Thursday, July 5, 2012

The Peasantry

My friend Andy was recently in town for an extremely brief visit. However, in less than twenty-four hours, we managed to cram in some insanely good eats. We started at The Peasantry, a relatively new restaurant by the owners of Franks 'NDawgs just a short walk from my apartment. The Peasantry calls their cuisine “elevated street food”. It’s fun and affordable in a very relaxed setting.

 The Peasantry

There is a selection of gyros on the menu, but none resemble the street meat I ate several times on the streets of Mykonos. The baby octopus gyro ($11) comes out more like a flatbread and filled with tender hunks of grilled baby octopus, house-made chorizo and a fingerling potato and grape gremolata.  In spite of the meat and potatoes, the dish feels light with the impossibly delicious octopus.

Baby Octopus Gyro

One of the specials of the day was the curried flatbread ($11). It came topped with a light curry sauce, thinly sliced pears and radishes, arugula, and two sunny side up eggs. As well as being pretty, it was delicious. The curry had just the slightest hint of heat and paired well with the sweet and crunchy pears and the drippy egg yolk.

Curried Flatbread

The dish that impressed the most was the duck burger ($14).  It is a duck and coriander burger with apricot and orange marmalade, mustard greens and a tarragon and foie gras torchon. It was full of orange flavor and was perfectly cooked. The foie gras didn’t add any additional texture, but provided the burger with an intense richness that we all appreciated.

Duck Burger

The pasta in the rabbit pasta ($15) was house-made and perfectly al dente. The tender pieces of rabbit were nice, but the wine used for the sauce was too light and fruity. A heartier wine would have made this dish a winner.

Rabbit Pasta

We couldn't resist an order of triple truffle fries ($6). Waffle fries are not usually my jam, but with truffle butter, truffle salt, and truffle salt, these were impossible to pass up. 

Triple Truffle Fries

We saved a little room for dessert. The macadamia nut crusted churros ($6) are served with a white chocolate and hibiscus anglaise sauce. The bright hibiscus cuts through the sweetness of the white chocolate and there was a light fresh crunch in the churros.

Macadamia Nut Churros with White Chocolate and Hibiscus Anglaise Sauce

I am thrilled that The Peasantry was as good as I had heard and I am so happy that it is so close so I can stop in any night I am too lazy to cook…which in this crazy heat we have had, seems to be all the time.


The Peasantry 
2725 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 868-4888

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16 comments:

vanillasugarblog said...

that white chocolate and hibiscus anglaise sauce sounds heavenly. I NEED to recreate that one.
Have any hibiscus I can borrow?

Allison [Girl's Guide to Social Media] said...

This place looks insanely good! I especially like the grilled octopus gyro and the curried flat bread. Mouth watering!

Maria said...

What a wonderful meal!

Lucy Lean said...

This all looks so tasty - lucky you living near by - glad to see you are making the most of your new city

marla said...

Looks like a restaurant I would love!

marla said...

Looks like a restaurant I would love!

Joanne said...

I love it when food-loving friends come to visit...it's the perfect excuse to go out on the town! What a great meal!

angela@spinachtiger said...

Some of these dishes qualify for more than elevated street food, but I get the drift. The eggs on flatbread or the rabbit pasta look heavenly to me.

Gastronomer said...

My kinda of restaurant! Glad to see you're eating like a champ, friend.

kristina Vanni said...

What a fun and tasty visit! This menu looks very worth checking out!

Banana Wonder said...

MMm looks and sounds so good. Nice Andy meet up too! I think I had him the nigh before for some kitchen cleanup dinner :P

aida mollenkamp said...

That curried flatbread is calling out to me!

Bill said...

I've been wanting to try this place for awhile - it's right around the corner from me!

Bill said...

Also - I need to get some pointers from you on how to photograph food in restaurants - those are some really great images!

Esi said...

Bill! We're neighbors!! Let's go to The Peasantry sometime. I loved it. I will be happy to give you tips on restaurant photography, though I don't know much. Haha :)

Christine said...

The curried flatbread looks great with the sunny side up eggs. I'd probably need to order extra carbs to mop up the velvety egg yolks.

You're quite lucky to be so close to such a great looking restaurant.