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Dadgummit. The Customary Dining Companion and I had to abruptly change plans for the weekend of the 4th, due to the cancellation of a band we were going to see at the Double Door. Mercat was one of the places I was lobbying for as a replacement, as CDC suggested an evening of music at the Jazz Showcase as a substitute, and Mercat is relatively close.

Well, better in the long run for all that they fix a dangerously slippery floor, though it's sort of surprising that they'd mention that in a cancellation message! And I'm sure we'll figure something out - we always do in the end. But damn!

Don't abandon Jazz Showcase because of Mercat's closing. Custom House is even closer! Or, you might want to give Chicago Curry House a try (avoid the sampler trays, but try their vegetable and Nepalese specials--particularly the goat-- I've not been disappointed by these). CCH also has a liquor license.

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"The fork with two prongs is in use in northern Europe. In England, they’re armed with a steel trident, a fork with three prongs. In France we have a fork with four prongs; it’s the height of civilization." Eugene Briffault (1846)

Mercat is actually NOT closed right now (we dined there Saturday evening). When I called to inquire about our Open Table reservation after reading the info about closing here, I was informed that their plans had been pushed back.

I'd suggest calling if you have reservations or are considering making them.

lawoman -

Most excellent! Thanks for the update. We've been talking about both Publican and May Street Market today, with favorable reaction to both, so I'll slide this wonderful tidbit into the mix tomorrow!

Jeez! Thanks for the post; I can't say that this endears them to me. First they cancel, then they change their plans and then they don't bother to inform me. I understand the reasons for cancelling. I also understand why they'd push them back. I don't understand why they wouldn't call people they'd already called....

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Gypsy Boy

“How can a nation be called great if its bread tastes like kleenex?” (Julia Child)

Well, no.

I literally just hung up the phone at 9:05 am on Tuesday, 6/30. The woman I spoke with was clear and unambiguous: they ARE closed. Closed until 7/13. Period.

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Gypsy Boy

“How can a nation be called great if its bread tastes like kleenex?” (Julia Child)

Three weeks to fix a slippery floor?

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i used to milk cows

My understanding from my first call is that they were ripping out the entire floor and replacing it.

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Gypsy Boy

“How can a nation be called great if its bread tastes like kleenex?” (Julia Child)

Oy gevalt! Glad I didn't push too hard for it last night when we were trying to finalize our plans. Heh. CDC still wasn't wildly enthusiastic about trying it tomorrow, so I'll sneak it in later in the summer. This is summer, isn't it??

One thing I learned from our experience is that if you want to eat outdoors, you might want to check in advance to make sure they are serving. We asked to sit outside but were told they were only serving drinks that evening.

Of course, maybe that decision was a one-time thing related to the slippery floor issue but I'm just saying, if it's really important to enjoy your meal al fresco on one of the 5 nice summer days we're having this year, phone first.

Just had an unfortunately mediocre lunch at Mercat. Ordered the "Catalan Express," which could not have been less aptly named. Service was unconscionably slow for a lunch--well over an hour, with no dessert--and the waiter (I didn't catch his name) was stuffy and pretentious. Appetizers were ok: The shellfish croquettes were crisp, creamy, and very shellfishy, if you know what I mean; they were the best thing we ate. The arroz a la cazuela was ok, but not worth writing home about. The entrees were similarly uneven: scallops were fine but served with an incredibly salty puree of some kind--roasted eggplant, perhaps?--and the burger, while properly cooked, was room-temperature by the time we got it. The food was fine, but no more, and the service made for a thoroughly unenjoyable experience. Too bad; I wanted to like the place.

We had a nice meal at Mercat on Friday night... everything was well prepared, well seasoned, and tasty. But... we came away thinking that we probably wouldn't go back except to try the roast pig, or with a big group. Or both.

Anyway, on to the meal:

pan con tomate


This freebie was our mutual favorite single dish of the night. Probably because it's peak tomato season, and the tomatoes were perfectly ripe.

datiles con almendras


It's difficult to not compare this to Avec's heartier and richer and more robust date dish. That said, they were delicious. The little salad underneath the dates was an unexpected highlight.

patatas bravas


The first couple bites were a bit dry, and I'm just not sold on this fancy presentation and preparation. But as they cooled, they improved quite a bit.

gratin de coliflor


This was our favorite dish of the night, and easily the least subtle. Thin slices of green cauliflower with cream, cheese, black truffle, and almond. What's not to like?

mar y muntanya


Braised short ribs and scallops. I think our scallops were a little bit overcooked but still fine, and the short ribs were simultaneously firm and tender, liked they'd been cooked sous vide. The eggplant smear on the plate seemed a little pointless, though, as it didn't seem to really go with the short rib or scallop.

tocino con cidra


Crispy pork belly with an apple cider vinegar glaze, and (in foreground) a green apple and black truffle slaw. I liked this dish more than Beth, who thought it was a bit too sweet. She also felt like the kitchen was using black truffle (boosted with truffle oil, we think) as a crutch. But I'm never going to turn down truffle.

barramundi con apio-nabo


Barramundi with smoked pine nuts. The barramundi was well cooked, but this dish came out last and our palates had already adjusted to rich short rib and pork belly, so it seemed pretty boring in comparison. Tasty enough, but not exceptional.

absinthe service

While we were there, a guy at the table next to us ordered one of the absinthes. The service was very fun to watch, but I hope the person who drank the absinthe will post about his meal, since I know he visits the board.

