Chicago: Avec

Guess what?  

I'm officially done with law school!  That's right.  Took my last final yesterday, so now I'm just lazing around Chicago until graduation in two weeks.  Well, that's not quite true.  Lazing around is difficult when bar prep classes take up so much damn time.  Ugh.  

Anyway, enough whining.  I have posts to catch up on.

Avec has been on my list since my first year in Chicago, but I just never found the opportunity or the occasion to go.  Turns out we didn't require much of an occasion to get out there.  After another boring (and I mean REALLY boring) art law class one day, CK, JS, and I escaped to Avec: 

We were a little worried about the wait since Avec doesn't take reservations, but it actually wasn't that bad. Much like its siblings, Publican and PQM, Avec is very much a communal space:

One thing that's great about communal dining is that you can openly check out what everyone else is eating and ask them about it.  We already had a pretty good idea of what we wanted though.

I was really curious about the focaccia with taleggio cheese, ricotta, truffle oil, and fresh herbs:

I think I killed most of the foaccia.  It was addictive.

Avec is well known for its chorizo-stuffed medjool dates:

I can't describe how amazing these are.  They really live up to all the hype.  The dates come in this awesome piquillo pepper-tomato sauce and a simultaneously spicy and sweet and savory and I-can-die-happy-now good.

The wood fired squid was my least favorite of the night compared to all the other dishes, but it was still pretty stellar:

It felt like we were eating squid noodles in a creamy bath of guanciale, fideo, and fennel aioli.

The pork shoulder came in the cutest little cast iron pot:

The pork was wood oven roasted and came with ham hock braised black turtle beans, charred salsa verde, and spiced carrots.  I don't usually say stuff like this, but the carrot were bomb.  Unfortunately, by this point in the meal we were all so full that we could barely take a few bites of pork.  Fortunately, CK and I got to take the leftovers home and enjoy it another day.

Being full doesn't mean we skip dessert though.  Oh, no.  Dessert goes into another stomach after all.  We went with the lemon cake with rhubarb and ginger compote, yogurt sorbet, and ginger streusel:

Very light with just a bit of tang.  Yum.  The perfect way to end our meal.

Avec has one of those menus that make you want to order one of everything.  The service is attentive, the atmosphere relaxed, and everyone there is gushing about the food.  It really is a great restaurant to chill with your friends.  Especially after a life force draining class.


Avec
615 W Randolph St
Chicago, IL 60606
(312) 377-2002
http://avecrestaurant.com/