Farmhouse or Old McBrandy had a Brunch

The Slow and Savory Review

People often ask Brandy "Why brunch?" and though she has a myriad of reasons, one of the main ones is that she has always felt that one can only truly judge a restaurant by its brunch service.  "I always say, if dinner is the plot of any restaurant, then brunch is the subtext," as Brandy puts it, "There's the face they want to present, and then there's the real heart of a place, so when I go to a lovely dinner, I can't help but wonder what is really at their core, the same as you never really know a person until you've seen them fully relaxed."

It was this point that Brandy was trying to explain one day to her dear friend Mama Bee.  "But surly, a restaurant could be judged on its dinner service alone," Mama Bee argued.  "Of course it could be, but I've found that even the places I really enjoy the most sometimes take themselves a little too seriously at dinner, while letting their playful sides out more at brunch.  It's difficult to explain, I suppose.  Hang on, I've had a place on my mind ever since I had a fantastic dinner there a few months ago.  I remember thinking that I loved the food immensely, but I wanted to come back for brunch to see how their relaxed attitude and rustic dishes translated into a more casual meal.  Let's go for a little brunch at Farmhouse and you'll see what I mean."

Farmhouse had the same homey, rustic atmosphere Brandy remembered.  The warm woods and whimsical touches gave the place a lively feeling, and though the seating was a little cramped, it wasn't uncomfortable.  Brandy especially loved that a good amount of the decor had been created from salvaged parts of other bars, like the charmingly mismatched stained glass windows that served as patricians in different parts of the dining area.


The meal began with a couple of cocktails; the Morning Bender for Brandy and a Pink Mimosa for Mama Bee.  The mimosa was fairly traditional, more champagne than juice, but light, crisp, and refreshing.  The Morning Bender, a mix of coffee, whiskey, and blood orange, was rich and smooth.  Brandy had expected it to be a bit more sweet, but rather liked it regardless.

Kicking off the food, Brandy and Mama Bee went in for an order of Cheese Curds.  The curds had been beer battered, lightly fried, and came served with some house made catsup as well as a spicy curd sauce.  The little morsels of cheesy goodness were perfectly crisp on the outside and melty on the inside and the sauces were both a perfect compliment to each other and the richness of the cheese.  "Oh, these are just delicious!" Mama Bee exclaimed, popping one into her mouth, "You know, I never knew what a cheese curd was until I came to Chicago, but it's things like this that make me sad that I spent a good portion of my life without them!"

Mama Bee chose the Hoe Cakes for her entree, which were dressed with lemon curd, spiced nuts and oats, and maple syrup.  Mama Bee was at once in love with the cakes, which were a textural delight.  Not light and fluffy like a regular pancake, these was a little more dense and velvety.  The nuts on top not only made for a nice bit of crunch, they also added a lovely kick of spice that really set off the sweetness in the lemon curd.  "I was a little worried that it would be too sweet or too sour, but these are just perfect!" said Mama Bee.

Brandy went for the Crispy Root Vegetables, a mix of potatoes, mushrooms, sunchokes, and radish topped with an egg and served with some home rustic toast on the side.  The vegetables had a wonderful crispness to them with a surprising lightness for so much starch.  Though the dish itself was rustic, the thought behind it was so complex that Brandy was truly impressed.  What might have been seen as a simple garnish of greens and tinly sliced radish actually served the flavor just as much as providing some vibrant pops of color, and the egg on top actually served almost as a sort of sauce for the vegetables below.  "This is just the kind of dish that I love," Brandy said, "Something so simple that you wonder why others aren't doing the same thing, but something also so individual to the restaurant serving it that it's hard to picture it being recreated anywhere else."

Not wanting to end such a pleasant meal quite yet, Bunny and Mama Bee indulged in one of the house made sticky buns topped with fresh strawberry jam accompanied by a pot of fresh pressed coffee.  The sticky bun was a little hard on the outside, but the jam on top of it was truly exceptional, making the pastry the perfect mate for the strong coffee.

The friendly, relaxed service, the non pretentious atmosphere, and the fair pricing was enough to make Brandy fall in love with Farmhouse even more than she already had, but the quality of the food (most of which had been sourced from the restaurant's own farm, and if not from there, then from other local purveyors) and the real attention to detail in the presentations were what made this one Brandy's favorite brunches in a long while.  "Well, I can honestly say I see your point now," Mama Bee sighed with contentment, "While a place may put on a few airs and talk things up a bit at dinner, you don't really feel the heart of it until you go for brunch."  "That's exactly why I do this week after week.  I don't want to just go somewhere and then immediately forget about it, I want to get to know them like I would a new friend, and I've always found that the best way to get to know a person is over breakfast in their own home."

