LTHForum.com

Yes, they have a good list. John likes small producers, so you'll see some stuff on the list that you don't normally run into. There's also a pairing option with the tasting menu, which might be good for you but perhaps not for your husband. It's a good option though, as there's no skimping on the pours.

Don't worry about the scary number. It's always good to be on the right side of the grass.

_________________
John Danza

I just celebrted my birthday there this past Saturday. It was a very enjoyable meal. Chef de Rosiers really threw down! He told my host to pick a couple bottles of wine and he'll take care of the rest.

_________________
Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

Here's the weird thing: we don't eat mushrooms. I know. But we don't! And I'm always so afraid that these amazing chefs will be super offended (or worse, belligerent) with that limitation.

And we're not super wine types, definitely won't be bringing anything special unless my brother really steps up with something amazing. More likely to do the pairings by the glass.

Anyways, thanks to all for the recs. Steve if this is where you chose for your birthday I have faith it's damn good.

It was actually my first visit to the restaurant, but I've tasted the chef's cooking at the Green City BBQ and other charity events and always walked away impressed. Inovasi had been on my list to try for quite some time. My birthday served s a convenient excuse.

_________________
Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

It was indeed a throw-down in the truest sense. My wife and I arrived early to enjoy Inovasi's outstanding bar. While we were cocktailing, chef des Rosiers was in the bar saying hello to various patrons. He came over to say hi to us. He already knew that we were there to celebrate a friend's birthday (I'd mentioned it when I made the reservation). He suggested that if we wanted to, we should choose a bottle of white and a bottle of red and while he didn't say exactly why, we had a fairly good inkling as to what he had in store. We browsed the well-curated wine list for a while and chose a 2007 Regis Cruchet Vouvray for the white and a Francois Villard 2007 Le Gallet Blanc Cote Rotie as our red.

After we were seated, our server -- the ever-affable Jimmy -- came over to the table, took our menus and tore them up in very dramatic fashion. We all had a good laugh and Jimmy told us that chef would be cooking for us. Cool! With the exception of the first course we were served, nothing we had was actually on the menu. Our entire meal consisted of courses that chef came up with on the fly -- in the heat of a busy Saturday night service . . .


Queso de Torta sheeps milk cheese with huckleberries, cornichon, Marcona almonds, grainy mustard, grilled bread, fried dough
By coincidence, I'd actually been to Inovasi the week before and was served this magnificent, pungent and creamy cheese. Considering how sensational it is, I was thrilled to have it again . . . and this time we only had to split it 4 ways.



Chef served the platter and removed the top of the Queso de Torta for us



Oh yeah



Iberico de Bellotta ham lollipop, roasted garlic, yuzu, vanilla
This was lightly coated with crumbs and fried for about 10 seconds to give it a great crispy exterior texture. Chef joked that the Spaniards would be aghast seeing the Iberico cooked but in his capable hands, it was brilliant.



Rabbit Liver & Armagnac Mousse, crispy toast & rice paper, spicy soy/honey sauce, fried shallot and onions
So effing good and rich. I ate my portion and the Chow Poodle's portion, as well, as she's not big on offal



Single Side Grilled Wild Kampachi, celery, scallion, radish, fried leek, grenache vinegar
Perfectly cooked kampachi and a truly delectable accompanying salad.

This was the last course served with the Vouvray. Next up the Cote Rotie and accompanying courses . . .


Pork shoulder Confit, quinoa, January-grown pea shoots, Medium-cooked, cherry wood-smoked Meadow Haven chicken, hand harvested marzano tomato
Another spectacular course in which the components all sung together. The medium-cooked chicken was a ballsy inclusion but it was spectacular because of how moist it was. The cherry wood smoke on it was sweet and pleasantly aromatic. Just a fantastic composition.



Equus Oaks Farm Squab, a la minute smoked black pepper risotto
Juicy squab with a beautifully light exterior crust. The black pepper risotto was perfect.



Q7 Ranch Beef 'Stilo Firenze,' faro verde, Bohemian blue cheese brulee
There was a gorgeous char on this supple and delectable beef. I loved the blue cheese and faro verde, too.

This was the final savory course. With dessert, we were comped glasses of 2009 Bouchaine Bouche d'Or Chardonnay from Carneros. It was an excellent pairing for the dessert, with a complex sweetness that held up to the flavors of the course . . .


