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It was just a couple of months ago that we went to the Albert restaurant in the EMC2 hotel and found out that an old friend, Chef Larry Feldmeier, had taken over the kitchen. We had a delicious meal and you can read all about that here.

We decided to make a reservation specifically to go back and order the tasting menu (which we had sort of an impromptu preview of on the first visit) to see how it would play out. It was a good decision.

The Albert is named after the 20th century genius, Albert Einstein, and the EMC2 hotel is named after his most famous equation E=MC². As it happened, another great genius, Leonardo da Vinci, died on May 2, 1519. Various celebrations of Leonardo’s life are being staged around the world, and the Albert marked the occasion with a da Vinci week special that included some dishes that the Maestro (thought to have been a vegetarian) might somewhat have recognized.

As we’ll see later, these dishes also appeared on the tasting menu for the night.

In my last review I noted that, while the food program had improved dramatically under Chef Feldmeier, the wine program had farther to go. The wines by the glass selection had improved since last time. 

Even better, a Coravin program has started.

The Coravin is a device that inserts a needle through the cork of a wine bottle and uses an inert gas to push out the wine, thus sealing out oxygen and allowing bars, restaurants, and individuals to pour single glasses from a bottle while keeping the rest safe from oxidation and spoilage. This means more delicate and expensive wines can be served by the glass without fear of too much going to waste. Definitely an upgrade to the program!

I was in the mood for a classic Martini before dinner, while Valeria started with her usual bubbly, this time a Brut Rosé from Alsace (not Champagne), France.

Most people are aware nowadays that, in order to be called “Champagne,” the wine must be produced in the Champagne region of France following specific regulations. Everything else is “sparking wine” in English, Cava in Spain, Sekt in Germany, Spumante in Italy, as so on. Sparkling wines are produced in other parts of France and some of them are quite good and usually significantly less expensive than “real” Champagne. This sparkling wine from Alsace is a great example. Beautiful strawberry and raspberry nose, fine bubbles, dry and refreshing. If slightly less elegant that Champagne, it is nevertheless a delicious wine.

After we had sipped our aperitifs for a while, our first course (the “amuse bouche”—a complimentary bite to amuse the mouth) arrived.

We were well into Spring (at least according to the calendar; the weather was up and down), and this dish could be seen as a nod to the things that had gotten us through winter: hearty endive, pickled vegetables, nuts, and cheese. The resulting combination of textures and flavors would be great any time of year.

Next, the first official course, a compressed melon salad.

Compressed melon seems to be a popular ingredient these days and I’m perfectly happy with that. The technique concentrates the flavors of ripe melon and gives them a firmer texture. Look at how the paper-thin slices of green tomato are arranged on the plate, adding visual interest, flavor, and texture. The same for the basil leaves, which always play nicely with melon and most fruits. The dabs of crème fraîche and sesame seeds added additional flavor and texture. (Maybe those could have been a little bigger?) All in all, a delicious, visually delightful salad.

The next dish was another visual showstopper: Maitake mushroom tempura.

As far as I can tell, this was a vegan dish, but you need not be a vegan to enjoy it. Mushrooms have been used in place of meat since long before impossible burgers and the like came along. They naturally have a meaty texture and loads of umami (roughly translated as “deliciousness” from Japanese), that difficult to describe savory meatiness that can be irresistible. 

Maitake mushrooms have been used for thousands of years in Chinese and later Japanese medicine to treat diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, and more. I take no position on any medical benefits, but there is no doubt they are full of nutrients and delicious. (The name means “dancing mushrooms” in Japanese, allegedly because people danced with happiness when they found them.) 

Here, the mushrooms have been fried tempura style in a light, crunchy batter and complimented with lots of other flavors and textures: sour apple, tiny pickled mushrooms, tomatoes, cilantro, mint, and mandarin oranges. It is the ability to combine a variety of textures, flavors, aromas into a harmonious whole that, to me at least, is one of the defining abilities of a great chef. This is an example of that skill.

Next, a scallop ceviche.

I wrote quite bit about ceviche in my recent post on Two Lights Seafood and Oyster. Ceviche (fish or shellfish marinated in citrus juice, usually mixed with onions, chiles, and/or other vegetables) can be made with one fish or shellfish or a combination of several; small or sliced scallops work very well. The citrus used here is yuzu, a Japanese citrus fruit that you have seen mentioned in these posts often; it’s a popular ingredient among chefs these days. The addition of radishes, micro greens, rice flour chips, and cucumber add color, flavor and texture to the dish. Any ceviche lover who doesn’t have a shellfish allergy should love this one.

