*The speakeasy is now closed. Not sure why but we'll miss it.
(Below from 4/22/05)
Monday night I didn't want to cook. My cousin was in town and would be driving by. My wife was working late. My place was a mess. They had already eaten but we hadn't. We decided to meet them at the Speakeasy. They do a fabulous 'hot' chocolate creme bruleé so by the time they got there we'd all have dessert together. It was a plan.
I grabbed a bottle of Contadana (definitely not spelled right... ask for the $3.99 Pinot Grigio at Trader Joe's) and away we went. We got the cheese puffs as a quick fix and ordered the tuna and cassoulet.
The puffs were good. The parmesan overshadowed the sun dried tomato in the stuffing. We were offered complementary salmon puffs with some mango sauce. They were tasty but the sauce was lost.
The tuna arrived and my wife commented that it was better than she remembered. I agree. They do a bang-up job with their perfectly seared asian-influenced dish. My cassoulet though was exceptional. It reminded me of several quality foods I've had in the past year. The duck confit had enough distinct flavor to add to the slow cooked amalgam of flavor. The beans contributed to the heartiness of the dish and the overall creamy gravylike goodness reminded me of quality Nehari (Pakistani meat stew). It is a must eat. I mentioned a Milwaukee restaurant's duck confit shepard's pie. This was twice as good as what that should have been.
My cousins arrived with my aunt who, without getting into detail, gets almost emotionally into her food. She finished my dinner. She called me the next night and mentioned it.
She also decided on the profiterole. I tried to explain the creme brulee but she would have none of it. She is a profiterole person. My cousin ordered the rum cake which was very good. My aunt explained that she's had better profiteroles with darker chocolatier sauces and airier pastry but she said, as she completely finished her profiteroles, they were still very good.
She also agreed that next time she would get the Creme brulee. It is also exceptional. It has curried bon-bons on top of a cayanne spiced chocolate brulee. It is delicious. Very original and a terrific finish to a dinner that I would love to eat often but without a cardiologist around that would be irresponsible.
The Speakeasy
1401 W. Devon Ave.
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