Can we have a moment of truth?
I feel like since moving to Chicago a little over a year ago, I’ve sort of confined myself to this River North restaurant bubble. This past weekend, I was determined to pop that bubble and check out a restaurant I’ve been hearing a lot about. It’s called Hutch, and if you haven’t heard of it before, you can start thanking me now (yes, it’s that good).
Hutch is located at 3301 N Clark Street in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago. I decided to head up there with my girl/soul sister/best friend/superwoman, Jessica Zweig, for one of our monthly girls nights.
When we arrived, I was totally impressed by the energy of this place! Every single table was full and people all around seemed to be having an incredible time. Despite the high energy of Hutch, the dimly lit dining room lends itself to a romantic setting as well which is awesome (or you can show up without makeup like I did and no one will know).
Since I don’t frequent a ton of American Bistro type restaurants, I decided to ask our waitress, Ally, for some recommendations. Without even hesitating, she started listing off all of her favorites. She seemed so well-versed in the menu, that Jessica and we decided to let her choose everything for us (we’re culinary dare devils).
After taste testing lots of dishes on the menu, here are the 4 dishes (plus one dessert) that you need to order when you go to Hutch:
1) Ahi Tuna ($12): Calling all sushi enthusiast! Leave it to me to end up loving the one asian inspired dish at the American Bistro. Honestly though, this was one of the most delicious tuna’s I’ve had. It was paired perfectly with a mellow wasabi cream sauce and a tangy slaw that I would have ordered on it’s own. The dish was finished with their house-made soy vinaigrette that was drizzled over the perfectly seared tuna. Mmmm…
2) Meatballs + Pork belly ($10): This may be the best $10 you ever spend. I’ve eaten a lot of meatballs in this city and I don’t think any compare to these. Not only are they melt in your mouth delicious, but you’ll actually want to swim in the carbonara style sauce they are bathing in. I don’t think Jessica and I spoke two words to each other while we were eating them. If there is any reason to go to Hutch, it’s these babies.
3) Grilled Meatloaf ($17): Now, I’ll admit, when the Ally (our waitress) recommended the meatloaf and brought it out, I wasn’t super excited. I’m not much of a meatloaf person, but she was 2/2 with the appetizers, so I smiled, cut myself a piece and gave it a try.
Holy cow! This dish was so phenomenal and a must try for any meat lover. Not only is it wrapped in crispy bacon and served over luscious chive mashed potatoes, but it’s topped with crispy homemade onion strings (one of my favs). It’s served with a cravable sweet tomato chutney that just puts the dish over the top.
4) Scallops ($25): When these scallops came out, I was pretty excited! Not only am I a huge scallop fan, but I noticed they were served with a risotto (which I also love). I decided to dig into the risotto first (because carbs are my best friend) and I was surprised to taste one of my favorite ingredients… spaghetti squash! It was so insanely interesting to make a risotto by including that squash and I’m totally inspired to make up my own version soon!
The scallops were perfectly cooked and it didn’t hurt that there were chunks of pork belly hanging out in there either. Yum!
We decided to finish the night off with a trio of crème brûlée that were delicious! They were just big enough to satisfy our sweet tooth. I would 100% recommend ordering them to finish off your meal.
The moral of this story is…step outside of your restaurant bubble! If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have discovered Hutch (which is now my latest obsession). Chicago has an incredible food scene and trust me when I say, Hutch should move to the top of your list!
Love always,
Erica
