Goosefoot. I picked this place to celebrate my husband’s birthday dinner and WOW, am I glad I did! It’s located in a charming little neighborhood called Lincoln Square, suburbs of Chicago. It’s a very small place run by a husband/wife team, Nina & Chris Nugent, and their assistant, Natalia.
I had read enough reviews to be prepared for a mediocre and unimpressive exterior. But once you walk through the doors, you find yourself in a truly whimsical setting. Minimalistic design mixed in with splashes of fun colors and a very cohesive “flower and music” theme.
Fine Dining and BYOB don’t usually go together, but this restaurant seems to have figured out how to offer an exquisite tasting menu while keeping the cost down for their guests by letting them bring their own wine or purchasing it from their wine shop. The star of the show was the food and the creative presentation.
For the 1st course, we had a Corn soup with potato, smoked cheddar and lardons. I’m not a big fan of soups but this was something else. The texture, the taste… mindblowing. I had to savor every bite of this comfort food to make it last as long as possible.
The 2nd course was burrata cheese served with tomatoes and vinaigrette. A simple dish made extraordinary. It was as pleasing to my taste buds, as it was to my eyes. Such precision, eye for detail and visual artistry!
The 3rd course was a bowl of cheese tortellini with shrimp topped with basil and parmesan (swapped for us since we don’t eat red meat) – again, amazing!
I wasn’t as excited about the 4th course to be honest since I’m not a big fan of french brie but oh my gawd!!! This sweet and savory cheese course made of french brie, preserved fig, almond, madeleine and balsamic gastrique will honestly leave you speechless.
And when you think it can’t get any better, our 5th and final course was Madagascar vanilla bean crème brulée, served with french macaron and seasonal berries. WOW!
Finally, we ended with a cup of tea that came with a Stroopwafel which is basically a dutch cookie made of two very thin crispy waffles with a layer of warm caramel syrup in between. So crunchy and buttery!
I’d highly recommend this place if you are in the neighborhood!