The Tortoise Club | Steak Night Holiday Edition 2012
A call that most questioned, no one regretted and set the bar for future steak nights.
Tone (and hook) Set
Walking past the iconic Marina City towers, Smith and Wollensky is a prominent fixture that has been on the river for years. Those guys better watch out: just north, down a slight slope away from the river, is a lurking Tortoise. Two flickering gas lamps adorn the front steps and foreshadow the beautiful, warm and welcoming interior.
Preface
The greeting from the hostess and maître d’ were pleasant; they took my coat and luggage without a flinch and whisked me into the bustling bar where I was welcomed by Mr. Brad Ray, a lively crowd and a 3 piece jazz band. Low ceilings, wood paneling and soft lighting complemented all of the above perfectly. The cocktail menu offers a variety of options – I thoroughly enjoyed their interpretation of the Old Fashioned (one of Mom’s favorites) and Manhattan; both were well balanced. Brad and I were soon joined by Mr. Rick Ray and Mr. John Crenshaw who confirmed not only the quality of the space, but also the young women sharing it with us. Mr. Jon Glick, Esq., joined us for a drink before settling the bar tab.
The Main Event
Grace is something that comes easily to the Tortoise Club. The oriental rugs, fine leather upholstered chairs, wood and fabric paneled walls and lighting are reminiscent of the classic old boys clubs in the area such as The Racquet Club and The Casino. The staff led us to a booth in the back corner that The Godfather would have appreciated. Waiting for us at each place setting was a menu, developed by head chef Gray McNally, that made my heart skip a beat.
The Tortoise Club Menu
The rest of the evening was good ole boys club style. The wine recommended and served by the staff complemented every course well. A couple of the fellas chose to go with an alternate salad (big mistake, the wedge was incredible). My Cowboy steak was cooked to perfection and included a dollop of bone marrow on top. Beware, the bone marrow was incredibly rich but, when applied sparingly, was an incredible complement to an already delicious steak. All of the sides came as advertised and did not disappoint. Black truffle potato gratin and foie gras poutine were better than I could have imagined. The TC Coffee Cake was worth the extra effort, too.
All in, it was a sensational night with the Steak Night crew; Christmas had come early. Gray came out to thanks us for coming and the night was complete. Thank you for having us, Tortoise Club. Very auspicious beginnings for what has already become a Chicago classic.
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5 Responses to “The Tortoise Club | Steak Night Holiday Edition 2012”
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Sorry to have missed this one – well, almost. At an xmas party that night, but overhearing the joy from a few blocks away as these gents put in another historical night for the books, I had to come over and join post-dinner. Appreciating the effort, I was relieved from CCR and was able to get a free vodka soda out of it. Have to say it was one of the tastier ones I have had in recent memory – maybe because it was on the back of several xmas party Taliskers.
I was impressed with the club and the shear enjoyment the boys seemed to have there. Place is comfortable and a great fit for S&C, especially considering the riff raff Mr. Holinger received for the pick.
I suggest we kick off the new year and what will soon be S&C’s 5th year in existence with a bang – maybe a trip out to Rosemont for some steak, then onto Rivers? Catch some live music after dinner downtown? Just throwing it out as that will largely be a holiday week for some…
I, as many others, approached Steak Night December 2012 with feelings of trepidation. A new restaurant, a single cut of steak and an over excited Mr. Holinger wreaked of over commitment. However, assured by Chris he had personally talked to the chef – trepidation waned and excitement grew as the evening approached.
With friendly staff and confines, Tortoise Club welcomed with open arms. A great space for sitting at the bar or lounging in the bar area; no doubt I had good feelings upon arrival. I was soon joined by the ever dedicated Mr. Holinger (suitcase in tow), Rick Ray, J-cizzle and a mix of scotch, specialty cocktails, beer and three piece jazz. The Tortoise Club puts off an old world boys club vibe – perfect for this group. The differentiator held by Tortoise over your traditional “boys club”, is there are hot chicks everywhere. Naturally, we took in the scenery; as well as the décor of the restaurant.
