I hate nouvelle cuisine. And I’m not alone. There were no “grazers” until places like Ambria started listing things like rare liver with raspberries as entrees. That’s when people with functioning taste buds began ordering two appetizers, salad, and dessert. I of course ordered two desserts.
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This little storefront addition to the River North restaurant explosion, with its silver ceiling, exposed brick walls, white paper tablecloths, schoolroom chairs, and wait staff clad in Art Institute-student black, looks anything but homey. The only thing it has in common with mine is limited seating.
The desserts at my place are nothing like the ones at Home either. At Home I actually found nectarine pie. I’d been looking for nectarine pie for months. Before that I was looking for raspberry. I found it at Bakers Square, but the ambience was all wrong. It was too homey. I want to eat chic food in chic restaurants and meat loaf with mashed potatoes in diners. But the meat loaf and mashed potatoes aren’t as important as the apple pie a la mode.
The following week I returned with Laney, a true friend–the kind who makes you order dessert. Thanks to her digestion problems, she mostly limits herself to dry, skinned, unseasoned chicken breasts. The poultry at Home is tailor-made for someone like Laney–naturally raised and chemical-free. Their grilled chicken sandwich, which is served unadorned ($6.95), actually tasted good. Laney can’t resist dessert. Her chocolate cake ($3.25) was dense, silky, bittersweet–perfect.
Dinner entrees have very long names: ragout of artichokes, squash, and exotic mushrooms with spinach sauce and tomato risotto ($12.95); grilled fresh salmon with wasabi-ginger sauce, sesame rice cakes, and baby bok choy ($16.95); and grilled sirloin with sun-dried tomato and bacon sauce, custard potatoes, baby eggplant, and dragon tongue beans ($16.95) to name a few.
