See Food: Sound Opinions' "Eat to the Beat" Dinner With Stephanie Izard and Jared Van Camp

By Roger Kamholz in Food on Feb 13, 2012 4:00PM

Chefs Jared Van Camp and Stephanie Izard introduce their dishes to the packed crowd at Nellcôte for the Eat to the Beat dinner thrown by WBEZ\'s \"Sound Opinions.\"

The menu explored the relative musical merits of the Beatles and Rolling Stones through food.

The cavernous main dining room at Nellcôte, set up for the \"Sound Opinions\" dinner.

Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis, Chicago music critics and hosts of \"Sound Opinions,\" co-wrote a book on the Beatles and Stones.

Van Camp in the brand-new kitchen at Nellcôte.

Nellcôte now occupies the West Loop address of Marché. The stone of building\'s exterior coincidently matches that of the actual Villa Nellcôte, in France.

First course, by Van Camp: Artichoke with white asparagus, romaine, celery and yogurt.

Greg Kot, at right, talks Stones history.

Second course, by Izard: Sweet onion soup with brown buttered crab.

Nellcôte\'s kitchen staff prepares the third course, by Van Camp...

...Spaghetti with champagne, oysters and creme fraiche.

Fourth course, by Izard: Confit goat belly, with \"Russian\" dressing and fingerling chips.

Fifth course, by Van Camp: Organic salmon with Swiss chard, saffron, pine nuts and fresh raisins.

Sixth course, by Izard: Smoked duck breast with black kale and piparra-pineapple relish.

Seventh course, by Van Camp: \"Baba au rhum,\" with bachelor\'s jam and crème chantilly. Van Camp has been preserving fruit in a 55-gallon used whiskey barrel with rum and sugar to create this dish, which will be on Nellcôte\'s debut dessert menu.

Last Thursday, the Chicago Public Radio show Sound Opinions hosted a special fund-raising dinner at Nellcôte, the soon-to-open West Loop restaurant helmed by Old Town Social chef Jared Van Camp. Sound Opinions, the WBEZ rock 'n' roll talk show hosted by music critics Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis, invited Van Camp and Girl and the Goat chef Stephanie Izard to collaborate on a seven-course menu that reflected one of rock's greatest rivalries, the Beatles versus the Rolling Stones.

Kot and DeRogatis co-authored a book in 2010 on the subject of these two legendary bands. Van Camp is a huge music fan himself whose new restaurant in both name and vibe is an homage to the Stones' days living, carousing and recording Exile on Main St. (1972) at France's Villa Nellcôte. Van Camp drew inspiration from the songs of that album for his original dishes, referencing "Rocks Off," "Ventilator Blues" and more. Izard played the part of the Beatles, using the so-called White Album (1968) as the muse for her dishes, which included confit goat belly ("Back in the U.S.S.R."), and sweet onion soup with brown buttered crab ("Glass Onion"). Throughout the evening at Nellôte, which takes numerous design cues from its namesake villa on the Côte d'Azur, Kot and DeRogatis shared their extensive knowledge of the bands to help to put the songs in context for the large crowd of foodies and music buffs (moodies?).

Check out the slideshow to see what the chefs prepared for this outstanding dinner.

Nellcôte is located at 833 West Randolph.