After a gracious Jon Glick flipped the tab, the group was led to a wonderful booth in the back and welcomed with custom menus. Custom menus were a steak night first and a touch of class by the staff at Tortoise Club. I think by this point, there was no doubting Holinger’s excitement and we were settling in for one hell of a meal.
The staff got out to a hot start and then, from what I can tell, forgot we were there for 30 minutes. However, once we got back on track, great wine and food cometh. The wedge was an interesting take on an otherwise traditional steak house salad and delivered a mouthful of flavor. Accompanying the wedge were shrimp and oysters to round out our starters. The shrimp were good, nothing over exotic, but definitely good. However the oysters left a lot to be desired. Not to be confused with a good briny flavor that accompanies fresh oysters – these were flat out fishy and lingered on the palette. A definite disappointment.
As for the main course – Cowboy cut for me, topped with the bone marrow crust which was bursting with flavor. I found it best in smaller doses, to be frank. The steak itself was cooked to perfection, however lacked any significant marbling. The meat, while good, was very lean and I like my Cowboy cut bristling with fatty deliciousness – something that was missing here. The sides, with the exception of the Lobster Mac which I did not care for, were all great. This group knows how I feel about my creamed spinach and apparently The Tortoise Club does too. Spinach was fresh, just the right amount of cream and excellent. Mushrooms and black truffle au gratin receive high marks as well. However, the shining knight of the apps and maybe entire meal was the foie gras poutine – simply amazing.
Despite a 3 hour meal (lets give a pass on that, every place needs time to work out kinks) I have to say, I give top marks in the end. Great effort by Holinger, Gray and the staff at Tortoise Club – a restaurant I will recommend and be back to for certain.
Great write up Holinger. In fact I am going to use the opening sentence “A call that most questioned, no one regretted and set the bar for future steak nights” in my breakdown.
A call most questioned
I questioned it. It is no secret the endless hunt for a new place for the sake of going to a new place and ending up at below average or quasi steak places drives me nuts. I am firmly in the camp that there are so many quality steak places in this city and we can easily go to these places for a year/year and half without repeating and have great meals. Who cares if we ate there a year earlier, a year is a long time. I am the one who initially brought up there was only one steak on the menu (although I know others were thinking it) because it is important to remember that it is not dinner night but steak night.
Kudos to Mr. Holinger for explaining the rules and spirit of the evening to the chef and having numerous steaks included in our personalized menus. This alleviated any previous concerns and laid the ground work for a wonderful evening.
No one regretted
Some regretted because they were not in attendance.
Set the bar for future steak nights
It certainly set the bar on price for future steak nights, the most expensive to date (Hollinger was in charge of the wine). However in my mind you can’t set the bar for future steak nights if the featured item does not stand out and it didn’t. That’s like judging your favorite movie based on how comfortable the seats are in the theater. The steak was good, well prepared and I enjoyed it but the majority of the steak places we have been have better steaks. That is not a knock on the Tortoise Club either, it is not a steak place and doesn’t specialize in steaks. Should it compare to a place where steaks are the forte? It was an incredible evening but in my opinion you can’t set the bar for steak night without a top notch steak the same way you can’t claim a movie is the best because the seats in the theater are comfortable. The steak (or movie) is a major part of the equation.
Overall
Loved the vibe and old school decor of the bar area, add to that plenty of eye candy and you have a winner. The drummer was keeping the beat and texting at the same time both impressive and oddly amusing. Thanks to Glick for the drinks for a posting violation.
It was clear the entire staff was paying special attention to our group which was much appreciated. The personalized menus, complete with the font from the website was a classy touch that did not go unnoticed.
I don’t think I have ever commented on the bread at steak night but those pretzel roll sticks were awesome, I don’t know if I was starving at this point or they really were that good. I’m not a big fan of the traditional wedge salad, which is a mess of too much dressing and bad lettuce. However I loved the Tortoise Club take on a wedge salad, not so sloppy and drenched in dressing, it was great. As previously stated the steak was good but didn’t stand out or ooze with flavor. The bone marrow topping was a bit overwhelming. The lobster mac & cheese had a bit of a fishy flavor but all the other sides were solid. The foie gras poutine was divine, I felt myself getting fatter as I ate it but it was worth every bite and any potential heart attack I may suffer as a result.
