Brûlée, a new brunch restaurant inspired by classic American Southern food, has already become a hotspot in Chicago, but smolders with culinary potential.
Chef Emani Roberts opened the debut with her mother and general manager Shronda Dunn in the South Loop last November. Executive chef Nia Nunn, previously sous chef at Mahari, joined the Black women-owned business this March. And they won our Readers’ Choice Award for New Restaurant of the Year just last month.
A flawless fried catfish and grits dish remains their current bestseller with gloriously golden fillets on smoked Gouda grits, all smothered in a Cajun crawfish cream sauce.
“Since day one, that’s been on the menu,” said Roberts, who describes Brûlée as a luxury elevated brunch restaurant.
And no wonder, with every element beautifully executed, from flaky fish on velvety grits to an elegant white wine sauce that takes the hearty dish from familiar to fancy.
The Virgil Special was an early fan favorite with that gilded catfish or deep-fried wings, plus tender collard greens and buttery candied yams.
“It’s almost like you have Thanksgiving in one dish,” Roberts said.
And like a beloved holiday plate, mine held heaping helpings of tradition and memories.
“Virgil is my mentor,” said Roberts about Virgil Harper, an Atlanta chef who’s known for his American Southern brunch restaurants.
After graduating from culinary school at Kendall College, Roberts started working with him a dozen years ago. And the Chicago chef engaged in a particularly meaningful cultural culinary exchange with her mentor.
“I taught Virgil how to make candied yams,” she said, crediting her grandmother Pamela Simmons with the recipe. “And Virgil taught me how to make greens.”
At Brûlée, his namesake dish comes with a sweet-and-spicy house-made hot honey sauce that’s notably served on the side.
“We’ve just started putting it on the side, because there’s been so many times where people are like, ‘oh, I didn’t know it was on there,’” said Roberts, who originally tossed the wings in the sauce. And I wish they still did à la Chicago-style mild sauced fried chicken.
A striking lobster and sweet potato waffle dish also incorporates her grandmother’s recipe.
“We take our candied yams, put it in our batter and make it into a Belgian waffle,” she said. Puffy pockets pool with cinnamon streusel, vanilla cream and salted caramel sauce. “And then we top it with a six-ounce deep-fried lobster tail.”
Bright orange-red shells turned heads, hinting at the bold and surprisingly complementary caramelized and crustacean flavors.
The baked five cheese macaroni and cheese, a small and unlovely cup that hides so much depth and possibility, begs for perhaps crispy breadcrumbs to lend texture and toastiness.
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Le Brûlée, a banana foam-topped espresso martini by beverage consultant Floyd Dismuke, previously at the Waldorf Astoria Chicago hotel, offered a nice tropical play on the ubiquitous cocktail. Unfortunately, the brûléed banana garnish sank to the bottom of the glass by the time it reached my table. Too bad, since they take the time to dehydrate their own fruit in-house.
The Brûlée French toast, intended as their take on crème brûlée, had their signature topping flavors of cinnamon, vanilla and caramel, yet lacked any defining crackling caramelization.
“We actually tried that in the beginning, then we had a lot of people like, ‘oh, it tastes burnt,’” said Roberts. “Well, that’s brûlée.”
They changed the name from crème brûlée French toast to manage expectations.
“We adjust to what the people are saying,” she said. “We take that seriously.”
Sometimes you have to change your creativity, she added, because people don’t understand.
“We’re here to make the guest experience one hundred percent,” Roberts said. “So I’m not complaining.”
But I will, because we’re missing how far the talented chef and her team can take their culinary potential.
They don’t make a crème brûlée either, in part because of those past misunderstandings, and a lack of diner demand.“People don’t ask for desserts,” said Roberts. “We’re a breakfast restaurant with so much sweet stuff. French toast, waffles, pancakes and croissant beignets with powdered sugar and dipping sauces.”
Speaking of croissants, the avocado Croast, a croissant toast that’s the chef’s favorite dish, starts with sourced ready-to-bake pastries, baked daily in-house, smashed flat.
“We top it with Calabrian chile, avocado spread, red onions and roasted tomatoes,” she said, and you can add an egg your way or smoked salmon. “Then it’s topped with arugula, grated Parmesan cheese and white truffle oil.”
Abundant and promising, but a big mouthful of chile paste overpowered everything on my Croast. A caramel Bru’latte had the opposite issue: bland and milky with no sign of espresso, yet $9.50 a mug. A strawberry lemon drop cocktail was also disappointingly plain at $20 a glass. The menu prices are otherwise an excellent value for the modern and elegant setting.
The Blossom, on the other hand, was just a lovely drink, garnished with an edible marigold and simply refreshing.
“It’s our version of a cherry lemon drop,” said Roberts. “With our cherry compound, sparkling water and some lemon juice.”
Prescient server Amber Hayes suggested the beverage when I asked for a nonalcoholic recommendation. I can’t say enough about the impressive choreography of the staff in the front and back of the house. On my first of two visits, I unwittingly went during their fundraising concert after burglars broke their front window. The room was packed and loud, but server Noel Thomas navigated the space with poise.
Floor-to-ceiling windows with long sheer curtains flood the front bar and dining room with the most flattering light for diners on dates, in friend groups or multigenerational families — including a very special occasion on a recent Saturday afternoon.
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“My nana got married at the restaurant,” said Roberts about her grandmother with the candied yams recipe. “We transformed the restaurant.”
Brûlée
2036 S. Michigan Ave.
312-763-3147
Open: Thursday to Tuesday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (closed Wednesday)
Prices: $27 (fried catfish and grits), $28 (The Virgil Special), $42 (lobster with sweet potato waffle), $17 (avocado Croast), $18 (Le Brûlée banana espresso martini cocktail), $14 (The Blossom nonalcoholic drink)
Sound: Loud at peak weekend afternoons (82 to 90 dB)
Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible with restrooms on one level
Tribune rating: Very good to excellent, two and a half stars
Ratings key: Four stars, outstanding; three stars, excellent; two stars, very good; one star, good; zero stars, unsatisfactory.
Meals are paid for by the Tribune.
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