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The Purple Pig Chicago is an institution, after 10 years it moved and we stumbled across it on opening night in its new home. They don’t take reservations and we got lucky. The last 4 seats at kitchen window or a 3-hour wait. The last 4 seats it was. Personally I find a kitchen seat much more entertaining then stuck on a table in the far corner of a restaurant, potentially just looking into the rest of the dining room or worse. The corridor to the toilets.
What did we order?
As The Purple Pig is tapas style, the portions are a little smaller meaning you can share a few. Between 4, we ordered 8 savoury dishes and 2 desserts and we left satisfied. I was the more adventurous eater out of the party, so a couple of the dishes I got the majority of (absolutely no complaints there).
4 out of our 7 dishes lined up all neat in a row. The wait staff brought the dishes as they were ready rather than a ‘course’ at a time. This worked well but 4 dishes, plus side dishes meant that our table space got filled up pretty quickly. This would be my only complaint of taking a kitchen seat. The lack of table space. Food plus drinks plus crockery made it a tight fit.
Snacks, Pork and Meat
Whipped goats cheese + Pistachio butter
Pita Crackers, Heirloom Tomatoes, Honey+ Cumin
Tonnato Sauce + Salad Olivier
Summer Pepperonata, Zhoug+ Raspberry-Bone Marrow Vinaigrette
Mashed Potatoes and Crispy Lentils.
Pork Neckbone Gravy
Now you’ve got past all these pictures of deliciousness, shall we have a chat about them. The stand out item for me was the salt roasted beets – they were fab. The texture of the beetroot was excellent and whipped goats cheese light but creamy, it worked well together as a pair. In contrast, my least favourite savoury option was the whipped feta and crackers. There weren’t enough crackers, and the crackers were so flimsy you couldn’t pile it high without it disintegrating.
Meat, the other members of the party requested some meat options, of course, I tried these too. The steak was good, but I’m no conciser, I’ll happily eat filet or a flank and find it enjoyable if seasoned well. Pork belly, I always order or advise others to order. It is a restaurant treat. Perfectly pink and tender I would order again. As 4 of us tucked into this one, I wish we had ordered 2 portions.
Desserts
Desserts are the most crucial part of any meal.
Linda Sunshine
Chocolate or fruit, I have to order dessert. It’s really rare that I turn it down. Even when I am the only one that wants a pudding I am all about the power of persuasion and getting someone else to order too, so I can sample some of course.
Chocolate ice cream + cookie crumb
lemon sorbet, meringue + caramelised nuts
Where to find the Purple Pig?
444N North Michigan Avenue, open from 11:30am until 11:30pm.
