Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse is probably over-represented in this blog, but there is an explanation for that. It is only a couple blocks away from my condo, it is a great steakhouse, and they know me there well enough that I am always made to feel welcome. Since this is a personal blog and not an attempt to be a new Michelin guide, I’m OK with that.
Besides, there are always changes to the menu. One addition is relatively recent, and that is the option to order “flights” of steaks just like you can often order flights of wine (tasting portions of (usually) 3 similar wines that would be interesting to compare and contrast).
I have only seen this once before, at the Urban Farmer in Portland, Oregon, but I am sure it’s a thing in other restaurants as well. Valeria and I tend to be sort of “go big or go home” types, so we went with the Legendary Flight. While expensive, we knew we would have enough food not only for dinner, but a lunch and maybe even another dinner, so amortizing the cost over 2 or 3 meals for 2 people made the price seem reasonable.
But, we couldn’t just jump right to the steaks. Part of the joy of dining out for us is to have a chance to sit back, relax, and enjoy a drink and some conversation before dinner. MJ’s, like most good restaurants these days, has a nice specialty cocktail program.
I decided to try their riff on the classic Sidecar Cocktail, while Valeria, the class act in the family, went for her usual glass of Champagne.
Both the English and the French claim to have invented the Sidecar. Legend has it that it was named after a customer who arrived, you guessed it, on the sidecar of a motorcycle. I have no idea what the real story is, but I am going with the French origin simply because the classic recipe uses Cognac and Cointreau, two products of France. At any rate, the original recipe is simple: 2 oz Cognac, 1 oz Cointreau, ½ oz lemon juice, all shaken over ice and served in a Martini glass or something similar. Garnish with orange or lemon peel as you like. The rim of the glass is often sugared, as seen here, but I leave that off as, if the cocktail is well balanced, the extra sugar is just not needed, at least for me.
MJ’s Sidecar Named Desire uses an unnamed brandy (brandy is a liquor distilled from wine; Cognac is brandy from the Cognac region in France) as the base spirit, a dry Curaçao (like Cointreau, an orange liqueur) and adds some honey and ginger to the mix. Honey and ginger play very nicely with the all of the other ingredients to bring additional aromas and flavors to the cocktail. I enjoyed this version a lot.
If you’d like to take a deep dive into the Sidecar cocktail, here is Robert Hess with the recipe as well as some great advice on ingredients, experimenting with your cocktails, and how to sugar the rim of a glass.
If I go to a steakhouse, I know I am going to order a steak. Any steakhouse worthy of the name will deliver a great piece of beef, whether you like Ribeyes or NY Strips, Filet Mignon or Porterhouse, Wagyu or Angus. For me, what sets one steak house apart from another are the appetizers and sides. You can get classic raw seafood platters, shrimp cocktails, crab cakes, mushrooms, spinach and fries, and all of these can be just fine if well made. However, the places that stand out to me are the ones that have some creative takes on the classics and MJ’s is very good at that.
For appetizers, the garlic bread with blue cheese sauce and the double smoked bacon with maple glaze are out of this world. But, as I have written previously, I don’t order them as appetizers. I order them as sides with the steak because bread, blue cheese, and bacon are beautiful with beef.
Instead, we started with the Tuna Ceviche and Wagyu Meatballs.
The Tuna Ceviche was fresh, colorful, and tasty, but Valeria, who is a Tuna Ceviche/Tuna Tartare connoisseur, did not rank it with the very best in town. Ceviche, as I am sure most of you know, is raw fish or shell fish marinated in lime or lemon juice with various vegetables and herbs that often include onions, garlic, chilis, and cilantro. Traditionally, it was a staple all along the Pacific coast, especially in Mexico, Peru, and Chile. Nowadays you will find it anywhere fresh fish is available.
If you want to get into a food fight, try starting a conversation about what makes “authentic” Mexican (or Peruvian or Chilean or….) ceviche. People will argue passionately about what “real” ceviche has or does not have in it. I don’t have any basis for judging what recipe is authentic for any given country or region, but I will say that the best ceviches to my personal taste have been served to me in Peru (your taste buds may vary) and they have included very simple mixtures of a single type of fish, lime juice, onions, garlic, chilis, and cilantro as well as complex creations including multiple seafoods, vegetables, and fruits.
I have seen a wide variety of recipes everywhere I have gone where ceviche is a traditional (or modern) dish. Perhaps it is best not to think of ceviche as a specific dish or recipe, but more of a category, like “salad.” In fact, thinking of ceviche as a seafood salad is not a bad idea. Instead of starting with lettuce, cabbage, or whatever your greens of choice may be, you start with impeccably fresh seafood and add whatever vegetables and fruits seem right to you, before dressing it with fresh lime juice.
Here is a good introductory video that explains the concept and techniques while preparing a basic recipe that you can vary endlessly as your taste (and the availability of ingredients) dictates.
As mentioned in the video, some people think of ceviche as fish “cooked” in lime juice. It is true that the acid in citrus juice breaks down the protein in the fish in a away that is similar to cooking, but the resulting texture and flavors are quite different. Some recipes call for the fish to be marinated for a while, say, 30-60 min, while a more modern approach is to dress the ceviche and serve it at once—again, much like a salad. It is certain that leaving the fish too long in the citrus juice will result in squishy, milk-colored flesh that most people would find less appetizing than something marinated for less time, but, again, that will depend on the type of seafood being used and your personal preference for how long it should be marinated.
The Wagyu Meatballs, on the other hand, were an amped up version of the meatballs my Italian grandmother would have made if I had an Italian grandmother. Meltingly tender with a rich beef flavor smothered in a delicious tomato and herb gravy. The whipped ricotta cheese added some creamy coolness and the grilled ciabatta bread was the perfect utensil to carry the whole package to your mouth. An order of these, a glass of red wine, and a salad and you’ve got a great, relatively light, supper.
