Photos by Stuart-Rodgers Photography
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Bin 36 Thirty-six is a magic number for Dan Sachs' new restaurant where there are about three dozen different things going on, mostly involving wine. By Nancy Ross Ryan
Last December, I stepped for the first time into the 13,000 square feet that comprises Bin 36. And I wondered how it was ever going to come together, as planned, into an informal Tavern open for lunch and dinner, an elegant Cellar dining room, an informal Coffee Bar, and, above all, a unique place to drink, buy and learn about wine. The occasion was an AIWF (American Institute of Wine and Food) reception; the space was finished but not furbished, and it felt more like a warehouse with hors d'oeuvres. Bin 36 did indeed come together and the fault was not in Dan Sachs' vision but in my lack of it. Since that time I have lunched in the Tavern once, dined in the Cellar twice and can't wait to meet a friend for drinks before dinner at the 24-seat zinc-topped oval bar that sits in the 35-feet high atrium.
Bin 36 (no special significance to the number except that Sachs like the sound of it) has three partners: Sachs, who also owns Spruce (Esquire magazine named it Restaurant of the Year); Brian Duncan, Spruce's wine director, and David Schneider, general manager of Spruce.
Executive Chef Bernard Laskowski cooks American bistro cuisine, and the menu has a nice mix of American regional and global foodstuffs and concepts. Laskowski's background includes a grandfather, who made his own wine, and a grandmother, (a great home cook), who prepared a bilingual cuisine: Polish and Guatemalan. Before culinary school at Kendall College he learned the basics of French cuisine at Le Ciel Blue (Mayfair Hotel), and consistency and production at Papagus (a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant). During culinary school he took a pastry position under the renowned Chef Jean Joho at the Everest Room. There he learned the karma of mistakes "Working in pastries, you cannot make a mistake or your final product is ruined," he says. And he learned there's no end to learning, because Joho gave his apprentices a book from his library to read every night in preparation for the test they would be given the next day. After Everest, Laskowski went to France and Italy learning artisinal foods and food-making techniques. When he returned to Chicago he worked with Michael Kornick at Marché as a line cook, and at a sister restaurant, Red Light. From January of 1997 until he took over the menu and kitchen at Bin 36 Laskowski worked under Chef Mark Baker at the Four Seasons. At Bin 36, says Laskowski, "I'm serving flavorful yet simple dishes that bring out the most in wine."
If I had to name one outstanding point of difference between Bin 36 and most other restaurants it would be that the food and the wine not only mesh, but the menu -- which lists wine bin numbers under each menu item -- makes it impossible to go wrong. For example, for lunch I ordered an appetizer of Hand Rolled Gnocchi, with a ragout of woodland mushrooms, smoked tomatoes and leeks. Three bin numbers were listed beneath it, all of which, our wait person assured me, would be light enough not to drown the pasta but assertive enough to stand up to the smoked tomatoes.The gnocchi were tender, light and feathery -- but full of their own flavor -- and surrounded with a stew of plump quartered fresh mushrooms, some leeks and bite-size chunks of the most seductive skinless smoky tomatoes. Same scenario for another first course at lunch, the soup of the day, a virtuous carrot ginger soup that had a captivating sweet-spicy flavor, a texture that was more assertive than a smooth puree -- and perfectly satisfying without being loaded with cream. The menu suggestion was to "Allow us to make a recommendation." But my heart was set on the World Whites Flight, four 2.5-ounce portions of some very interesting-sounding white wines. The waiter urged me to order what I wanted (pointing out that there is really no food-wine match decreed in heaven). The first wine, bin 23, of that flight was a muscadet and it just got along fine with the soup. The rest of that flight was a learning experience, strengthening my growing fatigue with big oaky California Chardonnays and showing me in one sitting what the world of whites has to offer. In addition to ordering wines by the glass, I and different companions have ordered various flights. Among favorites are the World Whites (I loved them all, uncritically), the White Rhone Wines Flight (the Viognier was our least favorite), and the World Reds Flight (the rioja was a little light, but oh! that bin 46 Petite Sirah from Napa).
I can't say enough good things about the regular (as distinguished from the leather-bound reserve) wine list, its total lack of snobbery. There are 50 wines, including sparkling, all available either by the bottle,the 6-ounce glass, or the 2.5 ounce tasting portion. And, says David Schneider, "You can create your own flight." Schneider says that the wines on that list change, but not so frequently that people can't come back and find a favorite, or buy it to take home. All wines on the regular list are available retail (along with a variety of other wine-related gift items and baskets). The flights come on paper place mats with the bin number of each wine marked, and customers receive a small card (to take home) listing the wines in their particular flight and the flavor characteristics of each.
The reserve wine list has wines not readily available and worth ordering for special occasions or, as Schneider puts it, "When you want to go deep." The wines come from auctions they have attended, from Brian Duncan's relationship with boutique vineyards that allocate to him a case or two of very limited-production wines, and wines that they have cellared over the years.
