Reviews: GT Fish & Oyster, Perennial Virant

THE GOLDEN BOYS: It’s not even fair how many good restaurants Kevin Boehm and Rob Katz own. Here, two more

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The last time I saw Kevin Boehm and Rob Katz, they were outside Perennial Virant, talking on their cell phones and to each other. At the same time. Their latest restaurants, Perennial Virant and GT Fish & Oyster, which opened in the span of 49 days, would be impressive enough in their own right; hot on the heels of 2010’s Girl & the Goat, they’re particularly ambitious. I would say it’s like the Beatles releasingRubber Soul, Revolver, and Sgt. Pepper within 18 months, but Boehm and Katz are not the Fab Four in this scenario. They’re George Martin—visionary producers who recognize talent and then provide a framework to capture and nurture it.

The pair is on a magical run right now, one unmatched in Chicago since Jerry Kleiner’s Vivo/Marché/Red Light/Gioco stretch in the nineties. The difference is that Kleiner’s restaurants were first and foremost Kleiner restaurants—curvy, roaring Technicolor circuses—and the chefs, while talented, seemed secondary. Lately, Boehm and Katz, who started with Boka in 2003, have been coming at it from the other direction: Get the right chef and build around him (or her). They’ll use the same formula this fall with Chris Pandel (The Bristol), who will help them make the old Landmark space on Halsted Street into a rustic Italian spot called Balena.

For Paul Virant, it all happened fast. The St. Louis native was busy at his wonderful Vie in Western Springs in February 2011 when he got a call from Boehm. Chef Ryan Poli had just announced his departure from Perennial, and Boehm and Katz wanted to overhaul the whole restaurant with and for Virant. Three months later, it reopened with a slightly different name, Perennial Virant, but as a completely different restaurant—and a damn good one. The renovation, into what my waiter called “farmhouse posh,” was so complete I couldn’t remember the old décor. Light pours in on sleek oak tables, big potted trees, and a wall of canning jars. The abundant staffers, casual and confident in T-shirts and sneakers, are true believers in a kitchen that plays to Virant’s strengths: Americana cooking, pickled stuff, and an uncanny knack for combining sweet and salty.

You’d be confident, too, if you were serving dishes like crispy carnaroli rice logs filled with oozy Brunkow Cheese curds in a spring onion vinaigrette. “Like arancini with some Midwestern cheese curd goodness,” says Virant, and he’s underselling it. His ever-evolving menu includes a $37 three-course prix fixe meal and shareable plates that for once make sense communally (think homemade corn nuts). Slagel Family Farm pork shoulder confit, a delicious pork-cake disk with a browned cap and shreddy innards, gets a boost from a homemade giardiniera of beets, turnips, and onions. You will want to soak up every last drop of rich pork jus with fantastic whole-grain bread that has been baked in a Blodgett triple-deck oven in the basement. You will also fight your tablemates for the astounding Wisconsin morel mushrooms with milk jam, sweet-salty oat crumble, and chive blossoms, and you will win. And while they’re wasting their time with the flat cream of Klug Farm asparagus soup and overly fatty smoked Dietzler Farms beef short ribs, you’ll be polishing off the lovely herb Parisienne gnocchi with spring vegetable ragoût and pesto.

Perennial Virant’s clever cocktails by Matty Eggleston, who made his bones at Hollywood’s Hungry Cat, shine far brighter than the half-cocked desserts, none of which deserve a spot on this sharp menu. In the end, though, everything you need to know about this restaurant is in the six-ounce wheel of soft grilled Camembert with homemade lavash and amazing red wine raspberry jam. It’s nothing flashy: just an intricate gem masquerading as a crowd pleaser. Which is exactly what Boehm and Katz wanted all along.

The Boka Restaurant Group boasts some of the city’s hottest and most talked about restaurants (Girl and the Goat, Boka, GT Fish & Oyster, Landmark, and, previously, Perennial). Mid-winter, despite a constant buzz of activity, Perennial shut its doors to be reworked and re-born Perennial Virant showcasing Chef Paul Virant’s culinary skills. Virant gained a sterling reputation for his use of fresh, seasonal ingredients in contemporary American cuisine as Executive Chef of Vie in Western Springs. Virant and the Boka Group brought this same fresh food focus to Perennial Virant with outstanding results.

The carefully chosen menu options, the expertly mixed drinks, and the transparency, with which each plate is prepared, culminate in an elegant and delicious brunch experience. The menu boasts relatively few entrée items but each is prepared with an eye for perfection. Just steps away from the Green City Market, Perennial Virant seems to embody the very philosophy of farm to table dining—presenting the farm names in which the meat and produce came directly on the menu.

Should you be inspired to go, here are a few suggestions. The salmon panzanella receives a well-balanced seasoning of dill and sits atop a bed of watercress with crisp, thinly sliced bagel chips. For those with a sweet-tooth, the pecan sticky buns are amazingly light but with the delicate, honey sweetness that will send you on a sugar-rush that will fuel the rest of your day. The rosemary shortbread cookies with crème fraiche and strawberries are a must-try and wonderful as a plate to share for the table.

Perennial Virant puts as much thought and care into each glass as they do on each plate. If the rhubarb honey mimosa does not tickle your fancy, enlist the advice of the inventive man behind the bar, Matty Eggleston, who has been nationally recognized for his original alcoholic creations. If you are looking for a twist on a childhood favorite, try the vodka based dreamsicle with fresh juice and cream.

PV offers brunch 10 am to 230 pm Saturday and Sunday. The outdoor space along Lincoln Park is wonderful if the weather agrees but if the lake breeze is too forceful for a casual brunch, tables by the floor to ceiling retractable windows offer the best of both worlds. The trendy yet confortable décor will put you at ease and the food will definitely provide ample conversation pieces.

Jessica Milton

Chicago Brunch Restaurants Examiner