But, of course, we did not stop with just the appetizers. We decided to go all-in on the Legendary Steak Flight.
This platter is, admittedly, an indulgence: prime steak, wagyu steak, lobster, king crab, and foie gras served with luxurious sauces and finishing salts. Each of the meats on the plate are familiar, but each was at or near the highest quality levels available. Moreover, each was perfectly seasoned and cooked to our liking. The leftovers were also excellent the next day.
Naturally I needed something to wash all this down, so I ordered an Old Fashioned to accompany the appetizers and the Sommelier Wine Experience (perhaps the name is a little pretentious) meant to be paired with the Legendary Steak Flight.
I’ve written about the Old Fashioned cocktail several times, including here. Briefly, it is one of the oldest true cocktails made with just whiskey (rye is traditional, but bourbon is very popular), sugar, and bitters. It’s a simple cocktail and one that you can easily make at home, adjusting the ingredients and proportions to your personal taste. Robert Hess shows you how in this short video.
The Bulleit Distilling Company is part of the Diageo Beverage Company, a British conglomerate that owns a number of premium whiskey brands (among many other beverages). However, each brand that they have acquired has maintained its unique style. Bulleit produces several bottling of rye and bourbon whiskeys all quite good.
The wines selected for the pairing were three big reds: a Pinot Noir, a Zinfandel, and a Cabernet Sauvignon, all from California.
Davis Bynum was the first producer to bottle a Pint Noir from the Russian River Valley in Sonoma county, west of the famous Napa Valley. I have never been a fan of Pinot Noir grown in the Napa Valley. The climate and soil there are much better suited to Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Zinfandel. (Your taste may vary.) The Russian River Valley is much cooler, as fog comes up the river overnight and cools the grapes for much of the morning. Pinot Noir plantings have continued to move west in Sonoma County to cooler and cooler sites, and the quality of Pinot Noir from these regions is, to my palate at least, generally much higher.
The 2016 Davis Bynum Pinot Noir from Jane’s Vineyard represented the style well. There was a lot of ripe, but not overripe, fruit on the nose: cherries, blackberries, and a little blueberry. There were also some soft earthy and spicy notes. The flavors carried through on the palate. The wine was medium-bodied and ready to drink. The finish was a little short, but otherwise a delightful wine.
Ridge Vineyards has long been one of my favorite producers of Zinfandel, and Zinfandel has been one of my favorite red wines since I really got into wines some 40 years ago. They produce several Zins from several vineyards each year and often blend in a little Petite Syrah and sometimes less well-known grapes such as Carignane and Alicante Bouschet, which add a little more flavor and structure to the wines. The 2016 East Bench, however, is 100% Zin and a great example of what the grape can do. The berry aroma of Zinfandel is often called “briary,” which can be described as dark berry fruit aromas with notes of black pepper. Once you have smelled it a few times, you’ll recognize it. There was plenty of briary fruit on the nose of this wine, especially cherries (back and red) and blackberries, as well as some spiciness. It has a rich, full body in the mouth with very soft tannins that made it very drinkable now. It will probably age very well for several years to come, but, in my experience, Zinfandels generally don’t improve all that much as they age, though they can hold their fruity deliciousness for some time.
Ehler’s Estate has roots (no pun intended) going back to the 1800s, but the modern winery began in the late 1900 when Jean and Sylviane Leducq bought the original Ehler property and additional vineyards as well, creating an estate in the Napa Valley. The first wines were released as the 21st century began. Today they produce a number of wines, including a rosé, a Sauvignon Blanc, and numerous blends and single grape bottling using four of the Bordeaux varietals (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot). I’ve only tasted a few of their wines, but the reds have generally been rich, ripe, and easy drink even when fairly young. The 2015 was like that—delicious, fruity, and full bodied.
Michael Jordan’s has some interesting variations on the usual sides you expect in a steakhouse. They change them up regularly so, while, for example, the Mashed Potato Trio is always there, how the three types of potatoes are favored gets changed periodically. Here’s what we were offered on this visit:
We chose a couple of common steakhouse sides prepared in uncommon ways: mushrooms and asparagus.
It’s an odd steakhouse that doesn’t offer some sautéed mushrooms as a side, but not many roast a mixture of mushrooms with garlic, sherry, and thyme. Great flavor!
Similarly with the asparagus, which is a staple on most steakhouse menus, they kicked it up by roasting it to get a little char, then finishing it with brown butter, tarragon, and lemon.
I mentioned that we often order one or more of the appetizers as sides with the main course. This is where we order the garlic bread with blue cheese sauce.
For me, this is the perfect side for a steak and the flavors and textures play so well together. Your mileage may vary, of course.
So that was our meal. Strangely, we did not have room for dessert.
It’s hard to go too far wrong with any of the true steakhouses in Chicago, from the very traditional ones to the newer, hipper designs. Michael Jordan’s doesn’t rise above the pack quite like Michael Jordan the player did (who can?), but they are on the all-star team in a great steak city.
Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse
Address: 505 North Michigan Ave Chicago, IL 60611 (In the Hotel Intercontinental)
Phone: (312) 321-8823
Reservations: opentable.com
Website: http://mjshchicago.com
Dress Code: Smart Casual
Price Range: $31—$50
Hours: Lunch & Dinner
Lunch Daily 11:00am-3:00pm
Dinner: Mon-Thu 5:00pm-10:00pm
Fri-Sat 5:00pm-11:00pm
Sun 5:00pm-9:00pm
AMEX, Discover, MasterCard, Visa
Chicago, IL 60611
All images were taken with an iPhone X camera. Post-processing was done in Adobe Lightroom® and Adobe Photoshop® with the Skylum Luminar® plugin.
