Brian C.
Yelp
Gave this place another shot last night. My brother in law is one of the best chefs in the Midwest and he wanted to see what this 1010 James Beard nominee from Chucktown was all about, so my wife and I obliged him.
First of all. I revoke most of my former review, this was a totally different experience, for the better.
We ordered 4 appetizers, 3 salads and 4 entrees.
Pork belly was amazing and the gastrique was so flavorful! The seasoned saltines (wtf?) who knew you could season saltines LOL? Killer! The whipped feta was average, served with pita, I think texturally the feta needed something with more bite than a slice of pita, but it was great! My biggest disappointment was the Nashville hot oysters. If you say Nashville Hot then you better deliver some heat. I said this about Laury's "Diablo" seafood dish, ketchup has more spice than this fried "Nashville hot" oyster. The oysters were delicious, but don't call them Nashville Hot, in fact, don't even put the words Nashville or hot in the description, you're making a promise you aren't delivering on.
Our entrees were great, with a couple small details. My sister-in-law ordered the risotto carbonara. It's a creative take on carbonara, because instead of only using the yolk, they poach an entire egg, only the didn't poach the egg long enough, so the whites were more of a clear jiggly disgusting looking mash that resembled a dying jellyfish. Probably needed to poach 30 more seconds. So she ate around it,
My wife had the salmon and she said it was the best salmon she's ever had at a restaurant! Brother-in-law had the pork and he enjoyed it. I had the 1010 Cut ordered medium. It was served rare, which is fine, I love rare steak but don't trust many people to cook it right. The texture and temperature were perfect, I imagine it would have been a great steak but I'll never know because it was smothered in what I believe to be artificial truffle oil-infused sauce. I'll order again, but hold the sauce. I want to taste the animal!
Our deserts were divine! Mango cheesecake, chocolate silk and crème brûlée. They forgot the whipped topping for the crème brûlée but who cares, it was great.
I feel like we had a great sample of the menu, we all tasted each others food and ate ourselves into a food coma.
Only complaint is the atmosphere is NOISY. This is not a place for an intimate dinner, it's a place for an energetic dinner.