Dining Al Greshco
Spontaneous market-to-table cooking at...a steakhouse
David Burke's Primehouse is one of the city's finest temples of steak, but there's more to the restaurant than bovine-based delights.
This summer, chef Rick Gresh--the jam-making, home-brewing head of the Primehouse kitchen--introduced Al Greshco, an intimate, spontaneous, five-course al fresco dinner each Wednesday night, inspired by his finds at the Green City Market that morning ($55; $80 with wine pairings).
Some dishes are conceived ahead of time, like dry-aged veal that hangs in the restaurant's salt-lined aging cave before being paired with the morning's finds (recently, pattypan squash with cherry bomb peppers). The dish is drizzled with liquefied bacon fat--which has been poured into votives, lit like a candle and left to melt while lighting the meal.
Other dishes are thrown together in the heat of the market-inspired moment. At their best, they epitomize the season, as with a wildly flavorful heirloom tomato ragout with black-pepper pappardelle, shards of crisp house-made pancetta and micro basil leaves.
The dinners will end on October 28, the market's last Wednesday outdoors. Reserve a spot via Gresh's Twitter or Facebook account, and if the weather agrees, you'll find yourself seated at a long table on the restaurant's front sidewalk (on rainy days, it's moved inside). As the chef comes out to serve the dishes and share anecdotes about each one, passersby never fail to stop and stare.
David Burke's Primehouse, 616 N. Rush St.; 312-660-6000 or jameshotels.com