Triple Chocolate Cake, toasted pistachio, sage brown butter frozen custard, sorghum syrup - Happy birthday, Steve!
I let the custard melt a bit while I was off socializing at another table but it was spectacularly rich. I think chef told us that it incorporated 3 times more egg yolks that a typical custard. The cake was moist and fudgy and richly chocolatey.

Chef told us he got a real rush from cooking a meal on the fly like this on a busy Saturday and I feel very fortunate to have been the beneficiary of his ambitious whim. The meal we'd had on the previous Saturday was also very enjoyable but on that night chef wasn't in the house and that tasting menu-meal was created entirely from the actual menu. There were several stand-out courses from that meal, too, which I plan to cover in a separate post. But this particular experience was so outstanding and amazingly memorable (and it had also already been referenced here), I just wanted to get the post up asap.

=R=

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

Spit out the gum, sister!

Twitter: ronniesuburban

Wow, what a fabulous line-up! I wish I could get up there more often.

John's got a ton of confidence in the kitchen staff, so he can try to do this on occassion and he gets a real charge out of it. It's interesting that he'll make this stuff up on the fly sometimes, or will actually have something bouncing around in his head to try if the right customer walks in that he knows will go with the flow. Truly a unique approach by someone who really knows flavor profiles.

_________________
John Danza

Thank you Ron, how fun for me to be looking at your photos and thinking I'm going there! And not a mushroom in sight (that I saw anyway, BIG bonus points for us).

I will definitely try the paired wines and tasting menu and while I'm not likely to take pics like these, I hope to happily report my results next week! Thanks again all for embracing this thread in time for my odometer turn!

Some changes are afoot at Inovasi. A friend emailed me last weekend and informed me that each diner at the table now gets the same dish when the tasting menu is ordered (in the past, multiple dishes would be served at each course). Earlier today, LTHer milz50 sent me a link to Inovasi's new menu (.pdf), which lists the tasting menu as now being 6 courses for $62 per person (formerly $48/person for 5 courses), +$24 for pairings. The new menu also describes the tasting menu as "every course off-menu," which seems ambitious.

I really liked that multiple dishes were served at each course in the previous format. It was a distinctive aspect of Inovasi. However, the idea of an entirely off-menu degustation has quite a bit of allure, too...maybe even more, IMO. In any case, I'm eager to get back to Inovasi and I hope it'll be soon.

=R=

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

Spit out the gum, sister!

Twitter: ronniesuburban

Recently, edb60035 presented John des Rosiers with Inovasi's GNR certificate . . .


Chef/Owner John des Rosiers (right) accepts Inovasi's GNR certificate from edb60035 (picture taken at Moderno)

=R=

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

Spit out the gum, sister!

Twitter: ronniesuburban

Realizing I never reported about our 50th dinner at Inovasi. I remember enjoying it a lot and that I drank a lot of wine. They were very gracious with a complimentary glass of prosecco when we arrived, along with a lovely printed welcome with mention of my birthday. We did the tasting menu and I know everything was good but I honestly cannot remember the specifics. That is somewhat unusual for me, but I'm blaming it on the wine. Which was fine but nothing life-changing.

The hubby didn't care for the set tasting menu so we'd probably order off the menu. I look forward to returning.

After dining in at Inovasi a handful of times I can now say I'm a fan. As far as GNR's go, I think of the little mom and pop shops that not many know about (until they win the award) and or the mom and pop shops that also happen to be Chicago institutions ala Al's Beef on Taylor is what they should be about. But when I think of a restaurant that I wouldn't mind having in my hood and having easy access to it, Inovasi is a great example. I'm particularly fond of 'burger night' on Tuesdays. Aside from Edzo's it's pretty legit that this is the only other place in town doing both grilled and griddled. I prefer the grilled version because they're more beefier. The smashed ones here tend to taste more like the toppings on them.


Dave's Burger

The burger menu does seem to change up the few times I've been but a few remain on there including my favorite two. The burger seen up above named after some dude named Dave comes with artisan Wisconsin cheddar, emmentaler cheese, horseradish creme fraiche and raw local sweet onion. It's fantastic. Think of those old burgers grilled outdoors maybe by a campfire or the likes where grilled onions weren't an option but big slices of raw onion were available. These were like a high class version of those. Also great is their Chicago Italian Burger which comes with hot giardiniera, grilled onion, celery salt and mozzarella cheese. A fantastic homage to the city that many people who live in, don't have an idea of where Lake Bluff is.


