Photos by Laurie Proffitt -1. Slow-Cooked Pot Roast - 2. Blue Crab Cakes - 3. Banana Bread Pudding
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Photos by Laurie Proffitt -1. Slow-Cooked Pot Roast - 2. Blue Crab Cakes - 3. Banana Bread Pudding |
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The Chicago Firehouse Restaurant
Chef Brown's goal, he says, was to create a menu that used the highest quality ingredients, in creative ways, while keeping the presentations understandable and approachable. I want people to remember what they ate the next day" he says, "not have a vague idea that it was 'something with scallops'." By Nancy Ross Ryan
During my second visit to The Chicago Firehouse, the very latest addition to the hot new South loop dining scene, I thought my dinner companion was having a seizure or entering a trance. I looked up from my plate of crisp but tender fried calamari (which I was dipping into a spicy cocktail sauce) to see his eyes rolling back in his head and an expression of sheer ecstasy flooding his face. "What's the matter? Are you all right?" I hissed, trying not to draw attention to our table unless paramedics were absolutely necessary.
"Not since Riggers," he replied.
O.K., it wasn't a seizure. Maybe a trance, but I'm trying to work here. "Explain yourself," I said in my best Seven-of-Nine voice.
"Not since I lived on the South Side when I was a kid have I had pizza like this." He was eating The South Side (spicy sausage and mozzarella) pizza from the Pub Menu. He explained that Riggers, gone for years, had been a "lounge" with a limited menu that was named after the proprietor's previous profession, rigging steel on construction projects. At Riggers the sausage was finely chopped (not in chunks or slices), and very spicy atop a thin-crust cheese pizza and -- with all the pizza parlors in Chicago -- he hadn't tasted anything like it until now. As far as I was concerned that meant that Executive Chef Charlie Brown (William is his given name, Charlie is his chosen nickname) had done his homework in researching the menu. He came on board as a consultant before the restaurant's February opening, and returned as executive chef. A Johnson & Wales culinary school graduate, Brown cooked in restaurants in New York and Florida, but he describes his restaurant epiphany as the job he held as chef of Mustard's Grill in Napa Valley. His most recent stint was as executive chef of Michael Jordan's restaurant, which closed in January this year.
His new kitchen home is in Firehouse 104, a three-story firehouse dating from 1905 that contains a whopping 14,000 square feet of space, renovated for a restaurant. The lower level has a dine-in Wine Cellar; the top level has facilities for private parties. The public dining area, on the first floor, is divided into two rooms The formal dining room is handsome: burgundy brocade banquettes, linen-topped tables, fabric-lined walls, and mirrors. The pub is informal: a long inviting bar runs the length of the room; on the opposite wall are leather banquettes, and in between tables for four. Fortunately, managing partner Matthew O'Malley resisted any temptation to overdo the firehouse theme. In the pub area remain the original highly glazed off-white fire brick walls, the brass poles (that the firemen used to slide down) and an awesome pressed tin ceiling. But, mercifully, there are no hoses, fireman's hats or axes.
Diners have two menu options, and during our visits, we tried both. In the formal dining room, on separate occasions, we sampled appetizers of House-Smoked Salmon($8.25), Blue Crab Cakes($8.50), and Roasted Anaheim Chilies($6.95). The slab of spice-cured salmon was an ample portion (and all portions here are ample) of Smoked Salmon accompanied by goat-cheese topped croutons and a somewhat superfluous giardinera of roasted garlic cloves, carrots and peppers. The Blue Crab Cakes were small, peppery and nicely sauteed with a tasty tarragon-flavored tartar sauce -- but nothing to get excited about. The dynamite appetizer was the Anaheim Chilies-- two long, mildly spicy green chili peppers stuffed with a tender, fluffy tamale (cornmeal) filling, a dollop of guacamole, surrounded by a sea of red-chili puree that had just the right amount of heat.
For nostalgia's sake we tried The Wedge salad, a wedge of crisp iceberg lettuce with a creamy bleu cheese dressing and blue cheese crumbles -- very retro and very satisfying.
