The Savoy: Restaurant week

Restaurant Week is a very controversial thing here in Chicago. Some deem it a great deal and an excellent opportunity to visit uncharted territory, while others claim that it is simply a ploy to get people to spend money they wouldn't normally spend. To that, I say: ¿por qué no los dos? The restaurant gets to rake in more cash than usual, and I get to eat delicious food at a discounted price. A win-win if there ever was one.

This year, Restaurant Week was actually two weeks, and for some reason I never had the opportunity to participate in it until now. After extensive research, I eventually settled on The Savoy in Wicker Park.

Image 1. The restaurant facade. I did not take this picture.

The reason why I selected this particular place is threefold:

1. Wicker Park is west of downtown, and the farther west you go the more likely you are to find parking in close proximity to your destination. On a beautiful (and rare) spring day in Chicago, it's really not a big deal to park far away, or even take the CTA, but this winter was just too goddamn cold for that.
2. I love Yelp. I do whatever Yelp tells me to do when I decide to do anything, anything at all. The Savoy had received a four star rating out of over 200 reviews, and was offering a $22 three-course meal despite the fact that it was a three dollar sign restaurant. I figured I would get the best bang for my buck here.
3. Brunch.

While the menu was prix fixe, there were three choices each for the appetizer, entree (I always found it bizarre how this word means "appetizer" in the country of its origin, France, while it means the actual main course over here in the States. But I digress), and dessert. For the first course, I went with the caviar blini. A blini, in case you didn't already know (don't worry, I didn't either), is a thin pancake not unlike a crepe, except leaning more toward the savory side of things. This one in particular was topped with creme fraiche, chives, and salmon caviar.

Image 2. Caviar blini

I should probably mention that those who are not a fan of seafood would not have enjoyed this menu, as it was heavily seafood-oriented. That being said, this tasted godly.

For the main course, I ordered the house cured salmon gravlax, which came with a rye waffle, herb cream cheese, pickles, red onions, capers, and fresh sliced tomatoes. Though not specifically listed on the menu, it also came with a slice of cucumber and a lone cauliflower. I ordered this dish because the concept of a savory waffle intrigued me (I have not yet had the honor to experience the infamous chicken and waffles), and also because this dish was clearly a spinoff of a bagel with lox, which is easily one of my favorite breakfast foods of all time.

Image 3. House cured salmon gravlax

First off, I don't think I've ever had a fresher tomato in my life. It tasted like it was just picked off a tomato vine five seconds ago. The waffle was perfectly crisp around the edges. That being said...I am officially not a fan of gravlax. Taking a saltwater fish and curing it in salt seems like overkill to me. It was unsurprisingly quite salty - I think I'll be sticking to smoked salmon from now on.

Image 4. Steak and eggs

This is my fiance's plate. He ordered the steak and eggs with a side of asparagus and potatoes, but with a small twist - the egg is actually duck. I can't comment on the taste since I didn't try it, but apparently it was delicious, and duck eggs taste quite similar to chicken eggs, which makes the "small twist" almost negligible.

Time for dessert! Dessert has never been my favorite part of a meal; to be honest, I would rather have more of the meal than eat dessert. But since I would have to be insane to  pass on dessert during a prix fixe meal, I perused the dessert menu and the Savoy s'more caught my eye. It was actually an open faced s'more; the graham cracker part in a regular s'more was replaced by a honey oat cookie, which was topped with torched marshmallow and decadent dark chocolate mousse. The whole thing was drizzled with honey and "smoked salt," which was my favorite part of this dish (I love pairing the sweet with the savory).

Image 5. Savoy s'more

This was a bit too sweet for me, and was hard for me to finish. I could have done with less marshmallow and a less sweet cookie on the bottom. The smoked salt really hit the spot, though. :) I am no doubt biased since I have been rather indifferent to dessert foods all my adult life, so for all I know you may find it delicious.

All in all, I would say that this meal was worth the $22 that I paid, but I would not go back to pay the regular price. I'm glad Restaurant Week gave me the opportunity to dine at The Savoy, and I certainly don't regret trying it, but...in a city as big as Chicago, there are just too many places to explore.

The Savoy

1408 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Chicago, IL 60622

(773) 698-6925
http://savoychicago.com/chi/