Hog Heaven: The Purple Pig is One of the Best

Let's be honest, I've eaten some amazing food in my life. I've gorged myself on pizza in Italy, I've downed tender duck from Wolfgang Puck's The Source, I've dined the restaurants of famous chefs such as Bobby Flay and Rick Bayless, and I've had some fantastic meals made by friends and family members. So when I say my experience at The Purple Pig may be one of the best dining experiences I've ever had, I mean it.


I've been meaning to try The Purple Pig for ages. Located on the famous Michigan Avenue, the restaurant has attracted tourists and locals alike with it's motto--cheese, swine, and wine. What could be better, right?

It's taken me almost a year to actually try this place mostly because The Pig does not take reservations. Usually when people come to visit, we have somewhere to be or someone to meet, so waiting around an hour or two for a table (which I've heard is relatively commonplace) does not fit with our plans.

When my mom visited last weekend, however, we had all day to do absolutely nothing--perfect for trying The Purple Pig at lunchtime.

The restaurant opens at 11:30, and we arrived shortly after. I was shocked to see that even this early, tables were full. Much to my surprise, we were seated right away, choosing to take a seat at the bar (which featured the full menu) instead of waiting for a table. And for only two people, they were probably the best seats in the house.

For a larger group, bar seating would not be optimum, as many of the dishes at The Purple Pig are for sharing. However, with just the two of us, we had excellent service from the waitstaff/bartenders and we got to watch the food being prepared.

Behind the bar is part of the kitchen. About a half dozen chefs were cramped together in that tiny space, all with a station, preparing their assigned dishes. It was intense to watch. What was extremely cool was watching them put together the dishes or pulling turkey legs or bone marrow out of the oven or roaster. Believe me, next time, I am trying a turkey leg. They looked fall-off-the-bone-delicious.

Being at a place called The Purple Pig, however, I wanted to order some pork. You have to, right? At least the first time. It took us a while to decide what to order. The menu was unique and incredible. I probably would have been happy with any of the dishes. Pork fried almonds with rosemary and garlic, salt and vinegar beef tendon chips, cheese and meat platters, and the turkey leg confit were some of the delectable sounding menu items that we didn't order. We have to go back to try them all.

With guidance from our waiter, we decided on one item from each section of the menu--antipasti, a la Plancha, and Smears.

To drink, we had ordered iced teas, and my mom decided on a Cabernet Franc from France's Loire valley. When I say I've had great food, I've had probably even better wine in my nineteen years than most have had in their lives. From a 100 point chardonnay to a Ledson reserve to a glass of David Arthur, I know good wine.

But in that moment, with that meal, that Cabernet Franc ranks among the best. It's at times like these when one comes to fully appreciate the beauty of a perfect wine pairing. The wine was good on it's own, and we skipped it with the first dish because it was more acidic, but with our rich second and third dishes, it was the perfect wine for a perfect meal. But it was drinkable and delicious alone, as well. I took my first sip and declared, "we're going to finish this before we even get our food." I was right.

We started off light with charred cauliflower, toasted breadcrumbs, cornichons, and parsley. It was the perfect beginning to an amazing meal. The cauliflower was tangy, like it was marinated in champaign vinegar and the cornichons. The breadcrumbs were toasty and added the perfect amount of crunch to the dish. For a hot summer day, the appetizer was light and refreshing, sharply contrasting the rest of our meal, but still holding it's own against the richness in the dishes to follow.

For our second dish, we went with our waiter's recommendation--Pork Neck Bone Gravy with Ricotta. The waiter informed us that this was the chef's old family recipe, so between that and the fact that I'm a sucker for anything with ricotta cheese, I had to order it.

"Gravy" in Italy basically means red sauce, and it was infused with the flavor from the neck bone of the pig. We got a little pot of the porky red sauce with a dollop of ricotta in the center with thick slices of warm bread. Putting the two together was magic--a flavor explosion as the crunchy bread met the creamy ricotta which was mixed into the sweet, meaty red sauce.With the wine? Wow. Just wow. The cheese, wine, and swine came together in this course for a mouth-watering dish.

But truly, one of the best things I've ever eaten came in the third course. The JLT was hands-down one of the most incredible things I've ever had the pleasure of eating.

The undeniably delectable JLT

JLT. The Purple Pig's version of a BLT. Of course it isn't going to be boring. Pork jowl, tomato, frisee, and a fried duck egg. How's that for a twist on an old classic!

The day before, we had BLTs at Perennial Virant, which were light and fresh. With the bacon jam and basil mayo, it was dainty compared to this monster of a sandwich that is very in-your-face (and I mean that in an incredibly good way!). The Perennial Virant BLT was good, but honestly, this one beats it by a mile. It's an open-faced sandwich served on the same thick, fresh bread we had for our neck bone gravy. On top of that is a delicious lemony aoili or something of that nature. On top of that sat a sweet, thick, and juicy tomato and the bitter frisee, balancing out the flavors in the dish.

But seriously, the best part was the pork jowl. The cut comes from the cheek and side of the neck of the pig and yes, it's better than bacon. It's thick, meaty, fatty, porky goodness. After you've tried jowl, going back to bacon is a little disappointing. A crispy fat just melts in your mouth--it's at times like these where I'm so thankful I'm not a vegetarian.

Atop it all was a fried duck egg. Duck eggs look just like chicken eggs, but are significantly larger and they're incredibly rich. The yolk has a deeper flavor than a traditional egg. Of course, when the sandwich arrives, the first thing you must do is break the yolk and let it run all over the sandwich, seeping down over the pork jowl and into the bread. There are seriously no words to describe how good the sandwich was as a whole.

But it gets even better when paired with that Loire Valley Cabernet Franc. My oh my. This, right here, was the perfect food and wine paring. My tastebuds have never been so happy.

Lemon Panna Cotta

I'm a sucker for desserts, and oddly enough, I still had a little room left for something sweet. After debating for a while and coming to the conclusion that we wanted something light (even though the ricotta and chocolate filled brioche sounded mouthwatering), we ordered the Lemon Panna Cotta. It was the perfect end to the meal. It was light and incredibly smooth. Served with honey and cinnamon glazed pistachios, the sweet and crunchy nuts were a beautiful complement to the tangy, silky custard. With candied lemon rind as a garnish and alongside my cup of espresso (which was outstanding), it left me truly satisfied.

The Purple Pig left me blissful. In the following days, I worshiped the pig for it's meaty goodness--far superior to any other land animal. That'll do, Pig, that'll do.

So next time you're in Chicago, take the time to visit The Purple Pig. For any pork lover, it's ridiculously good.