Takashi, Chicago

Friday 16 November

Holt had done some praiseworthy footwork to get us a 7:30 reservation at Takashi, a Michelin-star place in Bucktown.  Unfortunately we made a tactical error in trying to get there in a taxi at 5 PM on a Friday night, but we spent the 45 minutes we were stuck in traffic chatting with our nice cab driver - hi, Amar! - and still got to the place ridiculously early. 

The restaurant is in an unprepossessing bungalow, and we could see that they were far from being ready for service that early.  Luckily, Rio's di Sudamerica was nearby, open (if empty), and had some comfy sofas in the front.  So we ogled their murals of South American scenes, and tried various South American red wines, some of which were not all that horrific. 

As well as its Michelin star, Takashi retained its Chicago midwestern friendliness (we were greeted as "folks").  The chef, Takashi Yagihashi, is cooking modern American food with only occasional Japanese ingredients and touches, such as the name of the tasting menu - omakase - which we had with wine pairings.  On the other hand, it may be that this el Bulli style of tiny tastes was inspired by Japanese omakase all along, though now that everybody is doing it, you don't recognize the original any more.

We got started with a sparkling Avinyo cava brut from Penedes - we love a copa di cava - and an amuse-gueule of hamachi tartare on cucumber.

Next came a crudo of scallop and octopus wrapped in oba leaf (very chemical tasting, so we removed it) wrapped in prosciutto, with dabs of broccolini, eggplant, varied seaweed (plasticky!) and cucumber, in sweet vinegar with miso mustard.  At this point we weren't sure what we were in for - the oba leaf seemed like a big mistake, and the rest was fine, but not over-the-moon delicious.  (Remember, this time last year we were at Chez Panisse.)

Things perked up with the next course, soy-marinated big eye tuna tacos with red onion, a delicious cilantro salsa, and chickpeas - the latter a big odd with tacos, but what the hell; they were served with Tozai Junmai sake, which was quite light, served cold.

After a new pour of Domaine de Triennes "Sainte Fleur" Viognier 2009 from Provence (yay!), we were definitely on a roll: sautéed Maine scallops and tender handmade soba gnocchi, with trumpet royale mushrooms and delicious celery root (how can I grow this?), topped with parmesan foam.

Then the wine ante was upped with a lightly cinnamony Barahonda Nabucco Red 2009, to accompany savory slices of soy-ginger caramel pork belly, which we piled on sides of white steamed bun, along with arugula salad and a slice of pickled daikon with nigella seeds.

But the best wine was deep red spicy Chateau Laronde Desormes Bordeaux 2008, to go with a roasted Indiana duck breast, accompanied by a crispy duck rillette roll, slices of baby turnip, and green bean salad.

Dessert was a glass of Vigneau-Chevreau Petillant with The Egg: a brown eggshell filled with heavenly milk chocolate creme brulée and a layer of caramel custard foam, served with a pistachio macaron.  We were humming with happiness when our friendly hostess hailed us another cab, for a much shorter ride back to our hotel.