L2O

L2O, L2O, L2O - WOW

From the moment you walk into the artfully decorated dining room you know that you will be in for a treat. The decor manages to strike a perfect balance between luxurious and minimalist - the first of many paradoxes you will unravel through your 4-hour journey.

Unfortunately, my dining companion was not JF, so there will be no secondary review, but I hope to do this justice in my solo venture. The menu has three possibilities. There is a 6 course tasting, a 4 course mix and match, or a 12 course tasting. We of course opted for the 12 course.

The wine list was extensive and the sommelier extremely friendly and knowledgeable. My friend selected a Gevertztraminer which the sommelier confirmed would be excellent with the first few courses.

The first amuse was lobster and taragon and bursted with flavor. The texture and flavor of the lobster combined well with the creaminess of the sauce, onion, tarragon, and I detected just a bit of orange rind.




There were 6 options for freshly baked bread with house made butter and I must say that the rosemary croissant stole the show.



The second amuse was a tuna tartare in an olive oil and soy emulsion with liquid nitrogen frozen shizo. I don't know what kind of olive oil they use here, but it made its way into a number of dishes and it tasted as if it had been squeezed from Mount Olympus directly into my mouth. Never have I tasted such pure olive oil.


The first course (cold) was fluke in a ume (plum) sauce with sudachi (japanese citrus fruit) and fried garlic. The ume and sudachi sauce was extremely tart, but delicious and the quality of the fluke was exemplary.


The second course (cold) was tuna with various sauce dots such as squid ink and miso. The presentation was extremely unique and the flavor was wonderful. The tuna had a nice fattiness that made it buttery and delicious.

The somellier was very kind at this point and offered to pair the next courses with a duet of sake tasting. My friend and I took her up on it and the sake choices were delicious.

Since neither my guest nor I are big Tofu fans we asked to substitute the third course (cold) and the chef did not disappoint. In its place he gave us a cured smoked escolar with paprika and just a hint of cayenne. Since this had more of that delicious olive oil, I was in love. It was also a perfect contrast to the delicately flavored dish that preceded it.



The fourth course (cold) was salmon with pickled shimeji mushrooms a frozen shellfish that broke into an emulsion, a piece of toast and a shiso leaf. The toast was the perfect example of how even something so pedestrian can be so delicious when prepared perfectly. Eating it with the salmon made me nostalgic for some childhood breakfasts eating smoked salmon on toast (though this salmon was not smoked). This dish had an evocative simiplicity and yet the frozen shellfish and flavorful shimeji mushrooms reminded me not to underestimate its complexity.


The fifth dish (warm) was so delicious that had it been the only course, I would have left quite happy. Sweetbread (thymus gland) with lobster dumpling and asparagus in a foie gras cream emulsion. I had to drink up every last drop of the sauce. It also contained an additional coiled vegetable, which I've seen on Bizarre Foods before, but I must confess I can't remember its name. Hopefully the attached picture of this course will prove instructive.



The sixth course (warm) was my favorite of the night. It had me proclaiming that it was "heaven on a plate". This sald cod with fingerling potato puree and caviar contained an explosion of flavor that allowed me to savor each tiny bite. I never wanted it to end. This was also another evocative dish as it both reminded me of a fisherman's pie, but taken twenty levels higher. Top it with some of that divine oil and I couldn't ask for more.


The seventh course (warm) was grilled Walu (Hawaiin Escolar), in a clear chorizo broth. I thought the fish was grilled to perfection and remained perfectly flavorful and juicy. I also thought the chorizo broth was not overwhelming as I feared it would be, but quite tasty. However, I just didn't buy the two together. Independently the components were wonderful, but together there was a dissonance that I just couldn't reconcile.


The eigth course (main) was skate wing with Shanghai bouillon (sweet and sour sauce) and winter greens. The bouillon was not as sweet and sour as explained but rather a delicious consomme style broth. This was my friend's favorite course of the night, but it actually did not wow me. The skate was cooked perfectly, but it lacked the pizazz of fifth and sixth courses.


The ninth course (main) was probably the only course I did not like. It was kuro buta loin with black truffle sauce and potato. The potato was very tasty, but my meat was almost entirely gristle and fat. My friend's piece was slightly meatier and he kindly shared, but it left me thinking of bacon, which is the one food I find repulsive. Even the truffles couldn't overcome that overwhelming bacon flavor.


The tenth course (main) proves you can play with your food and offered the flexibility to have the dish your way. They created a shabu shabu with hiramasa (small yellowtail fished in Oceana) as the dipping fish. I tried searing it in the shabu shabu twice, but realized I much preferred the fish raw since it was so flavorful and delicious. The shabu shabu was useful for the raw vegetables though and the smoky broth was tasty.


Next we received an olive oil chocolate truffle as our dessert amuse. Of course you already know that anything with their olive oil automatically gets my stamp of approval so this rich decadent truffle was the perfect way to enter dessert.


The second dessert amuse immediately the pulled back from the richness of the tenth course by offering a creamy sweet honey flavor with a honey cream and bee pollen. Anything with honey can call me honey, so this was a real winner with me.



The eleventh course (dessert) was a raspberry dessert with gold leave syrup and mascarpone ice cream. The mascarpone ice cream was deliciously creamy and proved a great counterpoint to the tart raspberries. Beautiful presentation as well.


The twelth and final course (dessert) was a praline souffle, with hazlenut creme anglais. As souffle is one of my favorite desserts and hazlenut is one of my favorite dessert flavors, it didn't take long for me to love the synergy in this one! The perfect way to end the perfect meal. Or was it?


No - they couldn't leave us without the obligatory petit fours, which were a macaroon with brown butter and a mini custard filled bundt style cake. The waiter told us a charming story about the bundt cake preperation and why it is hard on the outside yet juicy on the inside (bees wax), but it was the macaroon that actually won this course for me. The brown butter added just the right amount of savory to sweet and this truly was the perfect end to the perfect meal.

As expected, the check was large, but to our surprise the sommelier had actually comped us the sake tasting which was a nice surprise. I wish she hadn't already left by that point because I would have loved to thank her. All in all 17 courses were had if you include the amuse's and the petit fours. This is likely the best meal I've had in Chicago so I have no reservations giving it my first solid A and saying L2O

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L2O Restaurant
2300 N. Lincoln Park West
Chicago, IL 60614
773-868-0002