Dining room dinner entrees consist mainly of American comfort food taken to a new plane: New York Strip Steak($24.95), Slow-Cooked Pot Roast($17.95), Double-Cut Pork Chop($19.95), Duckling($21.95), Pan-fried Rainbow Trout($15.95). According to the chef, his goal was to create a menu that used the highest quality ingredients, "put together in creative ways, but keeping the presentations understandable and approachable. When people come to dinner at the Firehouse, I want them to remember what they ate the next day -- not have a vague idea that it was 'something with scallops'".
My tablemate ordered the Double-Cut Pork Chop, nicely cooked and juicy despite its towering size. It was beautifully complemented by a sweet onion compote and a tart, dried cherry sauce. Crisp roasted potatoes edged the plate. Being a sucker for mashed potatoes, I ordered the New York Strip Steak -- too big for me to finish but perfect in flavor, cooked to order, and the garlic mashed potatoes that accompany it met my exacting taste and fluffiness standards. One evening, however, I ordered an off-menu special: Sautéed Skate Wing($18.95) with fresh spinach and a garlicky mushroom stuffing.The spinach was fresh, the texture of the fish was good but, alas, some line cook had a heavy hand with the salt and the fish was saline city. The layer of mushrooms between the skate wing slabs added nothing to the dish.
The Pub menu offers several of the same dining room menu appetizers, so for starters we ordered the Crispy Calamari($7.95) and the South Side Pizza($7.25), described above. My dinner mate ordered the gargantuan Buffalo Chicken Sandwich($7.95) -- a crispy breaded whole chicken breast slathered with spicy sauce, topped with bleu cheese dressing, lettuce and tomatoes and stuffed (barely) into a Kaiser roll. The chicken was juicy, the sauces were right, but the portion was huge (not a drawback). Even a former South Sider couldn't finish it. I opted for the Blackened Chicken Caesar Salad($9.95), a more reasonable platter. The romaine lettuce was crisp, the dressing creamy, and shards of Parmesan and two anchovy fillets gave it a stamp of authenticity. The spicy, blackened half chicken breast was sliced and fanned, thoughtfully, on one side of the oval plate -- easy to eat.
The dining room has 16 wines by the glass, and a nicely balanced list of sparkling and still wines most from California. However, the two short sections "Other Whites" and "Other Reds" offer interesting choices from other countries, including by-the-glass selections. The pub offers all the wine list selections plus a small selection of American and European beers.
Desserts we sampled were o.k. but not to die for. And, reading the dessert menu, it seemed to lack the focus of the entrees and appetizers. I guess every restaurant must have a Flourless Chocolate Cake($6.95), but given the Midwestern American comfort food emphasis of the menu, why not a towering, homemade devils food cake with chocolate frosting? Strawberry Trifle($4.95) in season is a good call, although we were too stuffed with steak and pork chop to try it, but how about a big wedge of lemon meringue pie? On one occasion we shared a Mississippi Pecan Pie($6.95), served warm and topped with vanilla ice cream -- respectable but not outstanding. On another the manager suggested warm Banana Bread Pudding($6.95). It was flavorful but drowning in an albeit homemade caramel sauce, topped with vanilla ice cream and fresh raspberries were scattered around the plate. Maybe we were just too full to appreciate dessert? But we were not too full to appreciate coffee, which was a grave disappointment. The decaf was dreadful -- bitter and weak. And the regular coffee (my lifeline to coherency) was not much better.
The service suffers from customer overload on Friday and Saturday nights. One Saturday, when we waited 40 minutes for our reserved table, the manager stopped by our table to apologize for the delays. Our service and dinners on a weekday night were much more relaxing and enjoyable. When we visited The Chicago Firehouse, it had been open for less than three months. And except for that coffee(!) we plan to return. Where else can you get meatloaf, with mashed potatoes and gravy -- a lunch special -- and take your pick between fine dining and casual pub fare under the same roof? |
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The Chicago Firehouse Restaurant
1401 S. Michigan Ave. (312) 786-1401
HOURS: Open seven days a week for lunch and dinner.
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(For a related article click here)
