I first visited a Truluck’s in La Jolla, California back in 2014 and I wrote about it here. In that review, I lamented the fact that it was so far from my home in Chicago. A few years later, in late 2017, Truluck’s granted my wish and opened in downtown Chicago. I ate there in 2018 and was at least as happy with the meal as I was in La Jolla, as I documented here. It was definitely time for a return visit.
This will be a brief review as little has changed since my visit last year. That is a good thing. Of course there have been some tweaks to the menu, but the quality, ambiance, and service are as good as ever. Bear in mind that Truluck’s is to seafood what a high-end steakhouse is to beef. It is a dark paneled, white tablecloth, special occasion kind of place.
Happily, one thing that had not changed at all was the yeast rolls, hot from the oven, that appeared on the table a few minutes after we sat down.
We ordered the same Crab Cocktail that we enjoyed very much last year.
We enjoyed it very much again this year. Lots of lump crab with a sauce that had just enough kick to be interesting without overwhelming the delicate crab. You can read more about it in the post from last year.
The low point of last year’s visit was a Wedge Salad,which was just average. We tried a fancier selection this time, the Sonoma Greens Salad.
Nothing average here; this salad was outstanding. There was a nice variety of fresh greens with a range of crispy and tender textures and sweet and bitter or peppery flavors. I love fresh goat cheese and it pairs beautifully with apples. Some spicy pecans for crunch and flavor and the meaty brininess of Kalamata olives and you have a great salad.
As usual, Valeria and I were ordering different dishes and sharing, creating a “roll your own” tasting menu on the fly. Our first entrée was a recipe we enjoyed last year, but this time it was made with Mediterranean Branzino instead of Dover Sole.
There is no seasonality to ribeyes and NY strips, so the cuts of beef offered don’t change much from visit to visit in a steak house. They may play with sauces and seasoning a bit, but the basic grilled meats are always there.
Seafood does have seasonality and the kinds that are freshest and most available can vary week-to-week and even day-to-day. While a diner may offer, say, a cod dish made from frozen cod fillets year round (and there is nothing wrong with that if the dish is well made), a fine dining seafood house will vary the type of fish being served as often as necessary. The technique of pan frying the fish and serving it with blistered cherry tomatoes, garlic, and grilled lemon works with many varieties of fish, and this version was as perfectly cooked and delicious as last year’s Dover Sole.
We decided to try something from the non-seafood selection for a second entrée. (Last year we tried the Prime Meatballs as an appetizer and they were phenomenal.)
Most everyone who eats beef knows that the tenderloin is the most tender part of the cow (or pig or lamb, for that matter), but it is also the least flavorful. There is not a lot of fat (which is flavor) and, because the muscle works very little, it does not develop the deep, beefy flavor that other cuts have. That means that a tenderloin medallion is a great candidate for some of the flavor enhancers that are always offered in a steak house. While I usually skip those, sometimes they sound good and I’ll order one.
Blue cheese is something that compliments the flavor of steak really well. Gorgonzola is a blue cheese made from whole cow’s milk in the Gorgonzola province of Italy. When young, it is smooth and creamy and called “Gorgonzola Dolce” (sweet Gorgonzola). As it ages, the flavor intensifies and the cheese becomes crumbly. The aged version is called “Gorgonzola Picante” (sharp Gorgonzola) Or “Gorgonzola Montagna” (mountain Gorgonzola). The young, creamy version is most often used to top a steak, either alone, as was done here, or in a blue cheese sauce. It was a nice addition here.
Garlic is always welcome on a steak, whether sprinkled on in dried form before grilling, cooked up with some mushrooms, or roasted whole and served on the side, as was done here. Sweet, creamy, roasted garlic is great spread on bread, mixed into whipped potatoes, and in or on anything where you want some garlic flavor without the sharpness of raw garlic. Spreading it on a steak is also a great idea.
The house made steak sauce tasted like a fresher, more flavorful version of something you might get in a bottle in the grocery store. I haven’t really used steak sauce since I was a kid (at least not on a steak; it can be a great ingredient in all kinds of recipes), so I just barely dipped a couple bites in the sauce. If you like steak sauce on your steak, you will probably love this.
