Nothing Beats a Good Argentinian Steak w a Nice Priced (Free) Bottle of Wine
August was upon us and in the mood to try something shiny, new and different Steak Night headed to Rural Society in the new Loews Hotel.
We started the night outside on the cool patio they have. Drinks were called for an hour but we went over as the bartenders had to make each hipster drink one grain of Uruguayan hand picked sugar at a time.
We went downstairs for steaks at 830 and we all enjoyed the leisurely pace. On hand were Hans, Brad, Bill, Cizzle, Rick and Mason. Rick wore his party shirt for the occasion and the mix of the flamingo’s on the front and the giant dragon on the back had him shooing admiring women off later in the night.
Mason was certainly the guest of honor once again, bringing 2 bottles of Argentinian wine to celebrate the occasion. Given the latest theme of +$200 average bills, this helped contain the total damage (including Mason deservedly walking) to $125 a man.
We had the octopus, sausages and peppers to start. While a bit different than our normal course, the octupus was really good.
I had the skirt and traded a couple of bits with B Ray who had the Lomo. Both were good but not great. Side of grilled Asparagus I tended to remember more.
Afterwards we headed to Hampton Social House, where we met up with the wives and other people’s fiancees.
Fun night all around.
Rating: 8 (would be an 8.5 but the vibe inside Rural Society was a touch off)
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Most impressive was the new terrace at the Loews. It’s almost like we were transported to the Hamptons. You can look out over the river and lake and there is a lawn in the middle where people were playing bags, bocce, block jenga and sipping complicated drinks. Of course, being too lazy to play lawn darts and too excited for our meal, most of us sipped domestic light mass market beers and enjoyed each other’s company. Despite the great environment up there, the service was terrible at the bar.
The restaurant also had a good vibe, it was like a cool Argentinian place. The waiter Marcus also took good care of us. Very clutch of Mason to bring some of his vineyard wine to the dinner. It’s amazing we somehow have two Argentinian vineyard owners in our group.
The octopus appetizer was indeed good. However, the steak itself was merely ok. I had the Lomo (NY Strip), which is apparently the signature dish.
All in all, good environment, good service, great terrace and so-so food. It was great going to a new place, it will be interesting to see how the place evolves going forward.
Well, I did it again. No, not leaving my computer bag out after steak night. Well, I suppose I almost did that too – but I was referring to showing up at the wrong address. I am not going to get into how or why or whatever it was, short of being an idiot…. but I eventually arrived.
The rooftop is awesome, arguably one of the coolest in Chicago. Naturally because of my detour I was a little late, but I was still able whack back a Gimlet after what was a lengthy wait at the bar.
Lots of huff and puff from certain parties about heading to an Argentine steak house. However, Rural Society is not of the same ilk as Tango Sur. Not my ideal selection, but I enjoyed the change up and checking out a newer location. True to Argentine style the food was salty as all get out – not bad salty – but salty enough to make my Friday a bit more challenging.
Octopus, sausage and peppers for apps all get good marks. But not as good as Mason for delivering two bottles of Malbec from his Argentinian winery estate in The Mendoza Province – class. The steak options were plentiful and classic for this style restaurant – no 26oz rib-eyes here. I opted for the Lomo, which is basically their dry aged strip. It was strong to quite strong. I shared some with Wangstein and he in return with his skirt steak. I think the Lomo won out.
I already covered almost leaving my bag so I will skip that part and land at the Hampton Social. “Rural Society”, “Hampton Social” – I guess the kids don’t go to just a ‘Bar’ anymore. Either way it was a good time with significant others joining. Around 1am Crenshaw posed going out somewhere else which I desperately wanted to do, but thoughts of the morning got the better of me. All in all, great times and an appreciated change of pace.
I was in a rush to get to the rooftop that has Chicago a buzz. One thing to note, its not the roof, roof; its the roof on the 3rd story of the lower hotel building. So many of the new hotels have roof top bars, which are in fact on the roof and as such have far better views. The 3rd floor roof top on the Loews hotel is still top notch in terms of its layout, wide open space, lots of scenery outside of the plants and yards games, but just despicable service. If you would like to have a drink here, bring your own or bring a throng of blonde women to go fetch for you. Happy to see Reeshard and the Cizz were able to commandeer a table front and center upon my arrival. The rest of Chicago’s finest came in over the course of the hour and found much the same bartending frustrations but hard to complain on a beautiful night like this.
Rural Society was dead. There was a sparse crowd and a big empty bar space when we arrived. Nonetheless we were seated and on our way. I liked the peppers the best out of the apps followed by the octopus which was sliced paper thin. It was a unique preparation and had a very good flavor without being over powering. I followed the pack and went with the lomo, medium rare. It comes out presliced and presalted. The meat itself was more of a pink than a light red that I look for in my medium rare. Despite appearing to be medium, somehow they got the texture close to medium rare, it was an odd thing. The wine compliments of Mason was a classy touch and a great pairing. We of course managed to plow through that and well into the wine list. I would come back to Rural Society but want to give them some time to hit their stride so long as they don’t close prior to that.
