New Hotel Baker restaurant hits the right notes
With flatbread and foie gras, burgers and bouillabaisse, Rox City Grill strings together an eclectic menu that makes your belly sing.
In renovating the former lounge and poker room at the historic Hotel Baker along the Fox River in St. Charles, workers maintained and augmented the art deco details. Booths and chairs covered in a mix of muted tones and animal prints lend an urban, clubby vibe to the streetside room. The hotel closed its river-view restaurant, the Waterfront, earlier this year and is renovating the space to accommodate more banquets.
Chef Jamie Hatzis continues to oversee dining operations, and with sous chef Brent Fiedor the pair has composed a harmonious menu that dances around Asia, the Mediterranean, France and America.
The foie gras stands out as a perfect example. Fiedor, who studied culinary arts locally at Robert Morris College and worked with chef Francois Sanchez at the now-closed Chez Francois in Geneva, creates a different appetizer each week featuring this controversial-but-oh-so-sublime delicacy. On my visit the foie gras rocked my world. Resting on an almond and phyllo bed and garnished with blueberry sauce and caramelized onions, this dish truly sings.
"I'm obsessed with foie gras; it can go sweet or savory," says Fiedor. "I love being able to work with it every week in a different style."
Fiedor strives to present different dishes every week, but says popular compositions might make encore appearances on the menu. He says he's tinkering with ideas for using local strawberries and tree fruits with foie gras later this summer.
For those averse to foie gras, there are plenty of other starters from which to choose, including bruschetta, grilled oysters and shrimp tempura.
Upon ordering the homemade flatbread I expected a Middle Eastern-type dish with pita or naan served with hummus and other such spreads. What arrived instead was a plate of three pizza-like disks with different toppings. The caramelized fennel hit a high mark, and the more traditional fresh basil and grape tomatoes didn't disappoint.
The seasonal asparagus soup had a brothy texture and pleasant flavors; lobster bisque also is available daily.
The spinach salad held a most wonderful surprise. Instead of the usual poached egg resting atop the sweet onion-dressed leaves, a crunchy breading encased the egg in a pouch that resembled a wedge of fried goat cheese. Wow!
The entrees made equally strong impressions. The Asian tilt on the menu comes through in dishes such as grilled yellowfin tuna served with bok choy, ginger and yuzu-infused sauce and the seared black cod in a delicate sauce of miso and browned butter. A softened oyster sauce bastes shrimp and the chunks of tender filet mignon and chicken and vegetables on the restaurant's signature skewers.
Kalamata olives and figs provided an intriguing salty-sweet backdrop for the roasted chicken breast. The garlic smashed potatoes had good texture without going too heavy on the garlic.
Lighter appetites might enjoy the seared tuna salad with green beans, fingerling potatoes, cucumber in a Nicoise vinaigrette or the Prime Rox Burger, an Allen Brothers Beef patty that you can customize with avocado, caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms and Gorgonzola, Swiss or American cheese.
The smashed potatoes and jasmine rice are available as a la carte sides, and diners can also get wild mushrooms or grilled asparagus with béarnaise sauce.
The Key Lime Confection gets a standing ovation. A chocolate graham cylinder is filled with pleasantly tart mousse and topped with a flambéed meringue cap. Lime segments garnish the plate, so dig in if you can muster the pucker.
The chocolate pot-au-crème re-centered our taste buds with its smooth, dark chocolate custard.
Other desserts include a pie that combines candied pecans with dark and white chocolates, pear and apple tarts and blueberry mousse.
The wine list reflects the menu's global influences with bottles and by-the-glass wines from Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Washington and California.
From the waitress who offered us a taste of Albarino before we ordered to Fiedor, who appeared at our table to welcome those who ordered his foie gras, the staff was friendly and attentive.
The only off notes of the evening were the lag between our salads and entrees and a side of mushrooms that never materialized.
The dining room and adjoining lounge were pretty crowded that night, and my hope is that as Rox City Grill gets more weeks under its belt those bumps will smooth out.
Rox City Grill
100 W. Main St., St. Charles (at the Hotel Baker), (630) 845-5800, roxcitygrill.com
Cuisine:
Setting: Art deco dining room in historic hotel
Price range: Entrees: $12 to $35
Hours: Brunch from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday; lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday; dinner 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, noon to 8 p.m. Sunday
Accepts: Reservations; major credit cards