Full disclosure: my decision to order a steak was strongly influenced by the fact that I spotted this wine on the list.
Truluck’s maintains an excellent wine list, with a wide range of red and white selections to pair well with the range of dishes on the menu. The Valbuena 5° from the Bodegas (winery) and Viñedos (vineyards) Vega Sicilia in the Ribera del Duero region of Spain is a very special wine.
The winery was founded in 1864 by Don Eloy Lecanda y Chaves. He chose to plant grapevines imported from Bordeaux, in France, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Malbec, as well as Tempranillo which is commonly used the region (and can make great wines). The vineyards today are planed with about 60% Tempranillo and the rest Bordeaus varieties, mostly Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.
The flagship wine of Vegas Sicilia (“Sicilia” refers to Saint Cecilia, not Sicily) is called Único. Like the great wines of Bordeaux, it can age for many years, even decades, and sells for hundreds and even thousands of dollars a bottle. It is a blend of Tempranillo (usually around 80%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (usually around 20%). In poor vintages, none is produced. In good vintages, up to ⅓ of the wine produced may be blended into Único. It is always held at the winery for at least 10 years, sometimes more, before it is released. For example, the 1968 vintage was not released until 1991, 23 years after the vintage. According to reports I’ve seen in the wine magazines, the ’68 is still drinking beautifully at over 50 years of age. Sadly, I’ve never tasted it myself.
Valbuena 5° is made from a blend similar to Único, but usually including more Merlot. It is generally released after 5 years (indicated by the 5° in the name, spending 3 years in barrels and 2 years in the bottle before release) and matures more quickly than the Único, although it typically will age easily for a decade or two. Retail prices are in the $150-200 range upon release, so it is by no means a cheap wine, but it is both less expensive and more drinkable when young than its more prestigious big brother.
There is a third bottling made at Vega Sicilia called Vega Sicilia Unico Reserva Especial. I have never tasted, or even seen, a bottle of this. It is made by blending several vintages of Único and is available only to private customers who are lucky enough to get some of this unicorn wine.
The 2008 Valbuena tasted like it was right at it’s peak. It is 93% Tempranillo, with the rest of the blend being Merlot and Malbec. The nose evolved slowly, showing layers of dark fruit aromas, earthiness, tobacco, and spice. The flavors evolved the same way. When Valeria and I taste a really fine wine that evolves and improves for a long time as it sits in a glass we say “This is a wine you want to take home and introduce to your mother.” This was a wine you want to take home and introduce to your whole family.
We sat for quite a while just enjoying the wine as we slowly finished the bottle. Happily, the staff understood completely and did not rush us to finish.
By the time we finished the wine, dinner had settled and a little dessert seemed like a good idea. We decided to try the Key Lime Pie.
Aside from a few tiny, mom and pop pie shops in Key West, I don’t think we’ve had a much better key lime pie. Just the right balance of tart and sweet. I liked the thick layer of whipped cream on top (purists may disagree), but I would also skip the toasted almonds (again, others may disagree), but it was a nice, reasonably light, end to meal.
I’m happy to report that Truluck’s, in my experience, maintains its standard year after year and in multiple locations. As I said before, this is a special occasion restaurant, again, very similar in ambiance, quality, and price to a high-end steakhouse. If that’s the kind of place you’re looking for, Truluck’s should definitely be on your list.
Truluck’s Ocean’s Finest Seafood and Crab
Address: 41 E Chestnut St Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: (312) 982-0050
Reservations: opentable.com
Website: https://trulucks.com
Dress Code: Business Casual
Price Range: $31—$50
Hours: Dinner: Sunday—Thursday, 5:00pm—10:00pm
Friday—Saturday, 5:00pm—11:00pm
AMEX, Discover, MasterCard, Visa
Chicago, IL 60611
All images were taken with a Sony Alpha a9 camera and a Zeiss Batis 40mm f/2.0 CF lens using ambient light. Post-processing in Adobe Lightroom® and Adobe Photoshop® with Nik/Google and Skylum® Luminar® plugins.
