EATING OUT CHICAGO

Drunk in Love

Thu. December 18, 2014 12:00 AM
by Eric Wilkerson

Have you ever been drunk in love? I have! Currently, I'm drunk in love with deviled eggs and I have found a restaurant in Chicago that serves deviled eggs so good you'll want to go surfboarding with them like Beyonce and Jay-Z. Okay, maybe that's a bit much... but why can't I keep my fingers off it, baby I want you, na na...

This "appetizer" has become a tradition at holidays, barbecues, and other awkward family functions and I get uncontrollably excited when I see deviled eggs on a menu at a restaurant. Did you know that an appetizer is supposed to stimulate one's appetite? Not this appetizer... it will make you full, more full than Beyonce's bathtub right before she filled it up halfway then rode it with her surfboard . Who decided that deviled eggs were better as an appetizer anyway? I had them as dinner recently and there's nothing about that experience that makes me feel ashamed. We be all night...

I'll tell you about my eggperience at Sable Kitchen and Bar. This is one of my favorite places in Chicago for happy hour and tapas. The modern space is long, narrow, energized, and offers a fantastic cocktail selection. The staff is friendly and attentive while their menu is appropriately exotic. You can order Wisconsin fried cheese curds, tuna tartare, smoked trout dip, sweet potato gnocchi, and most importantly...deviled eggs. We be all night...

Sable's deviled eggs are special. They don't offer deviled eggs like the ones your Grandma makes at Thanksgiving. Nor are they similar to your other Grandma's deviled eggs at Christmas. Both Grandmothers, I'm sure, are amazing people that, over the years, have memorized that boring deviled egg recipe that your drunk Aunt always tries to re-create on New Year's Eve and usually ends up burning them in the muffin pan while everyone is scratching their heads and asking themselves why the hell Aunt Betsy is broiling deviled eggs in the muffin pan again. The box of wine falls on the floor and it all starts to make sense. Then it happens again next year but the only difference is that the wine in the box is pink instead of red. Aunt Betsy and her box of wine become a "family joke" but it's only because no one talks about the 12 bottles of pills that stay in her "treasure box" next to the recliner in the den. At that point, it becomes a problem, not a joke.

Anyhow, Sable Kitchen and Bar offers deviled eggs that are whipped to perfection with truffle oil. Yes, truffle oil. Additionally, in the very center of each devilish delight, you'll find a black trumpet mushroom. I had never heard of a black trumpet mushroom so I asked why it was called a black trumpet mushroom. Evidently, when these black mushrooms are growing out of the ground, people refer to them as trumpets played by dead people. I think that's weird. However, it changes nothing about my intoxicated love for the truffle deviled eggs at Sable Kitchen and Bar .

For now, I'm drunk in love with deviled eggs and will probably begin a quest for the best deviled eggs in Chicago. Your Grandma(s) are only wake-boarding with their deviled egg recipes and your Aunt needs to go to rehab. Until then, we be all night...

On the web: http://www.sablechicago.com

Image of Sable's deviled eggs from Foodspotting.com (@DonkeyKong).