Next, a dish that we enjoyed on our last visit, thieves purses with nettles, mascarpone, and artichokes.

Here’s what I said about the dish then:

“I have always seen these little pasta bundles referred to as “Beggars’ Purses,” but perhaps there is some distinction in the shape that makes it a “thieve’s purse.”

Most of us have had mascarpone (basically, Italian cream cheese, but richer than American cream cheese) in Italian restaurants.

Artichokes are a fairly common ingredient in restaurants and homemade dips, but nettles are not an everyday vegetable. That is at least in part because the common variety, stinging nettles, well, sting. They can hurt like heck if the little hairs on the stems, which contain formic acid, touch your skin. Animals generally do not eat them, but animals can’t pull off some of the tricks that we humans can, thanks to opposable thumbs and the invention of fire. Boiling the nettles deactivates all the poison and makes them safe to eat. At various times in various cultures, they have been an important vegetable. They grow abundantly and are most often considered a weed, not food, these days. Once cooked, they have a distinct taste that falls somewhere in the general area of spinach, arugula, and chard, but not exactly like any of them.

The result of combining all of these common and uncommon ingredients was a colorful, flavorful dish that we enjoyed very much.”

All that is still true.

The next dish came off the Da Vinci 500 year anniversary menu, a rye berry porridge.

If you have read any of my posts, you know I am not a vegetarian. However, there are vegetarian dishes that even the most confirmed carnivore can enjoy, and this is a good example. Rye is a hearty and ancient grain that makes a flavorful and rich porridge that was once a staple, but is not very common these days.

Ramps are a spring vegetable (weed, in some people’s estimation) that grows in the spring and is a member of the onion-garlic family. They add a lot of aroma and flavor, just as their more common cousins do.

Most people know the meat-like qualities of mushrooms, and a mix of wild mushrooms made this a meat free, but meaty dish. I only wish Leonardo could have been there to share the dish.

If you are a seafood lover, you should spend some time around the fjords of Norway and sample some of the marvelous fish and shellfish they harvest each day. 

The Norwegian fjord trout combines the best of salmon and trout in one package; it’s a delicious fish. Making more use of the ramp season, the fish was wrapped in ramp leaves to protect it during cooking and to add flavor. The trout roe and Stilton (a famous blue cheese from England), which I thought might overpower the fish, actually worked very well. I guess I should trust my local chef!

With all that under our belts (literally), there was nothing left to do but to enjoy a couple of desserts. First, a cucumber parfait.

This was a brilliant, light, flavorful combination of fruits and vegetables. Compressed cucumber balls, fresh strawberries, a refreshing lime granita, and some crisp (graham cracker?) wafers combined their flavors and textures in a not-too-sweet symphony.

Many would argue that a meal is not over until there is some chocolate. If you’re one of those people, here you go…

Smooth chocolate mousse, a crisp chocolate shortbread, and crunchy wild rice provided all the chocolate flavor and texture you could want.

I really like the fact that both of these desserts were not too large or too sweet, but gave just enough of a sweet bite to put a period at the end of the meal.

Those of you who know me well may wonder why I didn’t comment on the wines that came along with the dinner. Well, I sort of messed up with those. I asked that they figure out how to match the selection from the Coravin program with the meal, and they served me those four wines and a couple of others. I didn’t take notes on which wine came when, thinking I would remember them. As it turns out, I don’t. I’ll try to do better next time.

At this point, the Albert, in my opinion, remains an undiscovered neighborhood gem. The tasting menu is fit for any foodie and the price is very reasonable. The wine program continues to improve. I’m already looking forward to our next visit.

The Albert (In EMC2 Hotel)
Address: 228 E Ontario St Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: (312) 471-3883
Reservations: opentable.com
Website: https://thealbertchicago.com
Dress Code: Smart Casual
Price Range: $31–$50
Hours: Sun–Wed, 6:00 am–10:00 pm
            Thu–Sat, 6:00 am–11:00 pm   
             Brunch: Sat, Sun 6:00 am–2:00 pm
             Breakfast: Mon–Fri 6:00 am–11:00 am
             Lunch: Mon–Fri 11:00 am–3:00 pm
             Happy Hour: Mon–Fri 3:00 pm–6:00 pm
Credit Cards: AMEX, Discover, MasterCard, Visa

The author has no affiliation with any of the businesses or products described in this article.

All images were taken with a Sony a7iii camera with a Zeiss Batis 40 mm f/2 CF lens using ambient light. Post-processing in Adobe Lightroom® and Adobe Photoshop® with Nik/Google and Skylum® Luminar® plugins.