Local Chef Takes Over at C-House

By Anthony Todd in Food on Oct 23, 2009 6:00PM

Lovers of Lula, rejoice! Yet another alum has taken her place among Chicago’s great executive chefs. Nicole Pederson, former sous chef at Lula (who has also cooked at Gramercy Tavern in New York) has taken over the helm at C-House. Owned by Marcus Sammuelson, the chef-owner of Aquavit, C-House primarily focuses on seafood, with a well-stocked raw bar and a selection of eight different oysters.

We were invited to a lunch featuring some items from Pederson’s menu, and we were eager to see what she would cook up. Pederson featured a wide variety of local ingredients. We started with a dish off the raw bar; two slices of Cobia topped with beets, pistachios and preserved lemon. Cobia, Pederson informed us, is a sustainable fish - she told us that she has her “Right Bite” pamphlet sitting open in the kitchen! Next, an heirloom apple salad with three kinds of local apples in apple cider vinaigrette, made with produce from Nichols Farm.

Two meat courses followed, starting with a pan-seared halibut, with a broth made from Goose Island “Matilda” beer. The last meat of the day was a grilled hanger steak with pickled peppers and sweet corn. We finished with a pumpkin caramel bread pudding.

If you’d like to check out some of the food, we recommend that you head over for lunch - it’s a bit less expensive. If you try the balsamic Brussels sprouts, send in a report.