FoodBuzz Community Table: An Evening at Tru

by Mara @ What's For Dinner? on August 25, 2009

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*This is a LONG and photo-heavy post*

It was August 6th when I got the email.

I was sitting on the camp bus, presumably sweating and listening to far too many kids being far too loud. “Foodbuzz in Chicago” was the subject, so of course, I was suddenly interested. Foodbuzz is the wonderful sponsor of my and many other blogs, and they host events all over the country, and I always enter as “being interested” in any Chicago event. This one was different though. This email wasn’t offering information about any simple meal or event, but rather offering an opportunity to dine at one of Chicago’s finest restaurants: Tru. I immediately entered, and kept my fingers crossed that I’d get chosen.

Most people know Tru as simply a fine dining establishment, but I have a different kind of relationship with it. My first experience there was in April of 2004 right after my mom and stepdad got married. I can remember being fascinated by the plating and presentation of all the food, and completely blown away by the flavors. I even took some sub-par, non-food-blogger photos of the plates because they were so beautiful.

As time went on, my younger sister finished culinary school at Johnson and Wales in Denver and began her job search while working at a restaurant there. Before we knew it, she was moving back to Chicago to take a job at the newest of Rick Tramonto’s restaurants. Soon thereafter, she had moved on to be one of the pastry chefs at none other than Tru.

She worked insane hours, served local and national celebrities, and was full of stories about how they do all the “cool stuff” with the chemical reactions and other molecular gastronomy dishes. Once I started writing this blog, I kept thinking “Wow, a dinner at Tru would be a great post!” but it never happened. A mere 3 weeks ago, she moved on to work at the newest of Chicago’s fine dining restaurants, L2o, at which I’d also love to eat.

But then another email came. On August 19th this time… and it said I’d been chosen to be one of ten food bloggers to dine at the Foodbuzz Community Table dinner at Tru! I was beyond excited, and then I found out that Jenn and Val would be attending too, and then I knew: this was going to be a night to remember.

I picked Jenn up at work yesterday evening, and after a few detours and a quick costume change, we arrived at Tru.

After walking through a gorgeous lounge set with the most beautiful centerpieces…

…we were escorted upstairs into a private dining room with a huge table set for 20. The atmosphere of the room was calm and elegant, and the table was set beautifully. Each place setting had at least 3 wine glasses, and a menu with what was to come:

Most people were already seated, and as the last person arrived, the waiters came in with some passed canapés.

There was a “cauliflower sphere”, a mini beef wellington, and a scallop + lemon wonton:

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The wonton was by far my favorite, though the presentation of the sphere was simple, elegant, and interesting.

Next we were presented with a “basil collins”, a cocktail made from Rain vodka (a vodka made from corn) and basil-infused syrup and club soda. Not only was it beautifully garnished with mini basil, but it was quite possibly the most refreshing drink I’ve ever had.

We were also presented with two mini breads: one pumpernickel and one brioche. I could not get enough!

Our meal began with an explanation of each dish by the very well-spoken and knowledgeable server, Michael. After his presentation, I was beyond eager to see what the dishes would actually be.

We started with an amuse bouche (literally “to tease the mouth”) which consisted of a Nigella-seed and salt cured salmon with lemon geleé and edible bachelor button flowers. This dish was the size of a quarter.

This was when it hit me: I was dealing with a whole new level of food here. Not only could i taste the salmon, but the layers of flavor were more complex than anything I think I’d ever tasted.

Next came a dish I was looking forward to as I love crab: the peeky-toe crab with prosciutto, pequillo, and cantaloupe-cava consummé. The crab came out by itself first, and the consummé was poured tableside:

Each bite was different from the next, and I was amazed as to how the flavor of the cantaloupe sang along with the delicate crab flavor. The saltiness of the prosciutto complimented the whole dish perfectly.

Our hot appetizer was a frog leg, lightly fried with roasted garlic, carrot, celery, and a watercress neige (a lightly set warm sauce). Again, the frog leg plating came out first, and after we had all tasted it, the neige was poured.

It was an interesting combination of flavors both familiar and new, and one of the only things I could think of was how bad I felt for the poor sous chef who had to chop all those vegetables in such a tiny dice!

Our fish course was an olive oil poached Scottish salmon with granny smith apple, coconut, and Thai long peppercorn.

The salmon was delicate and flavorful, and the small bits of apple (the balls and flower) accented the smoothness of the coconut sauce in the plate. The salmon was atop a mound of ribbons of an unidentified vegetable, which, upon asking my sister, I found out were daikon radish. This was one of my favorite dishes of the evening!

Our meat course, however… I still don’t know exactly how to put it into words. It was a braised beef short rib topped with unagi (sea eel), a miso emulsion, and accompanied by a scallion pistou (a type of sauce).

I don’t know that I’ve ever had a dish that was so surprising and left me speechless. The flavors and textures again, complimented and accented each other perfectly, but I really cannot put into words the flavor. It was really, like the most amazing pot roast topped with sweet and creamy eel, and then all the flavors were tied together with the miso and the scallion. I will be on a mission this winter to braise things to attempt to come close to this flavor.

Our dessert was the perfect end to an amazing meal: a Seedling Farms plum with sarsaparilla cream, milk chocolate, and ginger-lime meringue. The dish was accompanied by a cooked plum granita that was the most beautiful color, and had a crisp, light flavor.

Just when we thought the meal was over, Tru’s famous mignardises were brought to the table. I have to say, I sampled each and every one of them, but could only get a good picture of a few:

We had a few fun surprises during dinner, including some delicious wine from Spain and Portugal, as well as meeting Rick Tramonto (one of the two executive chefs of the restaurant) and Meg Galus, Tru’s pastry chef (and my sister’s former coworker!) They were both warm and welcoming, and I appreciated the detailed description of the dessert that Meg gave, because I would not have known what was what!

You may notice that the picture of Meg is in the pastry kitchen. That’s because, after dinner, we were brought on a kitchen tour! The kitchen was beautiful, and the sheer size of most of the appliances blew me away. There were awards hung all over the kitchen, and the array of wine glasses was phenomenal. Apparently the glasses are hand blown and never touch a dishwasher.

As we exited the restaurant, we were handed a “liquid truffle” and were instructed to eat it in one bite. I’m glad those were the instructions, because once I bit into the chocolate cube, it exploded in my mouth with a strong raspberry ginger flavor. According to my sister, these are made by deep freezing in cubes, an intensely-flavored ice cream base, then dipping the cube in what is pretty much, gourmet Magic Shell. Then, the cubes are placed in the refrigerator, causing the centers to thaw into liquid and leaving the outside solid. (Thanks Leigh!)

Jenn, Val and I made sure to take a picture at the table before we left:

It was, indeed, a night and a meal I’ll never forget. Thank you so much, Foodbuzz and Visa Signature for the opportunity and the experience! I enjoyed meeting all the other bloggers at the event! There are many other recaps in the blogosphere, including one at eataduckimust!, Joelen’s Culinary Adventures, and of course, one at Chicago Marathon Valerie. I’m sure there are others to come!

Thank you all for reading this incredibly long and photo-heavy post! After the 4-hour meal and lack of sleep, tonight’s dinner was a simple one of black bean burgers and tomato salad.