I was happy to chauffeur the entire crew over the the hamptons where we had a few drinks and closed out the night. Hampton Social will be closed prior to Summer 2016, but it was a nice change of pace from Sienna or Boss Bar (you know who I am looking at with this one).
-John Crenshaw, did you order the Steak Rare?
-You don’t have to answer that question.
-I’ll answer the question!
-You want sides?
-I think I’m entitled to….
-YOU WANT CARPECCIO DE PULPO?
-I want the chorizo gaucho!
-YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE CHORIZO GAUCHO!!!
-Gentlemen, we live in a world that has steaks, and those steaks have to be eaten by men with appetites. Who’s gonna do it? You Bill Conway? You, Jon Glick? I have a greater hunger than you could possibly fathom. You weep for veal, and you curse the real steak eaters. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know about where steak comes from. That the cow’s death, while tragic, probably saved menus. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves menus. You don’t want the Lomo dry aged strip loin because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that Lomo, you need me on that Lomo. We use words like “dry aged,” “bone-in,” “rare plus.” We use these words as the backbone of a life spent eating steak. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain the benefits of dry aging versus wet aging to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very creamy whipped potatoes that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide them. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a steak knife, and order a ribeye. Either way, I don’t give a damn what Malbec you think you are entitled to.
-Did you order the Steak Rare?
-I ordered the steak I…..
-Did you order the Steak Rare?!?!
-YOU’RE GODDAMNED RIGHT I DID!
7/10
Wow….that was awesome. i am laughing so hard right now
I very much looked forward to the choice of an Argentine steakhouse for this month’s dinner, and while I felt that the food was a triumph, the venue was a flop.
The scale of the outdoor bar was impressive, but the wait times on drinks were comic. And as I understand the directives of this organization, only small attention should be paid to the roll a bar plays in the meal experience, which is a pity for Rural Society. The restaurant itself was buried in a hotel floor plan that felt like it had been bought off the post-2008 discount rack for cratered Las Vegas projects. When combined with the fact that the hotel itself sat between two previously unknown Chicago streets (New St.? Park Dr.?), I give the overall vibe a 2 of 10.
But the food. Oh the food. The Lomo steak with the perfect fat layer. The octopus slices. Incredible sausage. The only thing keeping me from going 10 of 10 is that it took me three days to fully re-hydrate after all the salt.
In summary, it makes me sad that such talented chefs are buried on New St. serving 30 people a night.
6.5 of 10.
Cizzle is sizzling. That post will be the teaser on the back of our published steak night memoirs to lure in the crowds. Classic.
Nice job Crenshaw. Apparently the Collins file was not rearing its ugly head on August 12th thus giving you the time to channel your inner Nathan Jessup.
Crenshaw and I arrived at Streeterville Social at 6:30 to take advantage of the nice weather and what looked like a fantastic outdoor space. The space delivered, easily one of the best in the city. One side a more traditional patio set up with just tables, the other a combination of couches, tables, fancy chairs, a lawn and plenty of BBQ type games. It is really is a cool spot and worth returning to before the warm weather disappears. While the space is great the service is terrible. The service at the bar is slow and unorganized, the tables (at least on the lawn side) don’t have servers which is a huge miss. Despite the service it was one of the best pre dinner drinking sessions. To my knowledge no one in the group has shown up to the wrong place for dinner with the exception of Brad Ray who has now done it twice.
It is no secret that for steak night I want to go to a steak place. Not a Japanese steak place, not some hoity toity you don’t need to use a steak knife because your meat is cut for you type of steak place, not an Argentinian steak place but a more traditional steak place. Would this visit make me change my philosophy?
The aps were all great, especially the sausage and octopus. I had never seen octopus prepared or served like that before but really enjoyed it. I went with the Lomo which was tasty, lots of flavor. I honestly don’t really remember the sides so I guess they didn’t stand out. The atmosphere inside was severely lacking, a stark contrast to the happening roof top. Not a lot of people in the restaurant other than us. Overall I thought the food was excellent although salty which was expected so I’m not really deducting points for that.
It was nice to have the full complement of gentlemen join for after dinner drinks at Hampton Social. I left at around 12:30 to go answer a call of the booty variety.
It was a nice change of pace and I enjoyed Rural Society but it did not change my steak night philosophy. Would I go back, absolutely. Do I want to go back for steak night, would rather not.
I was never a great math student but I was reminded of the following equation: Lots of salt + lots of vodka-hydration=a worse hang over then usual. I felt like one of the California Raisins the next morning and it wasn’t because I was singing “I Heard It Thru The Grapevine”.
Good times as always.