This weekend, Jean and I took Andrew off to Chicago for a bit of R&R (which was to have extended into Monday until Andrew's school used Monday's holiday as a makeup snow day - snakebite #1). After a day of playing tourists, during which time we went "ice skating" on a polyethylene surface on the 94th floor of the John Hancock building, Jean and I went out for dinner at Everest, Jean Joho's haute cuisine palace atop the Chicago Stock Exchange building in the South Loop. Though we dressed for the occasion, my appearance was slightly marred by the swaddling of bandages that enveloped my left thumb, the result of catching an edge during the skating and taking a spill, after which Jean noted a profusion of blood on the "ice" -- oops! (snakebite #2).
Everest is a classic white tablecloth French dining experience with a thick wine list especially strong in the wines of Alsace, Chef Joho's homeland. We started with a Klipfel Cremant d'Alsace Brut Rosé from a producer I'd never heard of and who hailed from Chef Joho's home town. It was quite pleasant with an herbal edge to the strawberry fruit. Jean was going to start with a Presskopf of duck and pheasant followed by a roasted lobster starter whereas I was starting with a sea scallop starter on a mousseline of apple. All the starters were phenomenally tasty and the scallops were the finest I've had in ages. To go with these foods, we selected a half bottle of 1997 Trimbach Cuvée Frederick Emile.
Before our starters arrived, though, the sommelier appeared to tell us that the CFE was badly oxidized and that he'd have to go down to the cellar for another bottle (snakebite #3). Fine, we said, so off he went and we were left with no wine. No sooner than that had happened, though, when our waiter appeared with more Cremant d'Alsace for us to while away the time with. Major kudos to the staff for such thoughtfulness. Eventually, the sommelier David returned with a second bottle of CFE which he opened and brought to our table. When he poured it, it came out dark golden in color and Jean, who is very sensitive to oxidation in white wines, no more than smelled it before declaring this bottle, too, as oxidized. (snakebite #4) Our sommelier agreed, averring that the first bottle had been worse. I then floated the suggestion that PremOx might not be restricted to White Burgundies and he responded by saying that Jean Trimbach had complained of bad corks in the '97-99 era and that the corks of both half bottles were noticeably loose. Paring our losses, I instead requested a half bottle of the '99 Weinbach Gewurztraminer Cuvée Laurence so we ended up with that: pungent nose of lychee and spice, an oily texture with just enough acidity to manage with our fishy starters. Because Jean had ordered an extra starter, the chef very graciously threw in a small sample of a second starter for me: sturgeon wrapped in sauerkraut and cured ham and baked, a truly remarkable combination of flavors and sensations. Again, kudos to the staff of Everest.
Moving on to our main courses of venison in huckleberry sauce with red cabbage and chestnuts, we had ordered another half bottle, of 1989 Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde which the sommelier had decanted and brought to the table with our food. A sample was poured for me and I discovered that the wine was badly corked! (snakebite #5) The server brought the decanter back to the sommelier, who agreed, brought out a second bottle and decanted it. When that second decanter was poured for me, I found that it was corked worse than the first bottle!! (snakebite #6). By now, the situation had descended into near absurdity. We had, by this point, returned 4 half bottles of wine to the kitchen. With the stricken sommelier back at our table, we jointly agreed to try another N Rhone Syrah, but alas others were available in half bottle. At this point, the sommelier went above the call of duty and offered to open a bottle of 1990 Rostaing Côte-Rôtie and let us have a glass each. Deal, I said, so off he went and come back with the Rostaing in decanter. Huzzah! This wine smells fine, a nice nose of bacon fat and meat with some dark fruit lurking underneath. The wine, alas, promised more in the nose than it delivered on the palate, disappearing a bit mid-palate, but it was still a fine accompaniment to the most excellent venison.
We ended our meal with a lovely cheese course (5 Midwestern cheeses, each fantastic, the last of which tasted like a Neal's Yard Montgomery Cheddar). We had the last of the Côte-Rôtie with the cheeses and were feeling quite sated when the sommelier appeared with yet another gift from the kitchen: a small dessrt and two pours of the 2001 Les Cypres de Climens. The wine, as expected, was intensely botrytised, which for me is hard to get past, and smelled of the usual orange rind, apricot and bergamot. Very rich and long finish, but I'm just not that fond of botrytis to really enjoy it. Still, a most touching gift to round out the evening.
As we left, I told the sommelier that we'd never had such a string of bad luck ever in a restaurant and he replied that he'd never had such a string of bad luck and hoped never to again! I told him to pour himself and our servers something nice at the end of the night and to relax. We felt overwhelmed with the generosity of the service there.
