Oh, Roister, you have never disappointed me! This was my third visit to Roister restaurant in Chicago and I went with my brother to celebrate his 40th birthday! Roister’s Chef is Grant Achatz, of Alinea fame. The Chef was actually on hand on this evening working in the kitchen. I like to think he made a special appearance for my brother on his birthday. It was interesting that he was at Roister, and not his three-Michelin-starred Alinea, however from glancing at his Instagram, it looks like Mr. Achatz has been spending a lot of time at Roister. My guess is they are working hard to get their Michelin star back, which was unfairly stripped from them and granted to the far inferior Next restaurant (another Achatz joint) a few years ago.

I love Roister for so many reasons. The atmosphere is super hip. The place is quite dark with a large open kitchen. One of these days, I intend to sit at the bar that surrounds the kitchen to get an in depth immersive experience of all that goes on there. The music is always great, this time playing excellent tunes from the mostly-still-obscure Stromae to disco and 90’s grunge hits. The music is always 10/10 and major kudos to whomever curates the playlist there – you obviously know Gen-X’ers are your primary customer for sure. This was my first time at Roister during the summer, so the whole front of the restaurant was open to the patio, which also had plenty of seating, and it brightened up the space more than usual. It began to pour rain during our meal, so the patio diners had to dash inside. The rain came down so suddenly and so hard it felt like the whole place stopped to watch the spectacle.

Our service was extremely great. From the wine service, to the pacing of the food, everything was easy and I didn’t think twice about it. I did notice, especially since I had recently been in Europe, how when we ordered all of the food, the server suggested that he would pace it out into three courses for us, and asked if that would be OK? Was it ever!? What a nice change from ordering in Europe where everything is brought out haphazardly with no thought as to pacing or coursing, or even if everyone has their food at the same time!

The food is consistently excellent and interesting here, as well as beautifully plated. We started with the famous Aged Cheddar Rillettes served with cauliflower and fry bread. The fry bread was not very greasy at all and you could rip it up such that you can fill the pockets with the gooey and rich cheddar. We continued with the house-made pasta which was Rigatoni with corn and lemon-butter sauce and we added some poached blue crab to it, which was probably only about an ounce of crab, but really elevated the dish. The crab combined with the very lemony lemon-butter sauce just melted in your mouth. I kind of wish I didn’t have to split this dish because every bite was an explosion of lemony fatty goodness. You could tell that the pasta was super fresh, and was cooked perfectly al dente.

For our mains, my brother ordered the Pan Fried Finger Lakes Trout, which was lightly battered with panko crumbs and fried and served with tomatoes and herbs. It was crispy and a very solid portion. My brother said it was the best fish he had had in a long time. I ordered the Confit Sicilian Pork, which was served with a smoky tomato sauce. The pork itself also was coated in a figgy sauce. The pork itself was excellent, however I think there were too many sauces competing for flavor. I typically find that a really good cut of pork doesn’t need much dressing up. The flavors were all spectacular, though, and it was also a large portion which I couldn’t finish. We also ordered a side of Caramelized Mushrooms, which had that really perfect umami flavor which enhanced both of our dishes. I have to mention here that all of the dishes and presentations are beautiful and sometimes wild! You can check out the variety of serve-ware from the photos here, from a wooden bowl, all the way to a loud bright red plate. One thing Achatz does well is choose unique ways to present his creations.

The wine I ordered with the meal was a 2019 Domaine Huet Vouvray, which is the Chenin Blanc grape – a somm favorite these days. It was delicate enough for my brother’s trout entree, but was also able to stand up to the extraordinarily flavorful sauces of my pork dish. It paired extremely perfectly with the pasta as well, which heightened the amazing flavors of that dish too. My brother and I agreed that the pairing of the Vouvray with the pasta and lemon-butter sauce was the best pairing of the night.

For dessert, we ordered the Basque Cheesecake, which came with a little candle for my brother to blow out. The cheesecake was thick and a little drier, with no crust, like a basque style cheesecake is supposed to be, rather than ultra rich and creamy like a New York style cheesecake. The best part, though, was the smoke fired top. The smokiness, and the little bit of salt sprinkled on top balanced out the rest of the flavors so extremely well. I loved the little crunch and mini-explosion of salt in my mouth working with the cheesy and smoky flavors. Smoky cheesecake is certainly one of the more memorable desserts in my recent history. My brother had coffee with dessert, and I ordered a glass of Pierre Ferrand Cognac as a digestif. I swear by having some cognac to calm your stomach after a large meal, and was glad that Roister carried my favorite producer.

As we left, we waved goodbye to Grant, our new best friend. We were happy, and had extremely full bellies. I was glad that, for my brother’s birthday, we were able to experience such flawless service, and extremely elevated and incomparable food. I know I will be back to Roister many many more times in the future, and I highly recommend it to anyone willing to “slum it” at an Achatz non-Michelin-starred restaurant. But hey, Michelin reviewers, time to bring that star back to Roister. They deserve it!