The amuse bouche was sturgeon, radish, and fava beans.
Here are one of the items that has made Blackbird famous – crispy veal sweetbreads with pickled golden turnip, green apple, candied coriander and goat's milk caramel
Fran's appetizer was berkshire blue cheese salad with treviso, seckle pears, blood orange and crispy artichokes
My entree: braised organic pork belly with toasted farro, braised kolrabi greens, hibiscus jus and fried rosemary
Fran's entree: cable farm country fried rabbit leg and chorizo with wilted romaine, baby carrots, candied pecans and spring peas
For wine, we had a great bottle of Burgundy: 2004 Domaine Saint Martin 'Hervelets' 1er Cru Fixin. No picture or notes sadly, but it was a nice bottle we'd have again.
We each had dessert, but didn't take photos – the restaurant was getting busy and I felt self conscious. I had a cheese plate with a selection of five: capriole farms 'sofia' - goat's milk, greenville, indiana - with beet-apricot chutney (I don't recall much of this one). nancy's camembert - sheep and cow's milk, old chatham, new york -with huckleberry mostarda (very brie like. fium'orbu -raw sheep's milk, corsica - with pickled grapes (a bit too pungent and funky for me, the grapes were good however). comte - raw cow's milk, jura, france -with honey and smoked almonds (the only thing I recall about this was the almonds which were quite good). great hill blue - raw cow's milk, marion, massachusetts - with grilled shallots and balsamic (the best of the lot – the cheese was strong but the shallots were stronger, a great mix).
Fran had roasted pineapple with brioche ice cream, hibiscus and puffed 'cinnamon toast'
Service was good – our waiter was friendly enough, but was consistently busy – I found myself unable to find him several times when I had questions. While my napkin was always folded when I got back from the bathroom and our coats were pulled by the time we made it to the door – when we were leaving no one helped (or even offered) to help us move the table. Not that big of a deal, but at their prices, flawless service is expected.
Blackbird is tight – very tight – the tables are so close together you actually have to pull your table out if you're sitting against the wall. With about six inches between tables you are very close to the people next to you. This isn't a big deal if you go at a slow time and no one is next to you, but by seven o'clock, every single seat in the restaurant was full. I personally find sitting so close to people to be uncomfortable, but the food makes up for it.
The food is exceptional. The amuse was a bit blah for my tastes – but as I'm not too big on seafood that's to be expected. The sweetbreads were phenomenal – I'd go back for this appetizer alone. The pork belly was great – it almost melted in your mouth, kohlrabi greens were excellent, and the toasted farro was one of those interesting grains you don't really see anywhere.
Fran's rabbit had a faint hint of chicken to it – the spices and breading were definitely southern influenced, but as you got closer to the bone, the gamey notes came through (that's a good thing). Fran didn't think her salad was terribly interesting – the blue cheese was clearly aged for a long time, but the rest was somewhat meh.
While this may not my favorite restaurant in Chicago, it's certainly up there. The food is exceptional and is really what would make me go back. The slight service gaffes were disappointing but forgivable. Personally, while I'd eat here again, I'm in no rush - there are so many great places I'd like to try that this really didn't grab me in a way that say, Frontera Grill or Avenues did.
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