My wife and I had another wonderful meal at Lula Café Saturday evening. We love Lula’s great food in a laid back atmosphere. We sat at the counter in front of the kitchen and chatted with the passionate staff all evening.
Started with the really good roasted eggplant with lamb pancetta, smoked sungold tomato, black anchovy and the prawns with fried squash blossom and garlic scape, lime vinaigrette, thyme aioli.
The chef brought us (on the house) the crispy veal sweatbreads with baby carrots, a fabulous dish. The texture of sweetbreads is usually an issue for me, but not so with this prep.
The loup de mer was a beautiful dish, served with cauliflower, pureed bietina, black quinoa, and fava bean salsa verde. The mussel and chorizo stuffing in the roasted quail was fabulous and the sides were sweet corn gnocchi, glazed chanterelles, and turnips.
Lula has a very thoughtful wine list with many tiny, hard to source European producers. I usually go straight to the Jura selections, which are very difficult to find in Chicago. Loved the 2008 Jacques Puffeney Trousseau ‘Les Berangères’. I have a fair amount of Puffeney in my cellar, but not the 08 trousseau. My only quibble was it is a crime to serve that beautiful wine in small-bowled stems that do nothing to enhance the aromatics.
Their desserts are always wonderful and yesterday was no exception. My favorite was the Crepe Gateau Brulee with lemon curd, blueberry mascarpone ice cream, streusel, and lemon ice; great dessert. We also had the peanut butter pie, almost a peanut brittle under peanut butter mousse, and whipped cream, which put us into the uncomfortable range. A fitting end to a nice meal is the Intellegencia coffee.
Lula Cafe
2537 N. Kedzie Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60647
773.489.9554
http://www.lulacafe.com
Last edited by
Al Ehrhardt on July 30th, 2013, 9:57 am, edited 1 time in total.