Never in my life have I had such bad luck with wine, but the overall experience at Everest was overwhelmingly positive. The food was outstanding, the service tremendous and, although far from cheap, the value was excellent. The staff may run screaming if they ever see us again, though...
Mark Lipton
Everest is a classic white tablecloth French dining experience with a thick wine list especially strong in the wines of Alsace, Chef Joho's homeland. We started with a Klipfel Cremant d'Alsace Brut Rosé from a producer I'd never heard of and who hailed from Chef Joho's home town. It was quite pleasant with an herbal edge to the strawberry fruit. Jean was going to start with a Presskopf of duck and pheasant followed by a roasted lobster starter whereas I was starting with a sea scallop starter on a mousseline of apple. All the starters were phenomenally tasty and the scallops were the finest I've had in ages. To go with these foods, we selected a half bottle of 1997 Trimbach Cuvée Frederick Emile.
Before our starters arrived, though, the sommelier appeared to tell us that the CFE was badly oxidized and that he'd have to go down to the cellar for another bottle (snakebite #3). Fine, we said, so off he went and we were left with no wine. No sooner than that had happened, though, when our waiter appeared with more Cremant d'Alsace for us to while away the time with. Major kudos to the staff for such thoughtfulness. Eventually, the sommelier David returned with a second bottle of CFE which he opened and brought to our table. When he poured it, it came out dark golden in color and Jean, who is very sensitive to oxidation in white wines, no more than smelled it before declaring this bottle, too, as oxidized. (snakebite #4) Our sommelier agreed, averring that the first bottle had been worse. I then floated the suggestion that PremOx might not be restricted to White Burgundies and he responded by saying that Jean Trimbach had complained of bad corks in the '97-99 era and that the corks of both half bottles were noticeably loose. Paring our losses, I instead requested a half bottle of the '99 Weinbach Gewurztraminer Cuvée Laurence so we ended up with that: pungent nose of lychee and spice, an oily texture with just enough acidity to manage with our fishy starters. Because Jean had ordered an extra starter, the chef very graciously threw in a small sample of a second starter for me: sturgeon wrapped in sauerkraut and cured ham and baked, a truly remarkable combination of flavors and sensations. Again, kudos to the staff of Everest.
Moving on to our main courses of venison in huckleberry sauce with red cabbage and chestnuts, we had ordered another half bottle, of 1989 Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde which the sommelier had decanted and brought to the table with our food. A sample was poured for me and I discovered that the wine was badly corked! (snakebite #5) The server brought the decanter back to the sommelier, who agreed, brought out a second bottle and decanted it. When that second decanter was poured for me, I found that it was corked worse than the first bottle!! (snakebite #6). By now, the situation had descended into near absurdity. We had, by this point, returned 4 half bottles of wine to the kitchen. With the stricken sommelier back at our table, we jointly agreed to try another N Rhone Syrah, but alas others were available in half bottle. At this point, the sommelier went above the call of duty and offered to open a bottle of 1990 Rostaing Côte-Rôtie and let us have a glass each. Deal, I said, so off he went and come back with the Rostaing in decanter. Huzzah! This wine smells fine, a nice nose of bacon fat and meat with some dark fruit lurking underneath. The wine, alas, promised more in the nose than it delivered on the palate, disappearing a bit mid-palate, but it was still a fine accompaniment to the most excellent venison.
We ended our meal with a lovely cheese course (5 Midwestern cheeses, each fantastic, the last of which tasted like a Neal's Yard Montgomery Cheddar). We had the last of the Côte-Rôtie with the cheeses and were feeling quite sated when the sommelier appeared with yet another gift from the kitchen: a small dessrt and two pours of the 2001 Les Cypres de Climens. The wine, as expected, was intensely botrytised, which for me is hard to get past, and smelled of the usual orange rind, apricot and bergamot. Very rich and long finish, but I'm just not that fond of botrytis to really enjoy it. Still, a most touching gift to round out the evening.
As we left, I told the sommelier that we'd never had such a string of bad luck ever in a restaurant and he replied that he'd never had such a string of bad luck and hoped never to again! I told him to pour himself and our servers something nice at the end of the night and to relax. We felt overwhelmed with the generosity of the service there.
Never in my life have I had such bad luck with wine, but the overall experience at Everest was overwhelmingly positive. The food was outstanding, the service tremendous and, although far from cheap, the value was excellent. The staff may run screaming if they ever see us again, though...
Mark Lipton
