One Great Dish: Farmhouse's Duck Breast Schnitzel

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Feb 25, 2013 10:05PM

Photo credit: Chuck Sudo/Chicagoist

A quick perusal of the menu at Farmhouse during a late Saturday night dinner had me thinking of last month’s closing of City Provisions. Farmhouse, like City Provisions, focuses on a farm to table aesthetic — even the breweries in their draft beer selection have their mileage from Chicago listed.

One thing Farmhouse has that City Provisions lacked, as Cleetus Friedman alluded to when he announced the closing, is location. Steps from the Chicago Avenue Brown line stop, Farmhouse is in a neighborhood with the foot traffic to support casual diners, tourists and regulars, which makes charging a higher price point for a burger made with sustainable, farm-raised organic beef easier.

I originally was considering their burger before opting for their duck breast schnitzel, which drew audible gasps when it was delivered to the table for its presentation. Lightly breaded, this tender duck breast was served with a “side” of “warm potato salad” that was actually fancy dressed homemade shoestring fries that could have been a meal in itself. These fries teemed with cheese and herbs and were rich without somehow being overly salted.

The MVP of the dish was a homemade cherry demiglace dotting the duck like tiny pools of sweet flavor. I wondered for a moment how this flavor combination and these ingredients would work as, say, a roast duck breast dish. The flavor of Farmhouse’s schnitzel was as jaw-dropping as its presentation. Get it while we’re in the limbo between meteorological winter and the spring equinox.

Farmhouse is located at 228 W. Chicago Avenue. Their kitchen closes 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 9 p.m. Sunday.