I have a crush on a restaurant. After just one visit to Nellcote, a new West Loop eatery that serves uber-fresh European-inspired cuisine, I am smitten.
Nellcote inhabits the expansive Randolph Street space that used to be home to the now-closed Marche. Those of you who had been to Marche will recall its brightly colored French carnival atmosphere, which I thought worked well at the time and suited the space. All of those bold colors and that over-the-top décor have been stripped away. In stark contrast, Nellcote is decorated completely in soothing whites and ivories, and blinged out with more than a dozen crystal chandeliers. It's one of the most elegant and beautiful dining rooms I've seen in a while.
Nellcote makes a stunning visual impact as soon as you enter, but there's nothing austere or stuffy about the space. It's pretty tough to get a table at Nellcote right now, so expect it to be loud and busting, and on some nights, there is a DJ playing music, adding to the upbeat party vibe. However, don't be fooled by the clubby atmosphere; Nellcote is seriously focused on food. The servers may also throw you off a bit. They're young, cool and dressed in their own clothes. So you may be surprised when these skinny jeans and hoodie-wearing hipsters start recommending wines like sommeliers and describing food like trained chefs. I was beyond impressed by the knowledgeable, attentive and just plain nice service I received at Nellcote.
You'll find a handful of $10 cocktails, all of which sound like tasty ways to begin a meal. I opted instead to sample a few glasses of wine from Nellcote's extensive list. My favorite was the pinot nero, which is actually a white wine made with the same grapes used to make pinot noir. It was one of the smoothest white wines I've ever tried, and while I'm not a huge fan of paying $15 for a glass, this one was worth it.
Nellcote's menu consists of about 20 small plates made for sharing, so bring a few friends and an open mind to try some new things. While the menu has some European influences, there's a heavy focus on locally-sourced and in-season ingredients. Some of the pairings—like rabbit sausage with olive emulsion and pumpkin with mint and almonds—sound a bit unusual, but everything I tasted was delightful and on the right side of experimental.
The shaved asparagus salad is a light and refreshing way to begin your meal. The crisp, paper-thin slices of asparagus are ever-so-slightly seasoned with Meyer lemon and Gouda, which is one of those pairings that sounds odd, but it works. I also recommend the risotto, a rich and creamy mixture of saffron, fava beans and Pecorino cheese. The only thing I didn't love about the dish was the gold leaf-topped lump of bone marrow in the center. It's a delicacy, I know, but I just don't need to eat bone marrow, even if it is covered in gold. If you like that sort of thing, I'm positive it would only add to the delicious decadence of the risotto.
There are several meat and fish dishes, ranging from $8 to $15. At the recommendation of my waitress, I tried the sturgeon. The sturdy steak-like fish was grilled to perfection with a subtle orange glaze and seasoned with sorrel. It's served with crisp and flavorful spring vegetables that complement the meaty fish.
Don't stop ordering before you get to the pasta and pizza section of the menu. Nellcote has its own on-site flour mill, my waitress told me, so you can be assured these pastas and pizzas are as fresh as any you'll find in the city. The pappardelle with black truffles, Pecorino and tarragon sounded divine, but I decided to try one of the more out-of-the-ordinary pastas, and opted instead for the strozzapreti, a longer curly noodle similar to cavatelli. Nellcote's version is dyed black with squid ink, which also gives the dish a salty flavor. It's tossed in pine nut pesto and mint and topped with a generous portion of tender lobster. Fresno chilies give the cold pasta dish a spicy kick. Again, this was one of those flavor combinations about which I was incredulous until I tasted. Instead of competing with one another, the strong flavors work together in a surprising and inventive way.
There are two tamer pizzas with expected toppings like garlic and oregano and buffalo mozzarella with basil, but all of the other pies surprise with combos like clams, green onions and crème fraiche or pistachios, red onions and ricotta. By the time I got to the pizza portion of the meal, I was so confident in Nellcote's chefs' ability to make unusual flavors work together that I wanted to order all of the pizzas and had a hard time choosing just one. In the end, I settled on a pizza made with Taleggio, ramps from right here in Illinois and guanciale, a spicy Italian bacon. If you go to the trouble to set up a flour mill in a restaurant, you're probably going to make sure you've got somebody around who knows how to turn that flour into a killer pizza crust. So, not surprisingly, the crust was crisp, golden and bubbly—the Taleggio, ramps and guanciale teamed up to make the perfect bite. My dining partner and I deluded ourselves into thinking we might not devour the entire pizza. I can assure you we left with no doggie bags.
I was expecting the dessert offerings to be as quirky as the rest of the menu, but they were surprisingly straightforward (for the most part), and heavy on homemade ice creams and sorbets. I rarely opt for frozen desserts when warm gooey baked goods are available to me, but the salted caramel ice cream sounded too good to pass up. It was impossibly dense and creamy and struck the perfect balance between sweet and savory. My only complaint is that I wasn't served more of it. I could have eaten an entire pint.
I liked Marche, and I was sad when I heard last year that it would be closing. But after an evening at Nellcote, Marche is just a distant memory, and I could not be more pleased with its replacement. Nellcote doesn't rely on old stand-bys, but it also doesn't push the envelope so far that you feel like you were part of a science experiment rather than a meal (and need to stop for a burger on the way home because you didn't eat any actual food). For that, I expect reservation lines to be tied up for quite some time.
Nellcote is located at 833 W. Randolph St.; visit www.nellcoterestaurant.com or call 312-432-0500.
Do you need some more Sugar & Spice in your life? Follow me on Twitter: @SugarAndSpiceMS for inside scoop and commentary on Chicago's dining scene.
