Better than Butter: The Purple Pig Round 2

Here's me about to enjoy some of that delicious bone marrow!

The Purple Pig on Michigan Ave. succeeded in delivering one of the most delicious meals I've had in a long time. So, when my boyfriend came to Chicago to visit this weekend, I thought it would be the perfect place to go to celebrate our birthdays, which are only a few weeks apart.


I anticipated a long wait this time at The Purple Pig, especially since we arrived at around 7:00 pm--prime time for dinner on a Friday night. It was no surprise that our wait was over two hours. But knowing that that deliciousness awaited us, we decided that waiting would be worth it.

It was a clear night and not too chilly, so we just walked around the area for a while and stopped in the Nordstrom Cafe for a coffee. Although, we were very hungry by the time 9:00 rolled around. Next time, I'm planning on putting in my name at The Purple Pig well before I am actually ready to eat dinner.

We made our way back to the restaurant and sat on one of the benches outside for the final 20 minutes or so of our wait time. A waiter brought us a drink menu and started a tab for us to continue once we were seated. I told the waiter that I had really enjoyed the Domaine du Grand Bouqueteau, a Cabernet Franc, the last time I was at the restaurant, and mentioned that I was relatively unfamiliar with wines from Greece, Portugal, and Spain. The waiter was wonderfully enthusiastic about me asking for recommendations, and steered me toward a Greek wine from Crete--the Alexakis. 60 percent Kotsifali, 40 percent Syrah, the Alexakis had smooth tannins, was balanced, had a medium body with and peppery notes, and was both complementary to the food, as well as being pleasant to sip on its own.

We were seated not long after receiving our drinks. This time, we were positioned in a more private table in one of the corners. The restaurant was obviously busy, as I had expected. But never did I once feel as though I was being rushed through. The staff at The Purple Pig is accommodating and welcoming, and despite being an extremely popular restaurant with a long line of people waiting, they value the experience of the customer, encouraging the patrons to enjoy their meals, taking as long as necessary.

But even though The Pig is busy and loud, and the wait was long, honestly, the food is worth it. I wanted to try something new this time, but after hearing me talk about the holiness of the JLT, Matt definitely wanted to order it (and I can't say I had a problem with that--it's delicious!). Matt was open to trying most of the menu items, which was great, especially since some of them can be a little off-the-wall like pig's tails and tripe. But Matt gave me the okay to order whatever I wanted, as long as it wasn't the sweetbreads (damn it!).

The bone marrow is scraped out of the inside of the bone and is easily spread.

We started off with the bone marrow, which I had been dying to try since I saw them being prepared at The Purple Pig when I ate there with my mom. The bone was served with some of the delicious, thick toasted bread that accompanies the other smears, and with a hunk of the bone marrow spread evenly over my toasted bread with a little bit of the parsley and capers that garnished the dish and a pinch of the flaked salt, I took my first bite.

I didn't think there could be a meat better than bacon before I had pork jowl at The Purple Pig, and now, I am certain, there is something more wonderful than butter. Fatty delicious goodness, the marrow is savory and rich. There's nothing quite like it, but between the bread, the marrow, the pinch of salt, and my wonderful wine, it was love at first bite. Better than butter is the best description I can possibly do. If you didn't think such a thing could exist, you need to give bone marrow a try. You will become a believer, I promise.

After our rich and heavy first dish, though, we wanted to go with something a little lighter. We chose the Olive Oil Poached

The Olive Oil Poached Tuna was mixed with delicious
veggies including baby potatoes, sun dried tomatoes,
roasted red peppers, and green beans.

Tuna with Roasted Red Peppers and Quail Eggs. It was essentially a little salad packed with Mediterranean flavors--the poached tuna, roasted red peppers, green beans, artichokes, olives, hard-boiled quail eggs, and sun dried tomatoes were tossed with a light lemony olive oil. The dish wasn't complex, but it was the perfect contrast to our rich first dish. The poached tuna was perfectly cooked. Paired with the acidity from the tomatoes and the sweetness of the peppers and the salty artichokes, it was incredibly well-balanced. Even the textures complemented each other nicely, with the crunch from the green beans paired against the softness of  the hard-boiled egg and the tender tuna bites. Overall, a wonderful dish.

Then came the JLT. As expected, it was fantastic. However, it was admittedly better the first time I had it, simply because the piece of pork jowl was thicker the first time I had the open-faced sandwich. In my opinion, the thicker the jowl, the better the jowl. This is not to say that it wasn't delicious. Matt definitely enjoyed it, too!

Instead of dessert, we decided to have another drink, which was a good choice. Last time I left The Purple Pig, I was so stuffed. Skipping dessert allowed me to leave feeling satisfied, but not over-full like I had in the past. Although the Alexakis was a wonderful recommendation from my waiter, I went back to the Domaine du Grand Bouqueteau to finish off the evening. The Alexakis was good, but that Cabernet Franc definitely has a special place in my heart.

So, second time around, I have yet to be disappointed with The Purple Pig. I was so glad I got to share this place with Matt, as well...and that he has relatively adventurous tastes and was willing to wait for 2 hours for dinner (we ended up eating at about 10:30 Eastern Time...yikes!). I had yet another wonderful meal, and left with some appreciation for the delicious creature that is a hog.