My inclinations point me toward places with straight-up,
not-necessarily-creative but well-executed food, where cooks respect delicious
ingredients and treat them with care. After
a fantastic recent meal, Leopold took a spot on the short list of Chicago restaurants that
meet these criteria.
I was struck the kitchen’s ability to magnify the flavor of already
delicious produce. This was especially
evident with the treatment of mushrooms in two dishes: the seafood risotto and
the pierogi. The description of a
seafood risotto with tomatoes and morels worried me, as I typically find that those
two ingredients clash. Here, however,
the morel flavor dominated with intense earthiness, and the tomatoes played a
very subtle background role, adding just a hint of acid and a good dose of natural
sweetness. The menu advertises that the pierogi come with “woodland mushrooms”. I am no expert on mushroom varieties, but these
thin, delicate white mushrooms with tiny caps looked more like what I’ve seen called
“beach mushrooms," and that was a pretty cool thing because beach mushrooms are
tough to grow and not often found on local restaurant menus. The last place I had them was at L20 under Laurent
Gras, where they were rubbery and bland.
The mushrooms topping Leopold’s pierogi were spectacular. They were buttery and tender with just a bit
of snap to them, and had an incredible, unique and robust flavor.
A lot of care at Leopold goes into prepping ingredients and
combining them in ways that make sense.
A big bowl of steamed mussels was completely devoid the grit and broken
shells so often found in lesser versions, allowing the plump, tender meat and
aromatic broth to shine without distraction.
In the above-mentioned seafood risotto, not only was the mushroom flavor
intense and the rice cooked just right, but each of the several varieties of
moist, fresh-tasting fish was timed well so that it cooked through without
disintegrating or drying out. Even a
boring-sounding endive-apple salad starred on account of superb flavor and
texture balancing, with pungent buttermilk-tarragon dressing and hazelnuts
chopped finely enough to be incorporated into every bite, but not so finely that
you forget that they’re actually hazelnuts.
To me waffles are a meal, not a dessert. Normally I couldn’t imagine ordering a big waffle
with ice cream to end a multi-course dinner, but I’m very glad we were hungry
enough to make an exception at Leopold. On
my first visit to Leopold a couple of years ago, one of my companions was a
friend of the house and the staff really wanted us to try the waffle. We did, and I frankly thought it was badly
burnt, dry and not worth eating. Gladly
I remembered that only after my wife and I received our waffle last week,
because much has changed. Never have I
tasted a better waffle, with an incredibly crisp exterior that gave way to a tender,
luscious interior. With the fantastic
bourbon-brown butter sauce, this was a dessert worth violating whatever one’s dessert-eating
principles might be.
While much of Leopold’s menu has stalwarts that appear
unchanged from my first visit, there were also a lot of seasonal things that must
change frequently. I look forward to
multiple repeat visits.
Leopold
312-348-1028
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