Indienne

-Grubbing in Chicago  
An Indian Tasting Menu in River North 

The finalists for the 2024 James Beard awards have been announced with four of them coming from Chicago. Sujan Sarkar of Indienne and Jenner Tomaska of Esme are two of the five finalists for ‘Best Chef: Great Lakes Region’ which includes three others from Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Detroit. I had a chance to eat at Indienne last month and had a fantastic fine dining experience at the River North restaurant that earned a Michelin star last year. Sarkar honed his skills at some of London’s most critically acclaimed restaurants before coming to Chicago. He previously ran the kitchen at ROOH. 

Locals (and critics) favorite in River North  

At the moment Indienne only has a tasting menu which can be made vegetarian or pescatarian. It lasts for six courses with the option to add a seventh and runs $125 per person. It’s a big white table cloth space with easy on the eyes lighting. I found the service to be swift in a good way in that I sat down and I was immediately greeted by a well informed waiter who made a cocktail suggestion and was on his way to putting my tasting menu in motion. My cocktail was the only thing I didn’t truly enjoy that night. I can’t recall exactly what it was but it was nicknamed the ‘Mumbai’ and it was a booze forward punch that tasted like bourbon mixed with fruit punch. I don’t drink a ton of cocktails these days so I should’ve got a beer though I don’t recall them having any of the local varieties I like. A two piece amuse bouche was delivered to the table shortly after my drink. First up was a blackberry Pani Puri that set off a delicious night of dining with an explosion of flavors. Next to that was a galouti which I learned are melt in your mouth kebabs that came about in the city of Lucknow. Sarkar and his team make an Éclair with mushrooms, truffle, and Goat Cheese that makes for a fantastic two bite snack. On a side note I love learning of regional dishes like Galouti Kebabs which I’ve added to my list of dishes I want to try if and when I ever get to India. 

Blackberry (Pani Puri) - buckwheat tart, tamarind / Mushroom (Galouti) - eclair, goast cheese, truffle

Each course is an ode to a different Indian dish such as Dahi Bhalla which is a popular chaat of lentil fritters served in seasoned yogurt and topped with chutney. At Indienne they serve a cheffed up version starting with a Lentil Donut with Tamarind and Mint and Raspberry. It was sweet, sour, salty, spicy, and tangy with different tastes and textures throughout. An absolute umami bomb. Scallops get the call for the second course which is a play on a Goan dish called Balchao which traditionally consists of prawns in a spicy vinegar sauce but at Indienne they sit a perfectly cooked scallop topped with Golden Kaluga caviar in a cauliflower puree with a finger lime sauce mixed in tableside.

Dahi (Bhalla) - lentil donut, tamarind, mint, raspberry 

Scallop (Balchao) - cauliflower, golden kaluga, finger lime 

Lamb stars in the third course in two different plays on kebabs. First up is a succulent lamb rib that slides right off the bone. If this wasn't a tasting I would've put an order in for a full slab. A Shami Kebab also sits on the plate underneath a crisp yellow chickpea cracker type of thing. The tender circular ground lamb patty had traces of garam masala among other seasonings and again I would asked for a half dozen more if we were eating off an ala carte menu. You have the option to add a warm and puffy chili cheese kulcha (pita bread) to this course for $6 and while it's definitely worth it you might not need it based on the fact there's bread included in one of upcoming courses. 

Lamb (Kebab) - shami, ribs, persimmon, chili cheese kulcha

Moving right along the supplemental crab course ($21) appeared shortly after and the streak of fantastic dishes continued. This course was a play on Bisi Bele Bath which is a spicy, rice-based dish with roots in the state of Karnataka, India. The staff described it as a Indian risotto which it pretty much was - a creamy concoction with some fragrant Indian spices and succulent crab meat. 

Crab (Bisi Bele Bath) - squash, dosa crumble, brown butter

Chicken Makhani aka Butter Chicken is the grand finale on the savory side. I'll admit this isn't a dish I regularly crave and thus it's not one I have a ton of recon on so don't take me as some sort of expert when I say this was the best butter chicken I've ever had. It was also the most cheffed up version I've ever had in terms of preparation and presentation. I wish I asked a few questions about exactly how it was done but it was basically a piece of extremely tender chicken breast stuffed with some sort of stuffing like filling. They clearly did something to the chicken to make it super soft and tender. It was great on it's own but the silky smooth sauce took it up yet another notch. I didn't even want to know how much butter they used in it. Not to be outdone a half piece of warm and soft naan and a bowl of Dal Makhani were equally delicious. I never go in to a meal like this expecting the chicken course to be my favorite but as good as everything else was it was tough to top this one. Simply outstanding. 

Chicken (Makhani) - pistachio, fenugreek, red pepper, black dairy dal, garlic naan

By the time dessert was due I was stuffed from all the food leading up to it. So much so I don't remember much about what the menu describes as Chocolate Phirni, a thick and creamy pudding made from ground rice. Other elements of this dish included Indian apple pudding aka halwa and Nolen Gur ice cream which is made from Bengali date palms. We were also served a few different pieces of hand made candy including a liquid mango concoction I really liked. Service was informative and quick as I never waited more than a handful of minutes between each dish with a detailed description of each one given. This was a good one. 

Chocolate (Phirni) - apple halwa, nolen gur ice cream 

Indienne
217 W Huron St
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 291-9427
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