Eden: Rustic Greenery in an Urban Environment

Neighborhood: West Loop

Vegetarian Options Rating: ★★★★★

Pescatarian Options Rating: ★★★★★

Affordability: ★★★

Ambience: ★★★★★

Service: ★★★★★

Food Quality: ★★★★★

Overall Rating: ★★★★★

We had an amazing, unique, and beautiful culinary experience here to celebrate a romantic, special occasion.  I loved EVERYTHING about our experience here.

We got the Vegetarian Tasting Menu, which is basically five courses and I really appreciate that this restaurant goes through the effort of having a vegetarian tasting menu.  Most tasting menus at fancier restaurants tend to be pretty meat-centered so when I saw that they have a vegetarian tasting menu option, I knew that I had to try this place.  It also was perfect for a special occasion.  The service was EXCELLENT.  Our server was very attentive, the manager, chefs, sommalier walked by and introduced themselves and the bussers were on point with the water refills.  I was really impressed. They also poured us a complimentary glass of rosé champagne for the special occasion.  I am a big fan of rosé champagne so it was an excellent way to start our special meal.   We had two different cocktails, which were fresh and flavorful.  I had the Eden’s choice which had ginger beer, pimm’s cynar, and mint.  It was served in a cute moscow mule mug.  It was a pretty large drink.

I also love the decor of this restaurant.  It was well-lit with pretty, unique lighting.  I also really appreciate the fact that they have an urban greenhouse inside where they get their produce.

The first course was a Summer Squash Salad.  The baby squash and tomatoes were sautéed really well, the basil tasted fresh, and I loved the pecan touch.  The curried coconut milk was such a good flavor addition and it was unique.  There were really good spices in there adding even more flavor to the salad.  Our second course was a baby beet salad.  I love beets and its flavors were complimented really well with the sweet fruits and macadamia nuts.  The avocado mouse and watercress provided a nice savory flavor to balance out the sweetness.  The dressing was a caramel type of vinaigrette.  It was unlike anything I have had before.  The sorghum provided a really nice crunchy texture to the soft textures in the salad.  We also had the kalamata olive bread and onion focaccia with the chive butter on the side.  The kalamata olive bread was mind-blowing with the chive butter!  I love kalamata olives and this was a combination of everything I love including the onion focaccia bread.

Our third course was a roasted pepper pierogi.  I have never had a pierogi I was excited about.  They are usually bland and boring.  But this pierogi was amazing.  They were filled with aged cheddar, there was a roasted artichoke served with it and crunchy pickled banana peppers on top.  I really loved the pickled banana peppers on top of the soft pierogi.  The flavors were perfect with the browned butter, chives, and herbed yogurt.  There was a smokey flavor that was mouth-watering.  I typically don’t like yogurt flavors but it was light and complimented everything very well.  This was probably my favorite course.

Our fourth course was a delicious curried lentil brik that had a goat cheese soubise (a lighter goat cheese sauce) served underneath pickled baby turnips, carrots, a roasted spring onion, and minted harissa.  There was a 64 degree egg (kind of like a poached egg) served next to the curried lentil pastry.  What unique flavors and ingredients!  I loved how all of this came together. The harissa went so well with the lighter vegetable flavors and the mint wasn’t overpowering at all.  The egg went really well with the more intense curry flavors.

Our last course was dessert which was another unique culinary experience!  It was a sweet corn gelato with macerated blueberries, and a lime reduction on top of a corn muffin.  Everything was light and the flavors were well-balanced.  I didn’t know what to expect for the corn gelato, but it was delicious and the blueberries added some intensity to the dessert.

What I really loved about Eden is that they curate their flavors in very unique ways and take great care with everything they served.  So many restaurants do the “new American” thing which can be delicious but Eden uses a combination of flavors from all over the world and combines them in innovative ways.  They know how to cook with vegetables, they know how to feature them in unique ways, while combining many different types of flavors.  I’ve never had a culinary experience like this before.  I can’t wait to go back!