For our second foray into the slowly reopening restaurant world, we chose Eddie Merlot’s Prime Aged Steaks and Seafood. Ironically, it was the next-to-last restaurant we visited before the shutdowns. You can read about that meal here.
The ambiance for this meal may have been the best ever, despite the socially distanced tables, masked wait staff, and the rest of the safety precautions in place. It was a beautiful evening in the mid-70s and we were seated in the shade on an outdoor patio. Around us were families, couples, a single, and even a couple who had brought their dog. There were plenty of smiles and pleasant conversation all around us.
The view overlooking the parking lot was perhaps not ideal, but it was made better with a couple of pre-dinner cocktails.
The Negroni is a famous Italian cocktail made with equal parts of gin, sweet Vermouth, and Campari. Campari is a type of amaro, a bitter liqueur traditionally drunk as an aperitif and the key ingredient in a Negroni. It has a characteristic brilliant red color (most definitely not entirely natural) and has complex flavors of orange, cherry, herbs and spices. The sweet vermouth balances the bitterness of the Campari and the gin gives the drink a little more alcoholic kick. That extra kick is by design. Here is a short video that tells the story of the cocktail and how to make it.
Italian amari (plural of amaro) are a class of bittersweet liqueurs traditionally used as digestifs (after dinner drinks intended to aid digestion). While still commonly used as digestifs, they are nowadays sometimes used as aperitifs (before dinner drinks) and very often appear in modern craft cocktails where they add a great many complex flavors and bitter notes. Amari are generally made by infusing brandy (distilled wine) with a variety of herbs, spices, plant barks, flowers and so on using a proprietary recipe. These ingredients all come from plants and so are often referred to as botanicals. Some amari have been developed recently, others were developed centuries ago. All have a certain amount of sweetness from added sugar and bitterness from the mixture of botanicals, but the bitter notes dominate.
For me, the Negroni is a refreshing summer cocktail, and it was perfect on this evening.
Valeria ordered another classic summer drink, a rosé wine from France, the 2018 Mirabeau “Pure” Rosé, from the Côtes de Provence. It is made from two red grapes, Grenache and Syrah. The light pink color is achieved by giving the juice from the grapes only very short contact with the red skins. Unlike many of the pink wines from California, the wine is dry, though it has a floral, fruity nose that might make you expect a sweet wine. It has good acidity, and you can drink it with almost anything all summer.
Part of every meal at Eddie Merlot’s is a hot loaf of bread.
With a crisp crust (dusted with something that reminds me of Old Bay Seasoning) and a fluffy center, it’s hard to resist even if you are cutting carbs.
Our favorite appetizer is Sweet and Spicy Shrimp.
Many restaurants offer a version of this dish variously called “bang bang” shrimp, “firecracker” shrimp, and other, similar names. The trick, for us at least, is to balance the sweet and the spicy without going too crazy with either. The shrimp should be fried in a light, tempura-like batter. These are as good as any, and they did not lose their touch during the shutdown.
We both decided to go with dishes we had not tried before as entrées. Valeria went with a classic trio of tenderloin medallions.
This type of presentation is common at steakhouses, with different toppings selected from place to place and even from season to season. Steak Oscar is topped with Bearnaise Sauce, crab meat, and asparagus. The bacon and gorgonzola topping combines two foods that complement any beef steak very well: bacon and blue cheese. There are many variations on peppercorn sauce, and they, too, also go well with steaks. These came out a perfect medium, as ordered, and each topping was very well done.
I went with the New Orleans Mixed Grill.
A little filet mignon, some blackened shrimp, spicy andouille sausage and a flavorful andouille sausage all wrapped in the comfort of buttery mashed potatoes. New Orleans is one of my favorite places to eat and this plate would be right at home there.
We ordered a couple of side dishes more because we wanted to take them home as leftovers than because we needed more food.
First: wild mushrooms sautéed in garlic and butter.
Second: fresh asparagus, simply steamed and buttered.
We enjoyed the food, the ambiance, and being out with people (socially distanced, of course). Thanks to Eddie Merlot’s for figuring out how to open safely and successfully.
Eddie Merlot’s—Lincolnshire
Address: 185 Milwaukee Ave, Ste 100, Lincolnshire, IL 60069
Phone: (847) 276-2000
Reservations: opentable.com
Website: https://www.eddiemerlots.com
Dress Code: Business Casual
Price Range: $31 to $50
Hours: Dinner: Monday-Thursday: 5:00pm – 9:00pm
Friday-Saturday: 5:00pm – 10:00pm
Sunday: 5:00pm – 8:00pm
Credit Cards: AMEX, Discover, MasterCard, Visa
Lincolnshire, IL 60069
The author has no affiliation with any of the businesses or products described in this article.
All images were taken with a Sony a9 camera with a Zeiss Batis 40mm f/2.0 CF lens using ambient light. Post-processing in Adobe Lightroom® and Adobe Photoshop® with Nik Collection by DxO and Skylum® Luminar® plugins.
