LUXBAR & TGACC Cheese Salon
WHAT: Cheese Salon
WHEN: Monday, December 3rd, 2012 – 7 PM to 9 PM
WHERE: LUXBAR (18 E. Bellevue, Chicago)
HOST: LUXBAR and The Great American Cheese Collection
OUR RATING: Chance It!
This week’s Cheese Salon, held at LUXBAR in the Gold Coast neighborhood, featured a wide array of cheeses from Zingerman’s Creamery of Ann Arbor, Ludwig Creamery of Fithian, and Capri Goat Cheeses. A wine selection and tasting was also available from Fox Valley Winery.
We proceeded to LUXBAR dead on-time at 7 pm for the opening of the cheese tasting, thinking that we would be some of the first individuals to arrive, after our experiences at several similar events. Unusually, the cheese tasting area, cut off from the main restaurant, was already swarming with patrons. This was probably due to the complete lack of a guest list, even though the event was RSVP only. But, for now, more about LUXBAR.
The restaurant is a strange one in the Gold Coast. Possessing the air of a simple bar that has been jazzed up, it has a lively atmosphere that would probably not be conducive to conversation. While we cannot speak for the food (although the plates that came out of the kitchen seemed large and certainly looked delicious), the ambience seemed extremely confused: were we in a sports bar, or a high end restaurant? Ordinarily, we would not mind such a contradiction. However, had we wanted to frequent a sports bar, we would have simply headed north to Wrigleyville for cheaper drinks and more laughs. There is no point of combining these types of food genres unless you are offering something really special, such as a molecular gastronomic take on sports bar food. From a cursory glance at the menu, LUXBAR seemed to be offering American food with a slight European twist, at decidedly European prices. Your typical Streeterville locale.
The entire experience of cheese tasting was highly frenetic and disorderly–perhaps not the kind of mood you want to create for a cheese tasting. The very fact that we saw a patron nearly trip over an elderly wheelchair user and not so much as say sorry, perhaps best illustrates this sardine-tin of a venue. There were tables of cheese on both sides, leading patrons ultimately to a dead end of occupied dinner tables only a few feet away. Talk about a road-block.
What added to the chaotic frenzy of it all were the few servers who attempted to zig-zag their way through the crowd with plates of appetizers from LUXBAR’s Chef Michael, which featured a few of the cheeses being sold at the event. As per usual, patrons of the event swarmed the servers like flies, and the food disappeared from the serving platters within seconds. That’s not to say we weren’t able to try any of them – we tend to know how to manipulate our way to food pretty well. Unfortunately, while we were able to sample all three of the appetizers, it was rather impossible to hear the servers’ explanations of the dishes and what cheeses they featured.
The first of the appetizers that were brought out were grilled cheese sandwiches on a pretzel bun, featuring a soft but pungent white cheese, most likely made with cow’s milk. The cheese was complimented nicely by sour pickles embedded deep within the sandwich. Next came mini potato skins featuring one of the gorgonzolas from the event. Honestly, your typical stuffed potato skin, which would have served well from the addition of chives. Finally, Alicia was able to sample fried trotter topped with Dijon mustard on top a bed of raw squash salad with what was probably a light goat cheese. Delicious! Although not a pork fan in the least, the pork was tender and matched well with the texture and spice of the mustard. The cheese…well let’s just say you wouldn’t have guessed the dish was composed of any.
–Giles Schnierle of the Great American Cheese Collection (photo by Leah A. Zeldes).
Now, for the cheeses. After trying all cheese, but perhaps five from an unmarked table that was so swamped one could not even attempt to approach it for fear of injury, we can conclude that all of the kerfuffle of the place was worth it for some of these little gems.
We started with some delicious salt-bathed goat and cow cheese from Ludwig Creamery. Following this, we took a sampling of perhaps Adam’s favorite cheese of the night, a beautiful gorgonzola from Westfield Farms. Nutty and tart, this delightful cheese was a welcome start to the evening.
We then decided that wetting our whistles was necessary after all that salty cheese. We tried three wines from Fox Valley Winery: their rose, a riesling and a cabernet sauvignon. The rose was perhaps the best wine on offer. Very dry, it was akin to Spanish rose, it had distinctive notes of pineapple and a crisp finish. Refreshing! The Riesling, on the other hand, left quite a lot to be desired. To be perfectly frank, Riesling should only really be called such if grown in the Rhine region, but it was more than semantics that dissatisfied us. Unbearably sweet would be our summary of this wine. Similarly, the cabernet sauvignon was far too full-bodied and one could literally detect the notes of sulfites, although this is only our opinion. Definitely, try the rose, but steer clear of the other two.
We then moved on to try the Capri goat cheeses of Westfield Farms. While the blue was rather unremarkable (and perhaps a little too hefty with the blue mold), the chocolate goat cheese was an experience we would repeat. Cocoa infused and very unusual, one could see it well suited to a canapé selection. It’s the chocolate that hits you first, but then just as you think the cheese has left your tastebuds and been swallowed away, the cheese hits you, and you’re left reminded that you haven’t just consumed a piece of chocolate.
Finally, it was onto the main event: the Zingerman cheeses. We tried at least 5 different varieties. First were 3 varieties of the Little Napoleon cheese (goat). We were served the one week, two week and one month varieties. As expected, the younger the cheese, the softer, but they all tasted practically the same. Our biggest criticism here is the propensity for creameries to oversell their products. The cheese took 1-4 weeks to make, they’re not that amazing and they’re probably not worth your money, though you would never know it from how excited the salesperson was. Another type, Bridgeport (cow and black peppercorns), we would highly recommend and suspect would go very well with oatcakes. The final cheese, a Great Lakes Cheshire was alright, but frankly does not hold a candle to the Cheshire cheese of Cheshire proper (again, please don’t use these words incorrectly: if it doesn’t come from Cheshire, it’s not a Cheshire cheese!)
Overall, we would recommend future events of this type at LUXBAR only with caution. By all means, go for the cheese, but expect it to be crowded and loud.