Chicago Style Italian Burger

Burgers come with some top notch spuds and at $11/$12 bucks per I think thats pretty fair. The beef comes from Q7 Ranch in Marengo, IL and you can really taste that good flavor you can only get with a great product which Q7 has. I haven't been there of late but I've been getting a hankering for their burger so I hope time allows me to take the ride there on a Tuesday soon. Their house sausage served over polenta is a great plate and the first time I was there I tried some fantastic freshly fried Klug apple donuts.


Fantastically good fancied up sausage and donuts

Service wise even though it's casual inside the people working have been great. My only could be complaint is that the automatic hand dryer in the men's room has never worked, forcing me to dry my hands with paper towels. Damnit what is this sh!t? #WhitePeopleProblems


Inovasi's take on a classic: Steak & Eggs

_________________
Smokin' Chokin' and Chowing

Dave as in Dave Lingon, the restaurant manager. His is the next burger to try on my Tuesday night list, so thanks for the endorsement.

As the guy who nominated the GNR, I think it is the combo of the "people working have been great" along with the constantly evolving cuisine and the casual-ness of the special place that all brings it together. The menu was nearly completely overhauled a few weeks ago, and even though John isn't in the kitchen as much now with Moderno still in startup mode, everything was delicious. The shrimp and cucumber dish is amazing, and we enjoyed several other new dishes as well. I talked with John at the Green City BBQ and he said a few changes were yet in store, so I am excited for a return trip in the next week or two.

We had another excellent meal at Inovasi last week. The 3 of us all did the tasting menu, which was 6 savory courses plus dessert. Most of the courses were more unusual riffs on some of the regular menu items, changing up flavors and and sides. My 3 favorites where the pork shoulder, remarkably crispy chicken, and rainbow trout tempura, the latter served with delicious, very fresh hen-of-the-woods mushrooms. Overall, there was a great variety of flavors and spices that matched well with the drink pairings, which was a bargain at $24 for beer, sake, and 5 different wines. We had a great time, and it seemed quite busy for a summer Wednesday night. I am excited that Inovasi has reopened for lunch, and I am hoping that I can try some of the famous Tuesday night burgers at lunchtime.

-Will

Had a great dinner last Thursday (August 2) at Inovasi. Jan and I and my nephew had the tasting menu, combining it with some wines I brought and a couple from Inovasi as well. As you have probably heard, Inovasi will be on Check Please! soon and the camera crew was scheduled to be at the restaurant the next day to tape the place along with some of the dishes. We were served one of the dishes planned for the taping, fresh baby octopus. It was a great course. Photos of the courses are below, with high level information about them as I recall them, as I didn't take notes on the ingredients. We started with a great potato soup, which I forgot to photograph!



Foie gras tourchon with wood-grilled shrimp. The tourchon takes four days to prepare and is coated on the edge with espresso powder. So good my wife ate hers, and she's not a foie fan!



Our first seafood course, but I forgot the fish!! The ingredient that looks like a purple finger potato is actually a radish. A really nice dish, even if I forgot the name.



Red trout over hen-of-the-woods mushrooms. A great dish that went well with the Bordeaux I had brought, but even better with a Burgundy from the Inovasi list.



Baby octopus caught the day before and flown into the restaurant early in the day. This dish will be shown on Check Please!, and was the most tender octopus I've ever had.



Grilled local chicken brought in that day. Again, another good Pinot Noir dish.



Dessert was a grilled tres leche cake with a nicely spiced sauce.

As usual, Inovasi didn't fail to deliver in the least. There's been a few personnel changes recently to maintain the quality level that John des Rosiers expects for his patrons, and everything was humming great.

_________________
John Danza

As John Danza said, there have been a bunch of changes, including a new manager (Massimo, who briefly was with John at Moderno and has now rotated over to run Inovasi solo), a number of new menu options debuting today, and some updates and refreshes in the dining room. Some of the staff is changing as well.

We celebrated my birthday there last night and it really could not have been nicer. Chef John sent out a new dish based on the foie gras in John's picture, but now served in a glass with scrambled eggs. The eggs are nicely spiced and are rich with the foie. Inovasi is the place I learned to eat foie and enjoy it, last night's was really a hit. We also had a new dish called "pork strips" which maybe doesn't sound super-exciting, but these crisp pork shoulder bites have some complex heat and spice, and are served with a 'strong garlic aioli' and some wilted arugula. A great dish. We also had the shrimp and cucumber small which has quickly become Mrs. EdB's favorite dish, the country ham with ricotta and honey which was delicious (though there was way more ricotta on the plate than we needed), the cod stew which I love, and the chicken with curry, broccoli rabe, and cauliflower. The chicken ended up coming home with me without any sauce, but it had a nice smoky flavor all by itself (though admittedly dry the day after, but can't really fault chef for that). For dessert, Chris sent out a great rendition of the flourless chocolate cake, with amarena cherry glaze and chantilly cream. He took great care of us and the kids throughout the evening, as always.

