Chef's Table at Nacional 27
/There is a great new event revolving in Chicago, and it is called the Chef's Table. The events allow you to meet local Chicago chefs in a group setting, and taste their creations at an affordable price. This month, the tasting was being held at Nacional 27, highlighted by five different cocktails (created by mixologist Adam Seger), ceviche, and tapas.
We started with a drink called "The Chadwick", a pomegranate, ginger, chile mojito. It had nice flavor and the hint of habanero spice was nice. The drink could use more muddling to be a true mojito as the mint and lime was mostly still intact. Plus I believe it had too many strong flavor components: mint, ginger, habanero, lime, and pomegranate.
Next came the "Spice and Ice" along with the ceviche/tapas. The drink is a mango, ginger, habanero daiquiri with a seven spice rim. It had a very nice sweet and exotic spicy combo. The ceviche was a mix of shrimp and scallop, ahi and watermelon, mojito hamachi, and rainbow coctel. They all had nice acidity to combine with the seafood to "cook". The tapas were smoked chicken empanadas, which had a light flakey crust and excellent flavor, along with lightly sweet organic agave lamb tacos, and cuban sweet potato/plantain croquetas, which were very soft, but a bit bland.
We then moved onto moved onto my favorite cocktail, the "rosemary fizz". It was a combo of Indigo Luxe spanish gin, lime, sparkling wine, and a house made rosemary, meyer lemon, sauvignon blanc syrup. The flavor profile was complex, but meshed well, with citrus, rosemary, great aromatics, and fizz.
The "smokey corazon" came next as we were all passed passion fruit/pomegranate margaritas with a salt and pepper rim. The drink had nice tropical flavor, and was later topped with a single village mezcal float. This mezcal was made from smoked agave and gave the drink a potent punch- maybe a bit too strong was the consensus.
The last drink was a house made almond, lime, and clove liqueur. It was sticky, sweet, and delicious. Almost all of the dishes and drinks had spice accompanied by sweet, and might have been a bit too much combined. The company was great, as I met many of Chicago's best bloggers and techies. It was a great experience and you can count on the Windy City Wine Guy to attend more Chef's Table events.
We started with a drink called "The Chadwick", a pomegranate, ginger, chile mojito. It had nice flavor and the hint of habanero spice was nice. The drink could use more muddling to be a true mojito as the mint and lime was mostly still intact. Plus I believe it had too many strong flavor components: mint, ginger, habanero, lime, and pomegranate.
Next came the "Spice and Ice" along with the ceviche/tapas. The drink is a mango, ginger, habanero daiquiri with a seven spice rim. It had a very nice sweet and exotic spicy combo. The ceviche was a mix of shrimp and scallop, ahi and watermelon, mojito hamachi, and rainbow coctel. They all had nice acidity to combine with the seafood to "cook". The tapas were smoked chicken empanadas, which had a light flakey crust and excellent flavor, along with lightly sweet organic agave lamb tacos, and cuban sweet potato/plantain croquetas, which were very soft, but a bit bland.
We then moved onto moved onto my favorite cocktail, the "rosemary fizz". It was a combo of Indigo Luxe spanish gin, lime, sparkling wine, and a house made rosemary, meyer lemon, sauvignon blanc syrup. The flavor profile was complex, but meshed well, with citrus, rosemary, great aromatics, and fizz.
The "smokey corazon" came next as we were all passed passion fruit/pomegranate margaritas with a salt and pepper rim. The drink had nice tropical flavor, and was later topped with a single village mezcal float. This mezcal was made from smoked agave and gave the drink a potent punch- maybe a bit too strong was the consensus.
The last drink was a house made almond, lime, and clove liqueur. It was sticky, sweet, and delicious. Almost all of the dishes and drinks had spice accompanied by sweet, and might have been a bit too much combined. The company was great, as I met many of Chicago's best bloggers and techies. It was a great experience and you can count on the Windy City Wine Guy to attend more Chef's Table events.