Toyota Antics

I'm not big on dining alone unless I'm absolutely prepared to just sit, pretend to not people watch, eat and leave.  This past Saturday night was not one of those "I'm prepared" nights, but thank goodness for the Gilt Bar in Chicago. 

It was 7:00pm, my friend had bailed on me, I was hungry and unwilling to get my car rental out of valet again so I used the nifty Foodspotting app (thanks for the tip, Vicki) to help me track down what was near the hotel and the next thing you know I'm drooling over a photo of roasted bone marrow from the restaurant.  Within 5 minutes, I'm out the door and power walking thru Downtown. 

I get to the restaurant, walk up to the hostess and very shyly say "one please".  We both look at the bar and it's full.  BUMMER.  I look around the room and all the tables open are too big for one person to occupy (unless I wanted to be known as that "person" who had to take up 4 seats).  Luckily, the hostess suggested I sit at the kitchen bar.  Seemed like my only hope.  So I'm walked over and seated to this amazing view:



I'm literally AT the kitchen bar.  I no longer had to deal with being the loner!  I can just sit, relax and watch the action go down.  After a lot of staring at the menu and wanting every single thing on it, I ended up with this magnificent meal:

Drinks:
- Rittenhouse 100 whiskey neat
- High West Bourye, Rendezvous, 16 Years
(both absolutely full of flavor and burns your throat in the best way possible)

Appetizer:
- Foie gras and pork liver mousse with toast and cornichons
(I probably would have just eaten the mousse out of the little cup if I could... but I kept it classy. Not a lot of liver smell/taste for those who are scared to order this or think this kind of thing is "gross".)

Main:
- Gunthorp farms pork belly with farro verde, asparagus & shallot-raspberry glaze
(Literally melts in your mouth.  Not a big fan of fruit glazes, but I really loved how light this one was.)

Side:
- Blackened cauliflower with red onion, capers & chili
(A little tangy; are the red onions pickled? Either way, it was really good.  I probably would have been down for it to be more blackened)

Dessert:
- Strawberry ice cream
(Standard wholesome goodness, though I do not recommend taking a bite after sipping some whiskey)

PROS
- I have no doubt that I could have closed my eyes and randomly picked a dish that would turn out to be one of my new favorite dishes; the meal was that good
- The staff was so sweet; very attentive and was pretty awesome to give me extra toast, cornichons and an order of fries I didn't even order (oops, are people going to expect this from the staff now?)
- Great selection of drinks and they sure know their whiskey (bonus points!)
- I walked away from that meal so incredibly stuffed, but walked away knowing I'd sleep like a baby, which was perfect cause I had to wake up at 5am to catch a flight...

CONS
- Just one, really, and it's my own fault. I NEED to control what I eat! I'm ashamed to say I did not finish everything I ate.  Not because it wasn't good (I think you already know how much I heart this place by now).  I let my hunger order for me and just had one too many dishes.  Thanks to the guy who served me; he reassured me (and I hope he wasn't lying) that he'd bring the leftover home to feed his dog... do dogs eat pork belly?

I hope my dining alone and staring at the kitchen didn't make chef Jeff and the staff feel awkward; I gotta be honest, I felt a little weird sitting there watching them cook at first.  But I figured the seat's there for a reason!  That seat alone helped make this one of the best overall experiences I've had dining out, probably ever, and this will now be the must stop restaurant for me next time I'm in Chicago.  I wish I could have told the staff this in person while I was so close to the action, but I didn't... so thank you, for the best meal/dining alone experiences in my life and for letting me make you feel a little awkward.


Gilt Bar
http://www.giltbarchicago.com/
230 West Kinzie Street
Chicago, IL 60654