I successfully have extended my 50th birthday celebration into a third month. Last night, my boss took me out for an extravagant dinner in honor of my milestone. We went to Tru in Chicago. It was the second trip for both of us. Maureen picked it because we both so love a Tru experience.
Besides the innovative cuisine, the level of service is exceptional. Have you seen Downton Abbey? Imagine that team of people a little hotter and dressed in suits with green ties. I would estimate we had 7-9 attractive men at our beckon and call for our entire visit. Frankly, it’s exactly how I visualize heaven. A gent took our coats. Another led us to our seat. We each had a fella pull out our chair and scoot us in. And another guy secured a small table for each of our purses. We selected black or white from the napkin boy. And the wine sommelier brought the encyclopedia of wines ranging from $65 to $3300 a bottle. (Obviously, we opted for the robust Red Mountain cabernet sauvignon ($65). It was still a robust choice for our npo sensibilities )
Within moments, a cute young thing brought over amuse-bouches compliments of Chef Anthony Martin. They were these fancy, melt-in-the-mouth cheese puffs. It was a little taste teaser to launch our dinner. We selected from among three options: pre fixe menu, the Tru experience or an abbreviated version of the Tru experience. We went with the abbreviated menu choice. It was still 8 courses.
Initially, a trio of tastes: pear and fennel, sorrel and buttermilk, foie gras + honeycrisp apple. The liquid pear was a shooter served with a fennel stick. The sorrel was this bright green sour mini muffin sized. The foie gras was served like a mini creme brulee with a hardened cover and pudding size. We were already wow-ed and this was just the first course.
Every item had its presentation platform. The ‘passionate marshmallow’ was served on a stick suspended from a miniature log. The visual was stunning. The actual taste delectable. Everything was a sensational spectacle. My favorite had to be the presentation of a round chocolate, with taste-bud popping insides, arriving on shredded white papers inside a ‘smoking‘ can. It was amazing!
Between our chatting and the regular ooh-la-las over the food, our Tru -abbreviated- experience was three hours. It was an amazing birthday treat from the menu greeting to the additional dessert send off. Thank you, Maureen!
P.S. Tru sent us home with a breakfast pastry. Right?! Tru is in my top three dining experiences in Chicago. It’s fantastical.
P.S.S. I saw my friend Chris Morin celebrating his actual birthday with his husband Peter. 