gourmet babble: mk

Food:	29	Ambience:	27	Purity:		Cost:	$$$$	SHAVE:	Regular

Cuisine:	Continental	Executive chef:	Todd Stein	Dining date:	2006-05-16

Region:	Chicago	City:	Chicago, IL		Loop

mk is restauranteur Michael Kornick's main presence here in Chicago, although his glitzier offering, N9ne (review forthcoming), might have more nameshare, especially with its trendy ghostbar. Still, the roots of Michael's approach is in the food, and with Todd Stein now at the helm of his flagship restaurant (a change formalized at the end of last year), Michael should have nothing to worry about. Todd won a number of "Best New Chef" awards for 2005 (odd, since he's been in the industry for a while, and even Chicago before, but who is he to argue with a little press?) and they were well deserved. He keeps his food simple, but with a robustness of flavor and a solidity of presence. His line is well-trained, consistently turning out dependably good meals — and as a catastrophe with a recent fellow diner's sweetbreads showed me, Todd is not above stepping in on the line himself when something has to be corrected. Todd is a fan of preparing foie gras (diatribe on that forthcoming elsewhere on gourmet babble) and he does it right; he also makes sure to stock a proper sauternes or two to pair it with. They often have good solid Italian and French reds there, even by the half-bottle, and fairly reasonably priced at that. His sauces are often intense, even heavy, but always complementary to the main ingredient at hand.

Todd's philosophy of dining carries over to his whole restaurant, and I think it serves him well: "Use great ingredients and treat them well. Respect is key. Dining isn�t just eating. It starts from the moment you walk in. It includes the service, the flatware, everything." That's the case at mk; the service is dependable, friendly, and in all ways engaging. The room has a bit of a New York feel to it; it's large, open, with broad strokes of black (but not drearily so) and soft uptempo ambient or synth music in the background. The menu is reductionist, tongue-in-cheek, with all-lower case dish names like "lobster" and "lobster again"; desserts are handled similarly (if slightly more loquaciously) by the talented Kate Neumann, with dishes like her signature "one banana, two banana" and "cake and shake"

David is our absolute favorite waiter there, and you would do well to sit with him; his suggestions are nearly always dead-on, he remembers your preferences and knows a palate after he starts to work with you, and he's a lot of fun without being at all overbearing. Oh, and trying the pommes frites is worth it, but do yourself a favor and order an extra truffle cream from the start. You'll each want one, trust me, and it only comes with one to start.

Pros: Solid, intense food, changing menu, excellent chef, great service. Offers foie gras, morels, and other "exotic" ingredients that make life worth living.

Cons: Food can be a bit heavy for lighter eaters. Not inexpensive.

Summary: A dependably good restaurant with a touch of New York, right here in downtown Chicago.

Posted by on May 29, 2006 3:51 PM | Permalink

gourmet babble

Scott Swanson's ramblings through the passion of gastronomy

mk

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