Frog n Snail debuted a few weeks ago amid much excitementand with good reason. The man behind the new Boystown eatery is Dale Levitski, the chef at Lincoln Park's Sprout and a former Top Chef contender.
Before taking over at Sprout, Levitski logged time at Blackbird, La Tache and Trio. Last year, he was selected as a semifinalist for "Best Chef: Great Lakes Region" by the James Beard Foundation, according to the restaurant's website. There is simply no denying that this man knows his way around a kitchen. That's why I have high hopes that Frog n Snail will soon find its footing, but my first visit left a lot to be desired.
The Broadway Avenue restaurant is decorated in grassy greens and woody browns that evoke a sense of being in nature (perhaps in a swamp with frogs and snails). The space is soothing, but like the food, it's also a tad confusing. You look in one direction and you'll see sleek metal sculptures of the restaurant's eponymous frogs and snails, but then you turn around and there are booths upholstered in fabric that would be more at home in a worn-out diner than a new urban eatery. Frog n Snail is BYOB for the moment, so you can test Levitski's latest culinary experiments without racking up a huge bill.
There were some high points, to be sure, but most of the admittedly interesting dishes that I tried just fell flat. There are about 10 small plates, half of which are meant for sharing and the rest portioned for one person. Don't expect any of the tired usual suspects you'll find on a lot of appetizer menus. Instead, you'll find unique offerings like ricotta dip with bacon and broccoli and unexpected twists like mussels flavored with absinthe and fennel.
I tried the truffle chiffon, even though I had no idea what it was (even after reading the menu description and inquiring to my waiter). The dish was billed by my waiter as a "savory crème brulee without the brulee" with artichoke, braised red onion and pistachios. The texture of this sad little dish bore no resemblance to crème brulee. It had the consistency of cream cheese, and barely as much flavor. I didn't detect a note of truffle anywhere, and the artichokes, braised onions and pistachios just couldn't compensate for the flavorless mush beneath them.
Thankfully, the French onion soup was far better. I can't say it's the best version I've ever eaten, but it is made with super-tender and flavorful short rib meata definite upgrade from the inferior cuts of beef you might find in other French onion soups. It's covered with Fontina rather than the traditional Gruyere, which was a nice twist. For no apparent reason, the soup also included peas. They didn't ruin it for me, but I definitely could have done without them.
The main courses include a short list of meat and fish dishes, each with some experimental addition to or unique twist on a classic. The chicken Kiev, for example, includes lima beans and kale succotash. The beef Stroganoff starts with homemade pappardelle and is upgraded with a petite filet au poivre and tarragon Madeira cream.
The curry-braised lamb shank has potential, but doesn't knock it out of the park. The meat was expertly flavored and melt-in-your-mouth tender, which is why I was so disappointed that it was served at room temperature. I'll chalk that misstep to the kitchen staff working out some kinks. I will say that the mint French gnocchi that accompanied the lamb were close to perfect. They were sautéed to a golden crispness on the outside, and soft and delicate on the inside.
Vegetarians will find one entrée in the form of mushroom and peach buckwheat crepes. Until the menu changes to include some additional vegetarian dishes, non-meat eaters will be leaving Frog n Snail quite hungry because the crepes are lackluster, at best. Like the lamb, they were served nearly cold. The crepes themselves were fine, but completely forgettable. The mushroom filling was flavorless, and the menu promised goat cheese and cauliflower, but my crepes only seemed to include the latter. Unfortunately, small bits of cauliflower look strangely like crumbled goat cheese, so every time I thought I was stabbing a bit of goat cheese to add some flavor to my bite, it turned out to be more tasteless cauliflower. Sighat least the dish probably contained fewer calories than I was planning on eating.
There were three dessert offerings on the night I visited Frog n Snail. I chose the profiteroles, which were a tremendous disappointment. They were filled with vanilla gelato, which was tasty enough, but the profiteroles themselveswhich should be light and airywere hard as rocks. My waiter had given me and my dining companion a knife with our dessert, "just in case," he said. He clearly knew what we were about to be served because a sharp knife was indeed the only way to get through these things. The only redeeming quality about this dessert was the tart marinated cherries served on top.
With such a talented chef behind the scenes at Frog n Snail, I wish I had better news to report about this restaurant. Nothing here is lacking in imagination, and the creative flavor combinations have huge potential. So, perhaps in time Frog n Snail will start churning out dishes that inspire diners to come back for more.
Frog n Snail is located at 3124 N. Broadway Ave.; call 773-661-9166 or visit www.frognsnail.com .
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