Monday, April 30, 2012

The Gage, Chicago


Friday April 27
Jon and Lois love to go to Chicago for theater, ballet, and opera.  This time we joined them for a fantastic presentation of Handel's "Teseo" at the Chicago Opera theater. 

The picture shows Renée Tatum as Medea with Teseo, Cecelia Hall - the latter one of the best voices, not to mention most believable in a pants role, we've ever seen.  But kudos also go to the Baroque Band, to Manuela Bisceglie as Agilea (the love-interest), and to Gerald Thompson (Countertenor, Egeo) for the most hair-raising aria ever sung by someone without hair.

After the performance, we walked a couple of blocks to The Gage for dinner.  Jon and Lois are well known there, so they were greeted with acclaim. 

Excellent fresh bread and sweet butter came to the table, and our server recommended a Benegas Lynch Cabernet Franc 2005 from Argentina.  It was very fine, as was a Blue Rock cabernet sauvignon that followed it.
We ordered a tableful of appetizers to graze from: locally foraged morels, asparagus, and egg; spicy chickpea fritters with a ginger-chili bagna cauda; a rabbit salad, savory chunks of bunny on arugula scattered with crisped arare rice, and horseradish vinaigrette; caramelized lobster with lobster curry sauce and basil on the tastiest jeweled lemon quinoa; and an excellent bison tartare with l'Amuse gouda and giardiniera emulsion, presented with a little quail egg in its half shell and slices of apple and pear on the side, mixed up tableside in the traditional fashion by our nice English server, with rye toasts to eat it on.

For mains, we shared a huge bowl of mussels in creamy vindaloo sauce, and a thick (and slightly dry) slice of roast saddle of elk with honey poached figs, ricotta, and cardamon syrup.  But most things were of a high order of tastiness, and it added up to a magical evening (thanks, Medea!).

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