works just as well.
• Mussels - Cooked up just right, but the broth was by far the best part - we got a lot of extra bread to make sure we got it all.
• Stinging Nettle Tagliatelle - The Nettles used as a herb are actually in the pasta. 
• Idaho Golden Trout - Boned for your convenience, tasty for your pleasure.
• Lamb Rack - Great sauce!  Cooked just right.
• Canadian Walleye - Must have been really good as it was the first clean plate...
• Pork Chop - Cooked just right, but the Risotto night have been a great dish on it's own.
• Rhubarb Pie - Surprising not served warm, but once we got the hang of it really quite yummy.
• Black Cow - Sharing a Root Beer Float is a nice way to end the evening!

I don't think we can place Browntrout high on our return visit list, but it's probably not fair to take it off completely - we really did enjoy what we ate!  We find it really hard to understand how a restaurant that is putting out great food doesn't match up the service levels.  The Host and Server weren't acting on a whim, so what caught our attention has to be a policy decision, right?

Stay JOLLY!
DKate, Ron & Diane