It wouldn’t be a Holinger lead steak night without ordering extremely expensive bottles of wine. As we all know I don’t drink wine. A shout out to Daddy Gimms for bringing up to the group that my two vodka sodas were like $25 and the wine was like $300 or $400 and I shouldn’t have to pay for the wine I didn’t drink (something I usually do).
The one nit is that since we were special guests this evening and treated as such I have no feel for what the restaurant is actually like for the common folk. The again I’m one of Chicago’s finest gentlemen so maybe I don’t need to know.
This Holiday version of steak night might as might have been gift wrapped by old St. Nick himself. But giving Santa the night off, Mr. Holinger came through in the most festive way possible. There was tons of talk about this one not really meeting steak night standards prior to the evening, as many were probably a little scared off by our last endeavor to a nontraditional steak house. But unbeknownst to most, old Muddled Limes had been planning this one with utmost care and sensitivity.
The Tortoise Club is a new joint that really pays homage to dinner clubs of old. It felt like the club in Goodfellas where Henry and Karen Hill are whisked into the front row with a table set up upon their arrival. There was a three piece jazz band and great bar area where we all promptly ordered as many drinks as we could take down in hopes that Glick would make it on time to pay the bill. He did. Bravo sir.
We eventually made it over to our “Godfather” table they had set up for us. Waiting at the table were custom menus for the “Steaks and Cigars” crew. Just a really nice touch that no one saw coming. The semi pre-fixe menu had some of our old staples, and few new things as well. It did in fact have four cuts of meat too. Meat, not steak. Sorry Jon, veal is not steak.
We started with some really outstanding bread. I usually don’t point out the bread but the pretzel rolls were amazing. The non-traditional take on the wedge salad they brought was in the running for the best wedge I’ve ever had. It was more leafy than crunchy and the dressing was gold. Along with the salads we also had shrimp and oysters. The shrimp was great, the oysters were just good. But I was a fan of the selection. They’re two things we don’t see too often for apps.
For the main course I chose my usual Cowboy bone-in ribeye with the bone marrow topping. I don’t usually go for topping on steak and I shouldn’t have here either. It was just so rich that it took everything away from the meat. I had to scrape it off. The steak was good though. It wasn’t the best but it certainly wasn’t the worst either. The sides had some old staples and some new kids on the block. The Foie Gras Poutine might have been the best poutine dish I’ve ever had. The other sides were good too but this was just overwhelming. I’d probably go back just for that.
Lastly we finished off with some coffee cake and skim lattes. Or just black coffee for the men at the table.
This was just an outstanding experience. The combination of food quality and personalization will make this one hard to beat. But I’m anxious to see someone try!
The experience alone was worth posting about in record time- even if I’m also trying to avoid another fine of paying for drinks from the fine comrades of the rules committee.
The evening started off great with drinks at the bar and celebrating Kid Rays new hair style, much to his chagrin. Speaking of haute fashion, Rick was rocking a pink cardigan, stone washed jeans and a fancy pair of Uggs, he continues to bring the styleto a level we can’t all reach.
From there we went to the table and were greeted with a steak night first, a customized menu. To top it off we settled the age-old debate of whether a veal chop counts as a Steak once and for all….it most certainly does.
Although it took a while between sitting down and being able to order, the wait was certainly worth it. I think a great place can be determined by the little things, and the attention to detail was very impressive.
The bread and especially the butter before the meal were great. The dressing on the house salad had the right amount of citrus zing to make it stand out. The Steaks were seasoned in a special way that speratred them from a typical Gibson’s/Mastro’s/Frisco’s, etc. Lastly, the fois grais poutine, was out of this world. Easily the all time best side at a steak night.
Overall: 9.5, can’t wait to go back on a non-steak night and try the rest of the menu.