The food is as imaginative as the wine list and, with very few exceptions, very well executed. Dinner starts with a terra cotta pot of thick slices of moist, chewy country bread and a plate of sweet butter cut into triangular slabs. At lunch the menu is more limited and includes little pizzas as well as appetizers and main courses. And the Tavern menu has an abundance of appetizers and small plates, along with a burger (and yes, terrific French fries and also thick, crisp Kettle Fried Chips).
From the top: The Mussels, about two dozen, are plump and sweet and bathed in a cilantro-white wine broth. The hand-rolled gnocchi have already been rhapsodized. One of the most interesting and delicious first courses is the Diver Harvested Sea Scallops served on a bed of French green lentils cooked slightly al dente and studded with shards of tender braised ox tail. The soups (we've slurped down two) were good -- the carrot-ginger (above) and the Cider Spiced Butternut Squash-- but plain looking. A little garnish? The Shaved Serrano Ham topped with its salad of baby arugula and grated (not shaved the day we had it as the menu said) Parmesan was an appealing taste combination of smoked ham, pleasantly bitter arugula and sharp cheese. But, alas, the ham was plastered to the plate. Unlike oily salmon slices which don't stick, the thin Serrano ham does. It took some determined fork work to separate it.
Main courses we have loved include Crispy Striped Bass which came in a big bowl atop slices of grilled squash on a foundation of a meaty portobello mushroom. There were tomatoes and capers sprinkled around, and the fish was crisply seared outside but moistly tender within. One day at lunch I opted for the Atlantic Salmon special of the day. It was succulent and sweet and nestled on a bed of julienned vegetables, mostly carrots and fennel. Who could complain? For dinner another evening my companion ordered the Rotisserie Amish Chicken with garlic whipped potatoes and roasted root vegetables. The portion was large, a half-chicken; the dark meat was succulent and full-flavored, and the breast was juicy (not dry) and tasted like chicken (not the puny bland blonde boneless, skinless variety). Another evening I ordered the Smoked Celery Root Cannelloni with roasted red pepper essence. It was a good pasta but the flavor of celeriac did not come through loud and strong. And another night my choice was the Chili Spiced Braised Veal Shank with tobacco onion crisps and creamy smoked Cheddar Grits. The jury is still out on this one. The veal shank was perfectly braised, silky and tender. Its topping of thin, crisp onion rings, spicy with red pepper, was a good thing. And its base of creamy cheesy grits studded with corn kernels was a delicious clue that it was a Southwestern culinary concept. But underneath the onions was one piece of evidence that hung the jury: guacamole. Cold chunks of avocado and tomato were totally unexpected, and perhaps a stretch. But the proof of the pudding is, after all, in the eating. And I ate it, guacamole and all. It certainly was a new take on osso buco.
Desserts sampled looked and tasted were good with one exception, the Granny Smith Apple Napoleon got a thumbs down for blandness. The layers of almond cake were filled with innocuous apple slices and the streusel-like topping was equally unimpressive. However, the Warm Cranberry Bread Pudding was a noteworthy new twist on a tried and true favorite. It was light in texture, intensely flavored with cranberries and served with a scoop of cinnamon ice cream and a sweet-tart whole-cranberry sauce. The Double Chocolate Souffle Cake (order early as it takes 20 minutes to cook) was a small cupcake size of intense chocolate cake with a molten chocolate center, decorated with a chocolate curl and served with vividly vanilla ice cream.
The two house blends for the coffee bar at this writing -- First Light, a morning blend, and Chestnut Crush, a so-called full-bodied blend, were underwhelming. To qualify, I am nit pickingly particular about coffee, and no restaurant coffee (especially not Starbucks) lives up to my home brew. That being said, Bin 36 coffee is very fresh; better than most restaurant coffee; many will love it.
From my observation, the fun, educational stuff offered at Bin 36 isn't too well patronized. All the neat displays, and not just the retail items for sale, don't draw much of a participatory crowd. Whenever I dined there I never saw anyone browsing anything. The displays are great, but it's mildly intimidating to approach them solo. And I have never seen "knowledgeable Bin 36 staff members show customers how to decant wine, how to determine if a wine is corked" (I quote from the press release). Maybe an invitation in the menu or along with the check -- "Please stop by our display 'Le Nez du Vin' at the front of the restaurant, and take a whiff," would encourage customers to explore. Or, perhaps when you are seated, an encouraging word from the host, "I'd be so pleased if you'd ask me, when you're ready to leave, for a quick tour of the Chardonnay." Or, more provocatively, "Psst! Wanna' taste some corked wine after lunch? We have a special reserve selection for sampling."
The bottom line is that Bin 36 has been open only three months. It is far and away the most people-friendly, creative wine restaurant in the city, perhaps in the country. Even at this early stage, Laskowski's food is imaginative, and with exceptions as noted, well-executed and delicious. Portions are just right -- ample but not gargantuan. Where else can you find a wine bar, casual restaurant, coffee bar (complete with breakfast pastries and comfortable couches), intimate cocktail bar, elegant upscale dining room, retail wine shop with gifts, and interactive wine displays -- all under one roof? And if you become a regular you will quite effortlessly learn a lot about wine. |
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339 N. Dearborn St. 312.755.WINE (9463)
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DINING OUT - May 2000