A disclaimer of sorts - we are now so regular there that clearly we are getting some perks that are not offered to everyone, but we were also in the dining room recently when a couple celebrating an anniversary - who were first-time diners at Inovasi - were sent glasses of champagne on the house just because. Those are the small touches that started us coming there in the first place, and keep us coming back. Then again this was really a wow, as was my impression that Chef might have come by Inovasi first last night just to cook for my birthday. He was gone before we got to dessert, off to Moderno.

John des Rosiers and Phil Rubino will be doing a dinner at the James Beard Foundation in New York on Friday, October 5, 2012. It'll be a combination of Inovasi and Moderno. It looks like a great dinner. Jan and I have already signed up. You can find the information here.

_________________
John Danza

With a babysitter and an early reservation, Mrs. EdB60035 and I were able to partake in the tasting menu last night for the first time since the switch four months ago to an off-menu format. The ingredients for each of the courses are drawn from the regular menu, but served in different preparations, individually plated. I was a little hesitant as there were so many new dishes on the menu, which we resolved by separately ordering the mushrooms, which were a heavenly mix of lobster mushrooms and one other kind (sorry didn't take notes). The tasting then consisted of eight courses:
- Chilled tomato soup, with highlights of avocado foam, cheese, and maybe a drop of truffle oil (?)
- House-smoked swordfish, black radish, coconut milk, lettuce mix
- A shrimp and mushroom dish (can't remember other components)
- A Spanish fish (meaty, oily) atop polenta with roasted beets
- Pork shoulder, prepared tempura-style in duck fat with romesco. Des Rosiers' romesco is so good a British friend pines for it, eighteen months after eating at Inovasi.
- A surprise course brought out by John of "smuggled culatello". As mentioned above, John and Phil Rubino are cooking at the Beard House in New York next month, and this Italian ham is on the menu. Apparently real culatello is banned for import to the US; I didn't ask questions, just ate
- Crispy duck, cold milk-brined foie gras, some other ingredient
- Manjari chocolate with ricotta cheese

Only the culatello was an addition, the other courses were the standard tasting menu last night. $62/person...wine pairings were $24 additional but we went for cocktails instead. I thought each dish was a good dish, with the swordfish and the Spanish fish being standouts, the pork a very good compilation (sometimes I feel the pork shoulder at Inovasi is a little dry, this was a good way to balance that with other tastes and textures) and the culatello an amazing treat. With a large group, I would probably still go "old style" and just order a bunch of things from the menu to share, but for the two of us the tasting was a really nice evening, and a steady pace where we were there a little more than two hours.

The restaurant filled up around 8 PM, which even on a Friday is late for Lake Bluff. There's been a bit of wait staff turnover but Maria and Chris are still there, and Massimo's strong background in wine has made that program even better along with a new bartender. Still feeling very comfortable for us at table 44

Sorry for the late notice, but I just found out that Inovasi will be on a segment of tonight's Check Please program on WTTW. It airs at 8pm.

_________________
John Danza

Just got an email that Inovasi will be doing a wine dinner for Milbrandt winery on April 17 $52 for all courses and wines.
menu sounds great- happy to forward email-if it isn't posted on their website.
Hubs and I are going.

_________________
"If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home."
~James Michener

It was great to see Chef des Rosiers smiling behind the bar late on Saturday afternoon. His unbridled enthusiasm is one of my favorite aspects of Inovasi. The guy's got passion and passion counts for a lot. But he also has a great palate, culinary imagination, access to phenomenal ingredients and polished skills, none of which hurt, either.

The early part of our pre-dinner bar session was spent largely chatting with chef about his favorite dishes on Inovasi's new menu. He poured our whiskeys and spoke in detail about at least a dozen dishes from across all the sections of the menu, explaining why he'd chosen the components he'd chosen for each dish and how he prepared each of them. He described in detail the successes and misses that took place along the way during his creative process of bringing the dishes to their menu-ready state. He got so excited in recounting them that he actually grabbed a pen and started marking the ones he thought we should definitely order on this particular night. As many chefs as I have met, I cannot recall ever meeting one who was more open and enthusiastic about his or her work. For a food enthusiast like myself, it was a magnificent experience that was actually surpassed by the meal that followed it.