The Short and Sweet Review

From the Farm Dinner at Farmhouse

Brandy has always been a fan of eating as locally as possible.  Granted, this hasn't always been easy, especially for those six months she spent living in a penguin sanctuary in the South Pole, but for the most part, Brandy finds that she enjoys her food that much more when she knows exactly where it came from.  "Farmers are the unsung heroes of every day life," she often says, "Not a day goes by that I'm not thankful that someone somewhere decided to plant a crop of asparagus or culture some goat cheese.  Providence bless the farmers!"

Being ever conscious of where her food comes from, Brandy has loved seeing the trend of recent years of listing the origins of produce, dairy, and meat on restaurant menus.  Names like Klug Orchards, Slagel Farms, and Three Sisters are practically a guarantee of great produce, meat, or grains for Brandy at this point.  So when one of the leading restaurants of the farm-to-table movement in Chicago, Farmhouse, invited her in to their Gold Coast location for a special five course dinner in which they would showcase not only the fruits of local labor, but also some local craft beers, Brandy simply could not say no.

Farmhouse are such big believers in farming locally that they actually own their own farm, which creates much of the produce for their restaurants (the second being in Evanston with a third to open soon).  There's even a rooftop garden at the Gold Coast location that produces chilies and micro greens, which the chefs and bartenders are encouraged to visit every day in order to get inspired to create new dishes and cocktails.  The decor of Farmhouse is ecologically minded as well, using salvaged pieces from old buildings to create an antiqued, rustic, yet comforting feel.  Even the black walnut wood used to make the bar came from the Farmhouse farm property.

After a gorgeous and fortified summer cocktail, the first of the dishes arrived at the table.  The first course consisted of a simple amuse bouche, made with green grapes and cured ham on a thin piece of crusty bread.  The two bite wonder was a great start for things to come with bright bursts of flavor from the fruit, a smooth umami sensation from the ham, and a nutty, buttery richness from some fresh butter and whole grain mustard.  This paired very well with Farmhouse's own Free Priscilla Cider, made with tart apples from their own orchards, which was crisp and rather refreshing with less sweetness than a typical cider.

Next came the Chilled Melon Soup with spiced yogurt, mint, and njuda.  The soup was bright and fresh as a summer day, ending in a smokey and slightly heated finish that spoke of the oncoming fall.  Brandy particularly liked the torn up bits of poolish (a type of cracker-like flat bread) that added a bit of chewy texture, keeping things exciting bite after bite.  This dish was paired with the Calmut Queen from 3 Floyds, a wheaty beer with a nice citrus finish.

The fish course was a Grilled Rainbow Trout with tomatillos, bacon lardons, and black bean relish.  The skin of the fish was delightfully crunchy, while the meat was tender, flaky, and absolutely perfect.  The beans had a little bit of bite to them, cut with the soft acidic tomatillos, and finished off with some fresh herbs from the rooftop garden.  The bacon actually seemed to be gilding on the lily and Brandy could have easily enjoyed the dish without it.  Revolution Brewery's Rosa was the accompaniment to this dish, a beer that Brandy had already had and grown quite fond of for its floral notes and smooth sipability.

Finishing off the savory dishes was a play on a surf and turf with BBQ braised shortribs and butter poached shrimp with popcorn grits.  This was perhaps Brandy's favorite dish of the night, if only for the fork tender shortribs with their slightly sweet glaze.  The grits too were nothing to sneeze at with a nice stone ground texture and true popcorn flavor, enhanced by crumbles of sweet dehydrated cornbread.  The beer with this dish was Dark Horse's Smells Like a Safety Meeting, a very hoppy, full bodied beer that could stand up to the bold flavor of the meat.

Lastly, for dessert, Brandy was presented with a Peaches and Cream Ice Cream Sandwich.  The peaches, which had been made into a marmalade, were almost so sweet that they bordered on syrupy, but not in a bad way, as the dry shortbread cookies and very floral vanilla ice cream helped to balance them out.  This pairing was perhaps the most well thought out one of the evening, as the Penrose De Minimus Mandarina was rather sour when tasted on its own, but enjoying it with a sweet dessert brought out its more fruity and malty flavors.

Executive Chef Eric Mansavage certainly did himself proud, making use of the absolute best in late summer flavors and showing how locally produced products can inspire all sorts of unique combinations.  "If I wasn't such a city minded gal, I might consider buying a peaceful little farm myself and learn to cultivate the land.  Or I can do what I've always done and let those who already do it, do it better than I ever could while I enjoy the spoils of their efforts.  Yes, that seems the sensible way to go."

The writers of this blog were invited to dine free of charge by the restaurant in order to facilitate the writing of this post.