Joie De Vivre NYC

Baked potato bread, bacon, with sour cream butter

Sometimes the most simple dishes are the ones that are the most delicious.  Elise and I went to Parachute a few days before Christmas as one of her recommendations to try some good Korean food in the city.

We arrived at 5pm at the time of the restaurant opening since I was worried about the wait time.  The restaurant was already buzzing with diners and most of the tables were filled but we were seated at the communal table near the bar.

Our waitress went over some recommendations for two people:  3 starters and a main dish but you can always scale up or down depending on your tastes.

Elise asked what I wanted for dinner and told her I had my eye on the pork belly and mung bean pancake. She asked if I wanted some starters and the baked potato bread looked appetizing since who can ignore potatoes on a chilly December evening?

I looked over the wine menu but Elise was not in the mood to drink and I certainly couldn't finish a bottle by myself so I opted for some ginger beer after some coaxing from our waitress.

Crispy Sesame Leaves and House Pickles, Kimchi with shrimp, chilli chayote and watermelon radish zuke

We ordered the baked potato, bacon and scallion bread with sour cream butter along with the crispy sesame leaves with soy sauce and the kimchi with shrimp and watermelon radishes, chili chayote and house pickles to start.

Our waitress checked if we had any food allergies and unfortunately, my body can no longer tolerate shellfish so I had to disclose that to her.  She explained that the kimchi had shrimp in it so she told me to avoid one part of the dish but I could definitely eat the radishes.

She tried to coax me out of the entrees which was the pork belly and pancakes since it had a little bit of shrimp on it but I said I could skip the pancakes and just dive into the pork belly.

Pork Belly and Mung Bean Pancake, Hen Egg, Pineapple and Kimchi

The first starter to come out from the kitchen was the watermelon radishes and house pickles with kimchi.  Next came the crispy sesame leaves with soy sauce then the baked potato bread with sour cream butter.

The watermelon radishes were flavorful but the most memorable starter dish had to be the simple crispy, sesame leaves.  At first, I was using my chopsticks but I followed Elise's lead and just started using my fingers to dip them into the soy sauce.

I couldn't believe that it just melted in my mouth!  I wondered what kind of batter they used to deep fry them.  Was it tempura?  Unfortunately, I didn't ask our waitress.

Caramelized Cauliflower Mandu with Tamarind Pear Chutney and Nasturtium

The first entree to come out of the kitchen was the caramelized cauliflower with tamarind pear chutney with the nasturtium draped on top.

The next dish was the pork belly with the pancake with hen egg and pineapple.  I had to admit that the hen egg and pineapple was an interesting concept.  I heard of pineapple going well with pork so the hen egg was definitely a nice twist to it.

The final dish that came out was the hand torn noodle with lamb cumin and I had to say the cumin was overpowering the dish. It must have to do with it being Sichuan style.  I loved that the noodles were tender and the lamb cumin gave it kick but even for my palate, the spiciness was a little to much.  The lamb dish is definitely my favorite dish for the night and I would come back for their ever revolving menu.

Hand torn noodle, spicy lamb sofrito, cumin and sichuan peppercorn

Parachute opened about six months ago in the Avondale neighborhood of Chicago.  I'd love to come back in six months after their one year anniversary and see what their spring / summer menu holds.

Elise confirmed with me a few weeks before I arrived in Chicago that she would be willing to wait for a table at Avec so we made plans to meet up at 3:30pm.  I was pretty excited since I have been wanting to eat here for some time especially when No Reservations used to be on the air and Eric Ripert mentioned this was his favorite restaurant in Chicago.

Avec is located on West Randolph street so parking was easy but also near the Ogilvy train station.

There weren't too many people yet when it opened as there were three people seated near the front of the entrance and three young frenchmen seated to my left.  It was communal tables and the setting reminded me a lot about Momofuku ssam except patrons can sit at the bar and watch the action in the kitchen.


I have been dreaming about the menu for quite some time and read reviews regarding recommended dishes to order but deferred to Elise since I tend to have dinner envy.  Our waitress explained that it was  family style and recommended two small plates to order and one large dish for two people.

Elise and I looked over the menu together discussing our options and she mentioned she doesn't like mushrooms so any dishes that involved mushroom were out.  I was open to everything on the menu so Elise made the decision to order three small plates and one large dish and I ordered a bottle of Rioja.

We started out with charred corn tabbouleh, peaches, radish, green olive and tahini then came the chorizo stuffed dates wrapped in bacon with tomato sauce.

The charred corn tabbouleh was light and flavorful however, I have to say my favorite small plate was the chorizo stuff dates since I love chorizo and who cannot resist bacon?

The bacon and chorizo flavors were not overwhelming which was good and a nice sip of Rioja gave it a nice finish.

The third dish that Elise picked was a shawarma sausage with pickled onions, cucumber and smoked yogurt. Despite being a meat dish, it wasn't too heavy and the pickled onions and cucumber gave it a fresh taste.  I also loved the yogurt and didn't have the tangy aftertaste.


I looked over to my left to see what the Frenchmen were eating and they chose the chorizo stuffed dates and the focaccia with taleggio cheese accompanied with white wine.  I wasn't sure what their main entree was but didn't want to be too nosy and interrupt their meals since they weren't exactly sitting at our communal table.

Braised Lamb Neck at Avec

The braised lamb neck came with chickpeas, currants, almonds, pickled turnips with orange flower water.  The lamb was succulent and fresh and all the flavors intermingled well producing a great satisfaction within me.  I still had some Rioja left and had a sip after each bite and when my glass was low, our waitress would come by and refill them.

Our meal lasted about two hours and during this time the crowd changed into a more sophisticated set with older men in jackets and women dressed in black.  The crowd looked like they were going to attend the opera or ballet later that evening while Elise and myself and the early crowd were in jeans and t-shirts.

I liked Avec's atmosphere since we had a mixture of the older, sophisticated dinner crowd in their 50s and 60s mixed in with the younger crowd in their 20s and 30s.

Most of my dining experiences in trendy restaurants are in New York City in the Lower East Side or Brooklyn and mostly noticed the dinner crowd were in their 20s-40s.  I wasn't sure were the older crowd hung out but I would assume closer to the Columbus Circle area.

I told my mom about my dining experience at Avec and how close it was to her work. So the next time I am in Chicago, we're headed over to Avec and will sit down for the 3:30pm slot so we won't have to wait for 2 hours.