May 31, 2021
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Unexpected delight at River Roast
I ate at Girl and the Goat for my birthday a few weeks ago. And it was absolutely delicious (seriously, that cauliflower was heartier and more multifaceted and umami-filled than many meat dishes I’ve had, and the goat empanadas were so balanced with the crisp, flaky dough and tender, warm goat inside). But my expectations of the spot were so sky-high that it was, from the get-go, impossible for me to be taken aback by how amazing it was. It was damn good, and I enjoyed every bite, just like I knew I would.
Last night, I had a meal at a restaurant I knew next to nothing about (sister had recommended it, saying, “I heard it’s good”, more or less): River Roast, located -- you guessed it -- on the river at LaSalle. The occasion: dinner with sister, aunt, uncle, and two visiting Slovenian third-cousins-once-removed.
And it was great. Among the 6 of us, we tried about a dozen dishes, and nearly all were fantastic. A couple highlights...
Blistered shishito peppers with harissa spice and lemon. Oily, smoky, spicy, tangy, sweet in ~perfect harmony~. Fantastic way to get things started, and it’s also like really low-stakes roulette because approximately 1 in 10 shishito peppers is really spicy. Wahoo!
Fontina-stuffed zucchini blossoms with tomato puree and arugula. I brilliantly commented “something almost tastes floral!” And Sarah says, “you’re literally eating a flower”, so, touche. But yeah, flower + sweet tomatoes + crispy fried-ness + melty cheese = <3 The tomato puree was really key, actually, to add some sweetness as well as acidity to the salty cheesy blossoms.
Baby romaine with tomatoes, radishes, BACON, and blue cheese spread. I had never had a grilled romaine salad before, probably subconsciously because hot lettuce makes me uncomfortable as a concept and a phrase. But I should have had more faith -- other grilled veggies are delicious, so y not romaine? The tomatoes and radishes match the refreshing crispness of the lettuce left uncharred, and the bacon holds hands with the smoky parts of the lettuce. Blue cheese is playing it cool as a spread on the bottom of the plate and doing a great job. Keep it up, blue cheese.
Okay, I’ll share 3 more.
Mexican street corn with creme fraiche, mayonnaise, chile, parmesan, lime. Y’all, I’m not going to bother trying to say intelligent things about this. Just read the ingredients. It was warm and gooey and comforting and corny and I ate many scoops of it.
Our one “roast” of the evening - Rack of pork with roasted apple gravy and cornbread, carved lovingly and seductively (no? just me? whatever) tableside. You guys, this was a game changer. I actually was startled upon taking my first bite - the crust (and I really mean crust -- it was crunchy and delicious) was absolutely packed with smoky spicy flavor. And the tenderness is visible in the photo - it was like, melt in your mouth pork. It’s hard to articulate, especially because I cannot from memory recall what spices were in that rub, but just know that my sister and I agreed this was the best pork loin we have ever had. Would go back and just get this and be very satisfied.
Last but oh my god not even close to least: Cherry Jar - almond cake w/ dry cherries, whipped goat cheese, vanilla ice cream, Amarena Cherries. I think I feel comfortable calling this my favorite dessert I have ever eaten, or at least my favorite dessert I’ve had in recent memory. Oh my god. This was a sit back in my chair, cover my mouth, gather my composure, try not to cry in front of my long-lost relatives and make them uncomfortable good. There’s a lot going on here so let me try to break it down... On top, you see that scoop of vanilla ice cream with the syrupy Amarena cherry on top. I fell in love with Amarena cherries in Italy, where they are far more ubiquitous and commonly used in some damn good gelato. They are tart and almost bitter, with a depth of flavor you don’t get in typical sickly sweet syrupy cherries. Hiding underneath is an incredibly moist almond cake. Not too dense, not too spongy. Perfect. The bottom holds what must be what they call dried cherries, but because they are at the bottom of all the other business going on in the jar, they are almost like a dense amarena cherry jam which gets soaked up by the bottom of the cake. All of this would have been fantastic as is. The kicker is that whipped goat cheese... which I think they should have called goat cheese mousse. It adds a totally new dimension of tang to this little jar. It is the mousse, and not the literal cherry on top, that is the cherry-on-top of this dish. Life changing business right here, folks. I would 100% go back just for this dessert.
So yes. An unexpected delight with a beautiful view of the river. One consideration: this place may be a little bit too expensive for what it is. Although everything was delicious, the portions and the commonness of many of the ingredients did not always seem to match the price tag. Then again, you may be paying a good chunk for the real estate. And for that damn dessert.