City Girl Review:: El Ideas

Though this review is long overdue (our party dined at El Ideas in March), I allowed some of my guilt to dissipate when I saw it's El Idea’s first birthday tomorrow.  So I prefer now to think it’s kismet that I pay homage to this restaurant today.

In a lot of ways, El Ideas is paving the way for restaurants of the future.  In the past year more restaurants with similar panache have popped up, and I truly hope there are more to follow.  Imagine a restaurant where the atmosphere is more likened to a dinner party than formal dining, the tables are situated basically in the kitchen, the chefs who make your food are also serving you, or better yet you are serving yourself, and the wine you’ve brought is shared with the table next to yours when you find out they forgot to grab theirs out of the cab.  Welcome to El Ideas.   The 16-seat brain-child of Chef Phillip Foss, whose “plastic” bio is impressive enough, but whose “real” one is so intriguing, humble, and well, real, it is worth jumping over to read (after you finish reading this post of course).

El Ideas conception has great timing too, for in a world where people are advised to “do what they love”, even the Chefs who have turned their love for food into a career can feel contrived to fit a certain mold.  With Foss breaking the mold on a daily basis, the kitchen is able to produce a menu they truly care about – imaginative and bold and nimble – to guests who are truly there to eat.  I love that each course is brought out simultaneously to each table, and that the Chef who conceived each dish presents it.  And that the guests are invited to lick their plates if they’re so inclined, and that the room gradually gets boisterous to catchy croons from the playlist.  I also love feeling like an urban pioneer, as you pull up to an alleyway in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, to an unassuming kitchen located snug up against a set of old El tracks.  And yet, despite how fresh this concept is, it’s in no sense unapproachable. Foss and team are humble people, serving elevated food.

Our March menu:
uni - ossetra / lychee / lemongrass
shrimp - grits / butter / scallions
cauliflower - botarga / anchovy / anise hyssop
cannelini - duck / turnip / mandarin
black grouper - carrot / kimchi / lapsang souchong
ham & cheese - artichoke / fava / cocoa nib
soymilk - yuba / black sesame / yuzu-ponzu
apple - peanut / bacon / thyme
foie gras - celeriac / meyer lemon / mustard
kohlrabi - sweetbreads / lobster / black trumpets
pork - liver / chorizo / romesco
steak - components of bearnaise
hurricane - passion fruit / luxardo / rum
movie snacks - popcorn / twizzlers / raisinets

The menu changes monthly if not weekly, getting a gold star for fresh, seasonal cooking; something that's become a basic offering at most Chicago restaurants only leaving many to fall short on execution.  Foss and team execute. They’ve turned their previous staging area for their food truck into a revolution in fine dining. They are on the cutting edge of dining concepts which are just now gaining momentum, and if I had a crystal ball, I’d advise reservations are made now while it’s still possible to get in. What El Ideas offers Chicago just can’t be beat – value ($135/person for 12-14 courses) and experience together making for an unforgettable meal. 

Happy 1st Birthday El Ideas!

El Ideas
2419 W. 14th Street
Chicago, IL 60618
reservations@elideas.com