It’s a truism in the food business that we feast with our eyes before our palates; everyone knows presentation strongly influences the way we respond to a meal. In olden days presentation involved fancy china, silverware, and napery, plus ornate displays of serving dishes on the sideboard. By the era of nouvelle cuisine–late 60s, early 70s–chefs began to create artistic presentations on the plate itself, arranging the food just so, and even “painting” it with thickened sauces of various colors. The latest trend is “architectural” plates, where foodstuffs axe stacked into small towers or herbs and wafers are propped upright to achieve a third dimension. But too often these artistic endeavors fail in the most important dimension of all: true flavor. A lot of places get so caught up in style that they fall short on substance.
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A new place in Evanston, however, on the site of the revered Cafe Provencal, manages to carry presentation to unique heights while still keeping flavor foremost. The food–contemporary French, American, and a bit of Italian–is served on the most unusual platters you’ll find anywhere: rough-edged slabs of polished black granite, fabulous white marble squares, wildly decorated pottery. The arrangements are architectural in most cases, and they are often painted with today’s cutting-edge ingredient, oils infused with herbs, spices, and other flavors. In short, everything that’s happening in the avant-garde of food service is happening here.
Or try the assortment of fish tartares, ($12.95). There are always three, varying with availability, each distinctively seasoned. One night it was yellowtall tuna, lobster ceviche, and salmon, with a bit of smoked salmon mixed in with the raw. The yellowtall incorporated Japanese seasonings, and there was also ginger oil and a dab of wasabi. Vegetable chips–another current conceit of the gustatory avant-garde accompanied as well. They take thin slices of root veggies–lotus, beets, even turnips–and quickly deep-fry them into something that looks a potato chip but tastes like the concentrated vegetable with a pleasingly crunchy texture.
Desserts include an ethereal creme brulee with the lightness of cotton candy, adorned with chocolate shavings and a raspberry and mint “salad” ($6.50). The toffee pudding ($7.50) comes with a real dazzler, white pepper ice cream. Yes, it works just fine. Cant choose among the sweet things? There’s a three-course tasting for $10 that two can happily share.
