Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse Tart from Lula Cafe

Item Purchased: Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse Tart from Lula Cafe
Location Purchased: Lula Cafe / 2537 N. Kedzie Blvd. / Chicago, IL
Price: $7.00 + tax

Review: I hate to admit it, but I was a bit disappointed with this dessert. That is not to say that it was bad. I simply thought the cake part of the tart tasted a bit stale while trying to be crisp and wafer-like. Like a fortified Oreo cookie, the sides, top and bottom of the tart needed to be cracked before reaching the inner cream filling, of which I could have eaten an entire bowl. A typical chocolate mousse with both hazelnut flavoring and actual pieces of slivered hazelnuts inside of it, this dessert could be much better if it followed the rule of "less is more." Besides the stale tart with scrumptious filling, there is also a light and fluffy egg-flavored cream dolloped on top and a runny creme anglaise forming a pond in the plate below.

Lula gets points for serving up something I have never seen the likes of before, but this may be one dessert where they tried a bit too hard. I would have preferred a small dessert dish of the mousse by itself with a token wafer cookie or two to offset the rich flavors within instead of a crunchy exoskeleton to wince through before getting to the good stuff.

Rating: 2.75 / 5

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Linguine A La Carbonara from Lula Cafe

Item Purchased: Linguine A La Carbonara from Lula Cafe
Location Purchased: Lula Cafe / 2537 N. Kedzie Blvd. / Chicago, IL
Price: $13.00 + tax

Review: People praise the Italians for their pasta and their pizza, but prefer to point out another "p" that the Italians do well... Pancetta. I don't like to think of the prospect of eating any animal's stomach, but pancetta is the exception to the rule. Piggy belly that has been cured, spiced and salted was precisely the primary selling point that made me pick this dish. Everything else in this dish is what made me eat everything on my plate regardless of the fact that I wasn't that hungry to begin with.

In addition to the pancetta, the carbonara sauce used in this dish is also made with Pecorino Romano cheese and pepper so fresh that you can taste a slight spice with each bite. Tender white beans add a welcome texture to the pasta, as well as the price-driving hen of the woods mushrooms included (I even ate some of them despite my aversion to ingesting fungus). Everything tastes as if it were harvested and created in the half hour between the time I place my order and the moment my dinner was delivered. This is just one of the many reasons Lula Cafe is one of my favorite restaurants in the city.

Lula always offers affordable and unique dishes made from local, seasonal and organic ingredients. You can show up in a pair of ripped jeans (because they are old, not hip) and a t-shirt and your meal will make you feel as if you are dining somewhere that demands a suit and tie. Best of all, Lula's food is fantastic enough to warrant that kind of dress code, yet regular Joes like myself can walk in any time and get a top notch meal.

Rating: 4.25 / 5

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Leffe Blonde Ale (16 oz. bottle)

Item Purchased: Leffe Blonde Ale (16 oz. bottle)
Location Purchased: Lula Cafe / 2537 N. Kedzie Blvd. / Chicago, IL
Price: $4.50 + tax

Review: While I don't usually review food and drink purchases I make for other people (even if I do happen to have a taste of the purchase), I felt that the sip I did have of this golden colored ale was enough to warrant an opinion. I feel this way because I doubt I will ever be taking a sip of this taste bud twirling atrocity again and would be remiss if I didn't take a shot at what is a poor excuse for a beer. Bear in mind, I love Schlitz, so base how seriously you take this review on that bit of knowledge.

At first, this beer tastes like a pleasant caramel ale on the tip of the tongue, but when the rest of your tongue is exposed to it, the true nature of this Belgian bamboozlement comes out. Though light in flavor throughout, there is an unmistakable cinnamon flavor to this brew. I half expected to see a cinnamon stick at the bottom of the bottle. My beer tastes run wide, but when it comes to woody spices like this, I'd rather have a hot apple cider than a cold brew.

Rating: 1 / 5

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Spinach Salad from Lula Cafe

Item Purchased: Spinach Salad from Lula Cafe
Location Purchased: Lula Cafe / 2537 N. Kedzie Blvd. / Chicago, IL
Price: $8.00 + tax

Review: Lula does everything right. On a crowded Saturday night, the hostess told my girlfriend and I that we would have to wait nearly 45 minutes for a table (we only waited about 20) and mere minutes after we placed our order, the appetizer arrived. Of course, it doesn't take much to throw together a spinach salad, but Lula did it again by keeping expectations low and the outcome high.

This simple salad is comprised of baby spinach greens tossed with dried cherries, string thin red onions (that neither my girlfriend or I ate, but appreciated for the flavor they added to the dish) and the creamiest chevre cheese that made me want to get down on my knees and beg for goat milk. All this is topped with a perfectly balanced drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette that dances and twists with the already strong flavor provided by the chewy cherries. At eight dollars, this is an adequately sized salad to turn your hunger into a somewhat comfortable salivating anticipation while you wait for the rest of the magic to emerge from Lula's kitchen.

Rating: 4 / 5

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Dec. 9th - Previously Reviewed Purchases

[ Camel Turkish Royal Cigarettes (Hardpack) from 7-Eleven ($7.95) / Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) 12 oz. can from The Beachwood Inn ($2.50) / 2 Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) 12 oz. bottle from Lula Cafe ($1.75/ea.) / Red Stripe Beer (12 oz bottle) from The Beachwood Inn / 2 Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) 12 oz. bottle from The Empty Bottle ($2.00/ea.) ]

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