So, overall a perfectly fine meal, and everything was good or better than good. But we just kept comparing it to Avec, fairly or unfairly, and Avec won every time.

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Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

Particularly evocative photos, Ed - thanks for sharing. Their plating strengths come through even if your comments on their execution ring true. Like many tapas places, my Mercat experiences have varied from dish to dish more than from night to night: those things they do well, they rock out. Those that they don't, don't.

I'll go for the tomato bread, squid noodles, dates, and lamb any night. They also excel at beans (hot and cold). Potatoes, fish, beef, and the non-suckling pork items, not so much.

Sounds like we might have missed a few gems. Oh well.

FYI to anyone curious: the menu now lists flat prices for the half and whole pigs: $220 and $440 respectively, presumably regardless of the number of diners. Maybe they quite different numbers when you actually call to reserve, though.

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Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

How was the new floor, if any?

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I never saw the old floor, but the current floor isn't slippery at all, and I was wearing shoes prone to slipping.

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Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

I wonder if they're ever planning on changing the menu.

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-Josh

An amuse bouche at breakfast is called a Bloody Mary - Scott Manlin

Beautiful pics, Ed -- maybe even better than how you felt the meal actually was!

I've only been to Mercat once and I really enjoyed it. That said, the per person pricing on the pig never made sense to me, since it was only one pig, regardless of the number of people sharing it. Still, while not the same style at all, I think I like the baby pig at Sun Wah much better -- and their pricing is a lot friendlier.

=R=

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I just wanna live until I gotta die. I know I ain't perfect but God knows I try. --Todd Snider

Twitter: ronniesuburban

Thanks for the compliment, ronnie -- it means a lot coming from you.

As for the food.. like I said, nothing was bad. Everything was good. It just wasn't as good as it could have been or should have been, if that makes sense.

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Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

That would be me. My SO had been wanting to try Mercat for a while, so she took me there for my birthday. We went with the chef's tasting menu, and while everything was nice, nothing really knocked my socks off, and a couple of things were downright odd, like their house margarita with muddled avocado (El Bolero).

One of the offerings that we both enjoyed was the Pelotas de Calabazo y Cordero (Butternut squash dumplings with lamb ragout, beech mushroom and black truffle). We also liked the head-on prawns (not on the regular menu that night) but again, nothing that we would go back for.

The absinthe was on a lark, although I was a bit confused when the server a) lit the sugar cube (which I always thought was more a Czech way of serving absinthe) and b) proceeded use the absinthe fountain to douse the flame and then louche the drink, rather than let the sugar carmelize and stir it in. A bit of blended ritual.

In any event, it was a good meal, nothing extraordinary, and maybe a little overpriced for what we got. But Ed's photos are spectacular.

Sounds like friday night was LTH night! I was there too! I enjoyed the meal very much. I was looking forward to it and I guess it didn't disappoint. It was all flavorful and fun.

The highlights for me were the gratis pan con tomate, the bacon-wrapped dates, anchovies, cauliflower gratin, pork belly AND especially the truffled slaw that came with it! I agree that the short rib seemed to have been prepared sous vide. Our scallops were nicely cooked though and delicious. We finished with the NY strip for the table. I was actually pleasantly surprised by how good it was. But the lamg at the table next to us looked better.

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@TheTonyHam
tony's kitchen

Hey did anyone notice if Chef Michael ran the Iberico pork loin special over the weekend?

No one told me about any specials at all on my Friday visit, so I can't say for sure, but I would bet not.

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Ed Fisher
my chicago food photos

RIP LTH.

Yuck.

Who wants mushed avocado at the bottom of their cocktail?

-Dan

Just happened to catch a TV ad for "The Next Iron Chef 2009" and Jose Garces is one of the 10 contestants selected. It airs Oct 4.

I can see avocado mixed into a slushy summer concoction, since it works well in smoothies and deserts, but it seems muddled avocado would just sit at the bottom, doesn't sound "yuck" to me, just more of a gimmick. Guess i shouldn't knock it until i try it.

Its many pages, and I hope I won't offend anyone if the answer is somewhere in the thread. A small group of us is going to Mercat (which I love, by the way--go there every chance I get) and ordering the whole pig. We are a group of 6. Is it about right to order a whole pig or will we have tons left over?

Thanks all.

You will have tons of leftovers. We probably had 8, the time I did it, and everybody had a hearty lunch sized portion to take home.

Personally, although the whole pig is certainly well prepared, on a certain level I think a whole roasted pig is a whole roasted pig, and there are more interesting things on their menu (though I, like someone recently, am a little disappointed that the menu seems to be unchanged in the entire year and a half or whatever they've been open). But if you've been there before and can go again, it's worth doing once.

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Watch Sky Full of Bacon, the Chicago food HD podcast!
New episode: Soil, Corn, Cows and Cheese
Watch the Reader's James Beard Award-winning Key Ingredient here.

Good points. Maybe we'll do a half pig and other favs.

I just ordered a whole pig from them. They say it's good for 10-12pp. It's also the only way to gaurantee getting the head.

As far as menu changes, my favorite, Fideua Negra w/baby squid in its own ink with peas and saffron aioli is no longer.

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"In pursuit of joys untasted"
from Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata