Last month, we visited Chicago for the annual Fancy Food Show and Wine Expo accompanied by Tom, the other Wine Guy, and his lovely wife Suzanne. With a few exceptions, the show itself showed the effects of the slowed economy, with vendor participation down almost 30%. In spite of the smaller format, we were still able to find some exciting new products like the new "Shanghai Basics" line of oriental oils, dressings and stir fry sauces that Linda profiles in our "New Product Spotlight" section following this week's recipe. Interestingly enough, "Oriental" themes dominated the new products we did see and after 2 days of tasting,we unanimously decided that "Wasabi" must be the flavor of the year. There were Wasabi crusted peanuts (just the thing for clearing your sinuses), Wasabi duck breasts, wasabi based hot sauces and even wasabi cheese... I don't think we fell for it, but the Wasabi peanuts were awfully good!

As usual the real highlight of the trip was being able to dine in Chicago. Our first pick was Vong's Thai Kitchen. Vong's began life as just "Vong's" a high-end, French-Thai concept by chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Chicago restaurateur Rich Melman. It seems that Chicago failed to embrace the stark, rather formal and very pricey formula that worked for Jean-Georges in New York and London, so it was closed last summer and was reinvented as "Vong's Thai Kitchen," a more casual, financially approachable, almost Thai Bistro style eatery. Here is what the Wine Guy's evaluation team thought...

After a day of sampling at the Food Show, thinking about dinner can sometimes seem daunting. However, we have finally learned to limit the tasting to only those products in which we are really interested (i.e. save room for a good dinner), and since we were looking forward to our first experience at Vong's, we exercised extreme moderation on Sunday (at least some of us did). And we were quite glad we did - Vong's was well worth it. From the decor and atmosphere, to the wine, to the interesting and tasty menu selections, all 4 of us gave Vong's a two thumbs up.

We arrived early (or what we thought was early by Chicago standards - 7:00 pm), but found the restaurant already bustling. Our table was ready for us, so we didn't visit the small bar right off the entry, but was pleasantly surprised to not be assaulted by the smell of smoke given its openness and close proximity. The atmosphere/decor was decidedly oriental, yet contemporary: rosewood paneling, bamboo window blinds, a variety of interesting paper light fixtures, and a more private area separated by gauzy curtains. Perhaps one of the more interesting features was the container of wooden chopsticks with silver tips situated in the center of the table (and yes, some followed us home!)

The wine list was relatively short, but well-balanced and of good quality with prices hovering just above the "twice retail" that I normally consider fair. There are also an extensive number of wines available by the glass at $6.95 and $7.95, again just a little above where they should be. The Neibaum Coppola Merlot 1999 was available at $40 (WG retail price $16), the Chateau St. Jean Merlot at $58 (WG retail $22) and the Bonny Doon Pacific Rim Riesling at $28 (WG retail $10). We each began with glasses of white with the winner going to Linda and me, the very, very good Hogue 2000 Gewurztraminer at only $6.95 a glass (WG Retail $10 a bottle - why I get grumpy in restaurants!). The Gruner Sauvignon Blanc and Selbach Riesling were also good and similarly priced. With dinner we went with the Mondavi La Famiglia Barbera 1999 at $34, which turned out to be a good choice give the diversity of the food ordered.

Fortunately, Tom and Suzanne share our tendency to "order and pass" or order a variety of items and then share them with each other!! After starting with sesame rice crackers and peanut dipping sauce upon being seated, we ordered a round of appetizers including beef satay, Peking duck rolls, soft shell crab and both soups offered, a chicken coconut-milk soup and a gingered butternut squash soup (I said we liked to share!. All were quite good - the soft shell crab had been floured lightly and sautéed, served with a light citrus cream sauce. The duck rolls were an interesting cold appetizer - lettuce, red pepper, cucumber, green onions, cabbage, ginger and, of course, duck, all wrapped in a tortilla like wrapper and served with a spicy tomato-based sauce. The Beef Satay was declared "perfect" - accenting the complimentary flavors of sesame oil and peanut flavors on the rare meat. And the flavors of the soup were wonderful - the chicken soup had thinly sliced shitakes, coconut milk, a touch of lime, lemongrass, and was served with a side of jasmine rice. The Squash soup was heavier, but combined all the flavors, accented with ginger and served with gingered pumpkin seeds. All portions were good sized, but not too large.

The entrees also proved to be solid winners. Linda has now tried twice at home to reproduce the miso glazed salmon that she enjoyed so much - she hasn't been successful, but knows that the salmon was topped with a combination of some hot chile oil, miso and something sweet (maybe mirin?). Regardless, it was a delicious glaze and was accompanied by what else but wasabi mashed potatoes!! Doug's sesame glazed duck was tender, lean duck, yet served with crispy skin. It was served with lightly steamed baby bok choy and pineapple fried rice. Suzanne enjoyed the seared sea scallops and shrimp with spiced butternut squash, an interesting blend of the seafood combined with pieces of squash and jimaca. It was served with a ginger sauce accented with black sesame seeds. Tom's choice, the Massaman curry duck, was a mixed curry dish with braised duck meat, sweet fragrant spices and mild curry, served with potatoes.

The sharing continued during dessert - a ginger glazed creme brulee accented with mint leaves and a pear-topped cheesecake with cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and vanilla ice cream. Both were equally good.

In fact, everything was good, good enough that we all agreed that we would gladly make a return trip to Vong's. Including wine and tip our dinners came to $142 a couple. My only criticism would be the wine prices, which seemed high by Chicago standards but would have fit right in here in Indianapolis, where wine price gouging is standard procedure. You know, though, if someone here in Indy could deliver Asian fusion cuisine at the same level as Vong's I might not complain so much about the wine prices.