Chicago Filet Quickie

Eric

I had the good fortune to be in Chicago two weekends in a row recently, so I did a little comparison eating. On the first weekend I hit David Burke's Primehouse, and the second I went to Osteria Via Stato. At both I had the filet.

I went to David Burke's Primehouse during a bachelor party with a group of 8. I was having a good weekend and ready for some steak. My group lapped up the waiter's description of the Himalayan Salt cave David Burke uses to age his meats, and I was intrigued by the lengths they go to for steak. The same bull (nickname Prime; real name 207L) sires every cow that is eventually served in the restaurant. Busy restaurant - busy bull. This bull even has his own site: http://www.meetprime.com/ I am a filet guy, so it was an easy choice to get the Southside Filet Mignon - litely aged and bone in - and the choice was made easier by my servers guarentee that this would be the best filet I've ever had. Unfortunately it was pretty average. It was missing any hint of salt to punch up the outside. On the inside it suffered an extreme case of bone-in cooking diferential (btw that is a completely made-up term) - I ordered medium rare and it came out medium well-ish away from the bone while pretty rare near the bone. Doing a little research now tells me the idea was that the bone was supposed to impart a little more taste into the filet. I don't think it worked.

2 tines for this steak. Sorry Prime.

Osteria Via Stato was a recommendation from some Chicago friends. Despite my general rule to only get steak at steakhouses, I was eager to put the DB Primehouse steak behind me, so I ordered a filet again. Maybe it wasn't a fair test because I ordered the filet with gorgonzola. But, I'd put this filet up against David Burke's any day. No famous bull, no fancy steakhouse prices, just a tender and tasty filet topped with creamy and sharp cheese. My mouth is watering writing this.

3 tines for this steak. Thanks for the recommendatin Mark & Vero!

Birchwood Duck Confit

Chris and Raka:
Get this:

Birchwood Cafe.
Duck Confit.
Steamed Brussels Sprouts.
Onion Crisps.
Creamed Polenta.
Red Wine Reduction.

... $13! What a deal!

Rating: 4 tines.