So what to say about Bonsoiree? It's a small restaurant, 26 seats, near the Logan Square area of Chicago, that has to be just about the finest of Chicago's many BYOB options. I can't think of anywhere else in the city that more deserving of you digging deep into your cellar to pick out some pretty special wines than here. It has a very intimate atmosphere - a great place for a date, or a romantic evening with one's parents as we had - and being so small you are reassured that each and every dish has the chef's full attention, and it shows with the dishes that they put out. There is a choice of a 4, 7 or 13 course menu, we had the 7, and we were fully sated by the end. They do also bring you a good -sized amuse-bouche - a hazelnut encrusted with ruby-red trout in a lemon beurre blanc sauce - and there is the opportunity to purchase an additional course, what seems to be the signature dish called duck, duck, goose (duck 2 ways, confit and pan-fried breast, plus seared goose foie gras and fig preserve). Obviously we went for this option, and it was splendid, all cooked to perfection.
The chef(s) exhibit a very high level of technical expertise, from the four of us there was not a single complaint that anything was cooked any way other that perfectly. All of the meat (apple wood-smoked pork cheek bacon, grass-fed spring lamb roast, plus the duck) was beautifully tender, and the fish (Japanese sea bass, Suzuki on the menu) was perfectly moist. The standout dish for all of us, though, was without doubt the scallop and Maryland crab in a torched ponzu aioli with a little salsify, served in a scallop shell. The sushi-grade scallops were delicious, the and the crab added texture to the rich, creamy sauce. This dish may be a permanent fixture on the menu, I'm pretty sure we had it when we went there last year. The other favourite dish was the pork cheek bacon box with quail egg, anise marshmallow, apple wood smoke and Vermont maple. Presented in a box, they remove the lid and waft some of the apple wood smoke towards you, and the combined mouthful of the maple pork, egg and marshmallow truly is something to savour, with the sweetness of the marshmallow being the perfect complement to the rusticity of the pork, and the egg adding a little richness. Yummy!
Being a BYOB we took along several bottles. We started with champagne, a favourite that I discovered recently, NV Varnier-Fanniere Grand Cru Brut Rose, which tasted much better this time around with all its fine characteristics fully evident. We followed this with an Austrian Riesling, a 2001 FX Pichler Riesling Loibner Steinertal, which was probably the wine of the evening for me. It had a very intensely floral nose, with plenty of apples and stone fruit, a touch of kerosene and gobs of stony minerality - you really can smell the terroir on this one - all of which was reflected on the palate beautifully, which, combined with its full-bodied mouthfeel, fine acidity, a little residual sugar (it stated 'trocken' on the label, but it was definitely off-dry) and very long finish, provided a superlative wine-drinking experience - absolutely outstanding. After that we had an old favourite, the 2004 Tardieu-Laurent Gigondas Vieilles Vignes to go with the meat and cheese courses.
My only regret (apart from not having another bottle of the Riesling) was not bringing a half bottle of dessert wine to go with dessert, a schoolboy error, but it didn't detract from what was an absolutely splendid meal with beautiful wines, and a most entertaining evening - in fact it's pretty much my perfect evening, fine food and wine shared with some of the people I care about the most.
