The Loyalist (Chicago)

  • Escargot Toast (braised escargot, mushroom duxelle on puff pastry): I was excited for this, and it wasn’t great. The pastry part was as good as it gets, but the escargot was pretty tasteless and the texture was not pleasant.

  • Pâtés Maison (pork & pistachio, chicken & foie gras, sourdough)

  • Deviled Egg (smoked trout, pickled beet, dill): excellent, though the price is pretty ridiculous for one egg.

  • Anchovy Toast (milk bread, soft butter, yuzu): my favorite thing I ordered (happens to also be the least expensive). The rich buttery bread topped with the salty sharp taste of the anchovy.

  • The French Smash Burger (smash patty, escargot butter, cornichon, mornay, frites): not sure if I’d call it good or bad. The oddest burger I’ve ever had. At that point, I was too full to eat much of it.

  • Baba au Rhum (milk bread, creme anglaise, vanilla chantilly cream)

Rating: 6/10