Food trends are like celebrity marriages - a lot of flash and excitement but little staying power. But while chefs were flavor-tripping over small plates, executive chef Dirk Flanigan was making unforgettable food at The Gage. For the restaurant's five-year-anniversary, Flanigan has put together a five-course menu, available though July 14, with old favorites and new creations.
We sat down with Flanigan to look back at the trajectory of this Irish-inspired gastropub. “One of the things we set out to do when we opened was to create a culture and that culture was based on sharing knowledge,” Flanigan said. Their menu reflects this statement, with artfully crafted dishes using simple yet bold flavors such as the first course on the menu, speck-wrapped smelt with giardiniera (an homage to Chicago).
Before Flanigan's cuisine found its home on South Michigan Avenue, among sea-foam-green-tiled walls and dark wood, it was tested in owner Billy Lawless’s home at a meal that ended up defining the menu. “You want everything to be perfect, but you are in an environment that is less than perfect,” Flanigan explains while thinking back on preparing the eight-course dinner in Lawless’s kitchen. It included escargot, a staple dish at the Gage. On the anniversary menu it appears in a goat cheese risotto on top of pesto, which the chef recommends mixing with the risotto until it turns a rich shade of green.
Another dish on the table at that now-infamous tasting meal was lamb chops. They are served on the anniversary menu alongside a lamb stew vindaloo. This dish pairs exceptionally well with the Goose Island beer brewed by Flanigan for the anniversary. It is a Belgian Triple with flavors of toasted malt and a touch of smoke with a fruity scent. The beer is named after Flanigan’s second daughter, Luciana.
And there's the dessert: it's breakfast for dinner in the form of French toast with maple geleé, butter foam and maple mousse. “I never had that chance to have breakfast ever,” Flanigan said. “For two years I was here every day from nine in the morning until midnight.”
Those two years of countless hours in the kitchen paid off, and led to three more years of preparing simply delicious food - no flash and no magic, just precise techniques and balanced flavors with fresh ingredients. Those techniques brought repeat customers. “We have regulars that some in three or four five times a week,” Flanigan says, adding, “We have people that come in five days a week for lunch.”
To go along with the menu are some limited-run drink options including the Luciana, a "Gage 5 Year Red" Irish red ale by Half Acre, and a nine-year bourbon aged in an on-site cask.
We sat down with Flanigan to look back at the trajectory of this Irish-inspired gastropub. “One of the things we set out to do when we opened was to create a culture and that culture was based on sharing knowledge,” Flanigan said. Their menu reflects this statement, with artfully crafted dishes using simple yet bold flavors such as the first course on the menu, speck-wrapped smelt with giardiniera (an homage to Chicago).
Before Flanigan's cuisine found its home on South Michigan Avenue, among sea-foam-green-tiled walls and dark wood, it was tested in owner Billy Lawless’s home at a meal that ended up defining the menu. “You want everything to be perfect, but you are in an environment that is less than perfect,” Flanigan explains while thinking back on preparing the eight-course dinner in Lawless’s kitchen. It included escargot, a staple dish at the Gage. On the anniversary menu it appears in a goat cheese risotto on top of pesto, which the chef recommends mixing with the risotto until it turns a rich shade of green.
Another dish on the table at that now-infamous tasting meal was lamb chops. They are served on the anniversary menu alongside a lamb stew vindaloo. This dish pairs exceptionally well with the Goose Island beer brewed by Flanigan for the anniversary. It is a Belgian Triple with flavors of toasted malt and a touch of smoke with a fruity scent. The beer is named after Flanigan’s second daughter, Luciana.
And there's the dessert: it's breakfast for dinner in the form of French toast with maple geleé, butter foam and maple mousse. “I never had that chance to have breakfast ever,” Flanigan said. “For two years I was here every day from nine in the morning until midnight.”
Those two years of countless hours in the kitchen paid off, and led to three more years of preparing simply delicious food - no flash and no magic, just precise techniques and balanced flavors with fresh ingredients. Those techniques brought repeat customers. “We have regulars that some in three or four five times a week,” Flanigan says, adding, “We have people that come in five days a week for lunch.”
To go along with the menu are some limited-run drink options including the Luciana, a "Gage 5 Year Red" Irish red ale by Half Acre, and a nine-year bourbon aged in an on-site cask.
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