Longman & Eagle

Last night, after visiting the underwhelming Logan Square Night Farmer's Market, we went to Longman and Eagle at Kedzie and Schubert for dinner.

We ordered the Pretzel, Welsh Rarebit and Warm Cheese Gougeres, Gruyere Mornay Sauce to start. The warm, croissant-shaped pretzel is very salty, and the rarebit is thinner, sharper, and has more alcohol than most other rarebit we've had. The cheesy pastries were good.

I ordered the Slagel Family Farms Burger, Aged Widmer's Cheddar, North Country Bacon, Brioche, Beef Fat Fries. When I walked in, I saw another patron with the burger, and immediately craved it. It was cooked to my liking, juicy, served with lots of fries (I took some home for leftovers), and I always love a good pretzel bun. The fact that the fries are cooked in beef fat was frustrating, particularly since my partner doesn't eat red meat and loves fries. I assured her that the fries weren't great anyway, especially since there wasn't any salt set at our table.

My partner ordered Housemade Ricotta Gnuddi, Artichokes, Creamed Ramp Greens, Fava Beans, Black Garlic. Honestly, we didn't really know what this was, but it sounded good. I assumed it was a pasta, but upon the plating, we're still not entirely sure what it was. It was ordered from the Small Plates section of the menu, and absurdly came out on a plate bigger than mine, but still with a small portion. She enjoyed parts of it, and ultimately ate it all, but wasn't impressed.

The meal came with a complimentary amuse-bouche, which is a single, bite-sized hors d'oeuvre beforehand, as well as for a dessert, which regardless of our tastes, was nice.

The waiter requested that we order all of our food at once, rather than appetizers, then entrees. I know at nice restaurants this is common so that the chef can provide you with your food in the most palatable way possible. This place didn't seem nice enough to request that. Additionally, all of our food came out of the kitchen very quickly. There was little waiting, so we didn't quite understand the point.

We're both big water drinkers, and they initially fill glasses of water for you, then leave a bottle at the table. This led us to assume that when we needed water, we'd fill our own glasses; however, whenever we took just one sip, someone was looming to uncork the bottle at our table and refill our glasses. There were probably more people working that night than dining. Over-attentiveness is rarely a problem, but this time, it felt like one. I almost became afraid to drink from my water glass.

We've fine-dined before, and have a few very nice restaurants that we frequent. We enjoy fine foods, but don't enjoy pretentiousness. I should've been tipped off by the menu offerings not having simple names, and instead indulging most of the ingredient list in essay fashion. The pretentiousness only grew when a couple was seated next to us and the man explained to the server that he was allergic to gluten and the woman asked for a complicated mocktail. By then, we were about done.

I'm not saying this is a bad restaurant. Everyone was lovely to us. The restaurant just isn't "us".