Dear Margaret

Took out a wonderful dinner for 4 from this brand new Lakeview spot and WOW! It’s been sooo long since I looked to a meal for anything other than comfort, that I almost forgot what it was like to be excited by something new and special. The food is French Canadian with Midwestern ingredients. The chef is Ryan Brosseau, who’s worked at Perennial Virant, Found, and Table, Donkey and Stick and was the opening Exec chef at Le Sud.

Every dish was perfectly prepared and packaged and we loved every bite. Can’t even remember saying that pre-pandemic.

We ordered:

Duck Liver Mousse
apricot jam, 9-grain toast, smoked pickled onion

Charred Broccoli
lemon emulsion, pine nuts, parsley, mint, chili flakes, lemon and coriander pickled radish

Braised Cauliflower
wine and lemon braised cauliflower, roasted eggplant purée, arugula, pine nuts, candied pearl onions, parsley, dill, tarragon, cherry tomato confit, Grana Padano

Fried Smelts
fried pickles, fried in beef tallow, tartar sauce, lemon

Braised Beef Shank for Two
red wine, maitake mushrooms, arugula salad

Roasted Half Chicken
Amish chicken, lemon and herb local rice, jus

Tourtière
Canadian meat pie with a mushroom, potato, herb, and pork filling, lard crust, petite salad

Nanaimo Bar
graham cracker, coconut, and walnut base, custard icing center, chocolate ganache top with whipped crème fraîche

Cookie Trio
two each oatmeal dried cherry, peanut butter, chocolate chip

Butter Tart
maple, dried blueberries, European butter, lard crust, quintessentially Canadian

Hope they get a following quickly—can’t imagine what it’s like to open a real restaurant with serious food in this environment. If you’re looking for something special, I highly recommend.

Dear Margaret
2965 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 360-8213
Website: www.dearmargaretchi.com
Delivery/pickup: www.exploretock.com/dearmargaret

I've been excited to try Dear Margaret since reading about it. The braised cauliflower and putsins (chicken and dumplings) sound especially delicious and weather-appropriate. I'm so glad they were able to open and your positive review has me texting my boyfriend at 7:15am asking if we can go tonight.

This must be the place that has a hanging sign that simply says DM. I wondered what that was! Glad to hear it's an exceptional new restaurant in the neighborhood.

Sounds intriguing. I heard "French Canadian" and thought they would only have twelve versions of poutine, which I consider one of the worst travesties in the food world. Glad to hear they have food that actually sounds good.

Thanks for the report!

Dave148 wrote:Lakeview’s New French-Canadian Bistro Dear Margaret debuts thanks to a decorated chef and a public relations representative turned restaurant owner.
Dear Margaret, 2965 N. Lincoln Ave.
https://chicago.eater.com/2021/1/20/222 ... tos-images

I'm excited for this one. The chef here really had things humming both at Table, Donkey, Stick and then later when Le Sud first opened.

$9 for a Nanaimo Bar is a bridge too far though - got me online to order a container of Bird's custard powder.

admich wrote:$9 for a Nanaimo Bar is a bridge too far though - got me online to order a container of Bird's custard powder.

Fairly insane. I'm the last person to complain about restaurant prices, but the trend of overpriced versions of childhood treats sold at upscale joints is off-putting. Yes, I've paid a ridiculous amount of money for Thomas Keller's upscale Ho-Ho and Laduree's factory-made macarons, and always feel like a sucker afterward.

spinynorman99 wrote:

admich wrote:$9 for a Nanaimo Bar is a bridge too far though - got me online to order a container of Bird's custard powder.

Fairly insane. I'm the last person to complain about restaurant prices, but the trend of overpriced versions of childhood treats sold at upscale joints is off-putting. Yes, I've paid a ridiculous amount of money for Thomas Keller's upscale Ho-Ho and Laduree's factory-made macarons, and always feel like a sucker afterward.

Not sure I’d get so hung up on the name—it was a proper dessert, a generous portion and completely delicious. I am unfamiliar with the original food so just got to enjoy something that I’d definitely order again.

We ordered from Dear Margaret and really enjoyed it! Highlights were the smoked carrot dish, the Tourtiere and the lamb. The desserts were solid but not my favorite. I generally enjoy savory things more than sweet so that may be more of a personal preference. They were definitely a 'childhood treat' type of dessert (my 6 year-old loved them). Also, the dessert portions were huge. I think there were 6 good-sized pieces (or maybe 4, I had a couple glasses of wine that night ) of the Nanaimo bars. We also got the cookies and there 6 large cookies.

Got Dear Margaret last night, thought it was delicious. We had the carrots, broccoli, smelt, pate, kale salad and putsins, the last of which was indeed perfect for the weather. Was it Joe Beef? Not quite, but it was a nice change of pace with some great ingredients, sympatico flavors and refreshingly simple preparation. Look forward to trying again as the seasons change!

Glad this thread got bumped (not that it's old to begin with) -- my Montreal born-and-raised husband and I dragged our feet on figuring out Valentine's Day plans and a lot of the great looking takeout places were sold out. We'll give Dear Margaret a try!

Did takeout from here last weekend and enjoyed a near perfect meal. The fried smelts and soupy chicken and dumplings dish were my favorites of what we tried on the savory side. The pork pie and duck liver mousse were both nice too while I personally didn’t care much for the smoked carrots.

boudreaulicious wrote:Butter Tart
maple, dried blueberries, European butter, lard crust, quintessentially Canadian

Then there were the butter tarts which we liked so much I stopped by for two more orders the next day (dropped one off with my parents). I love blueberries and everything else described up above can make for a divine dessert so yeah I loved these. Cute space too. I could feel a French Canadian - Quebec City type vibe pulling up on it in the middle of a snow storm.