There were 4 of us (our friends were hosting us) and we were so overwhelmed with the plethora of choices, we opted for the tasting menu, which put the onus of decision on the kitchen. After our pre-game chat with chef, I had a hunch that deferring would be a perfect choice and it was . . .

Round One:
Big Fries | togarashi, Thai peanut sauce
I think chef told us these substantial potato wedges were blanched in oil 9 times before being fried. They were crispy on the outside, pillowy on the inside. I loved the togarashi.
Roasted Marcona Almonds | fresh thyme, orange zest, tellicherry pepper
Really nice seasoning mix on the almonds.
Udon Noodles & Crispy Pork | coconut broth, ginger, sake, soy rice vinegar, poached egg
One of my favorites of the evening. The broth was complex and flavorful, and the noodles were al dente and satisfyingly chewy.

Round Two:
Briquettes | reggiano cheese croquettes, red oak lettuce
These croquettes were coated in a seasoning/flour mixture that was black, hence the name. Very pungent and intense.
Pickled Beef Tongue | house made, raw celery, popcorn shoots, sonoma olive oil
I loved this unctuous, briny tongue, which was sliced ultra-thin.
Hand Made "Shells" | rolled by hand, herb pesto, hazelnuts, grana padano, pickled garlic
These "shells" were actually pressed out by thumb from house-made pasta circles, which is why they had no ridges. They were, again, perfectly cooked and paired nicely with the other components.

Round Three:
Wild Mushrooms | foraged mushrooms, creme fraiche, goat cheese, dried nectarine
A great assortment of earthy, meaty mushrooms, cooked just until tender. I love the way they worked with the other ingredients.
Teriyaki Chicken Wings | amish chicken, true teriyaki sauce, green onion
Superior quality chicken in a very tasty sauce. I loved seeing such a commonly encountered dish elevated via the use of such great ingredients.
The Roman Classic: Cacio E Pepe | bavettine pasta, tellicherry black pepper, pecorino
More excellently prepared pasta. I though the combination of black pepper and pecorino was very well executed.

Round Four:
Roasted Duck & Pistachios | crispy papas bravas, roasted pistachio, Japanese teriyaki
This was a very clever take. The duck -- breast and leg -- was juicy and I loved the way the papas bravas and teriyaki combined with it. The pistachios provided a great aroma and some dots of crunch.
Slow Cooked Pork & Grits | antebellum grits, caramelized onions, pasilla de Oaxaca chile
A real showstopper. The pork was rich, flavorful and intense. It paired wonderfully with the onions, and the chile provided a perfect accent of punch.
Straight Out Of The Sea: Branzini | fiddlehead ferns
A smaller version of branzino, this mild, fatty fish was cooked perfectly -- moist and flaky.

Round Five (desserts):
Cheese Course
A nice assortment of 4 cheeses and house-made accoutrements.
Bourbon-Apple Pie | pear butter, spiced chantilly cream, fried dough
This was essentially a deconstructed apple pie in custard form, garnished with the cream and a strip of fried pie crust. Just a great dessert.
Liquid Manjari Chocolate Truffles | bacon, raspberry
It's always great to have some chocolate, especially house-made chocolate, after an intense meal like this. I loved the supremely thin outer shells and the flavorful liquid fillings.

3 Wines:
White: Arizona Stronghold, Tazi, 2009, Cochise County, AZ
Coming from the wine hotbed that is Arizona, this was a real surprise. I thought the balance between fruit and acid made this wine especially food-friendly.
Red: Oratoire St Martin, Cairanne, Haut-Coustias, 2006, Cotes du Rhone Villages
Another food-friendly wine that paired nicely with the second half of our meal. I was struck by the mellowness of this wine.
Dessert (red): Alcyone nv
Sweet with prominent vanilla notes

I cannot say enough about what a great meal this was. There was such a variety of dishes -- flavors, textures and aromas from across the spectrum -- and the execution was spot-on from beginning to end. As many great meals as I've had at Inovasi, this was one of my very favorites. Chef tells me he's back in the kitchen full-time at Inovasi, as Royce now has its full staff settled in. His enthuiasm for being there is obvious and it's apparent on every plate coming out of the kitchen.

=R=

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

Spit out the gum, sister!

Twitter: ronniesuburban