Blue Door Kitchen Review

Author and Photographer: Kallie Hoffman

Blue Door Kitchen is without a doubt one of the most picturesque restaurants in Chicago. Hidden on the outskirts of Gold Coast, it will most likely take over thirty minutes to arrive, but from the instant you walk through the doors, you will be met with friendly smiles, aromatic smells, and breathtaking decor.

The restaurant is a farm-to-table oasis that emphasizes sustainability and responsible sourcing. It only buys high-quality ingredients from local farms and properties, and it makes sure to constantly find new sources in order to tap into different flavors and ingredients. Blue Door lets the seasons dictate the menu, which means that while there are peach burrata salads in the summer, there is warm tomato soup in the winter, and roasted turkey just in time for Thanksgiving. Despite the ever-changing menu, the head chef, Art Smith, has received the culinary profession’s highest award and cooked for some of the most famous celebrities, so do not fret; a meal at Blue Door will never disappoint.

My friends and I discovered Blue Door by simply typing "Best Restaurants in Chicago" into Google, and immediately, we were intrigued by the pretty website and the idea of some warm, delicious comfort food. We made a reservation through their website for a Friday night, Ubered to the restaurant, and sat down in their gorgeous garden dining room to enjoy a meal of culinary excellence. 

DISCLAIMER: The menu is a tad pricey, so my friends and I decided to order a collection of small plates to share amongst ourselves and to ensure we sampled a little bit of everything on the menu.

Starters

Since our dinner was in October, the menu was in full fall mode, much to my delight. We began our meal with the appetizer round, which included Butternut Squash Soup and the Blackened Scallops. For myself, despite being a New York native and familiar with the cold, I can safely say that once the temperature drops below 55, I am always searching for something to warm my body. The butternut squash soup arrived at the table in a huge bowl, covered in crispy pumpkin seeds and a hint of cream. It was sweet, it was rich, and it was everything you would expect from a traditional butternut squash soup with a roasted nutty taste and just the right amount of salt to enhance the other flavors. Ever since consuming this soup, I have been obsessed with all things butternut squash and pumpkin and have desperately searched every grocery store aisle for a product that is even half as delicious as this one. From there, once our mouths had cooled off from the soup, we indulged in the blackened scallops. The portion appeared small, as there were only 3 scallops on the plate, but each one rested delicately on a toasted piece of crunchy crostini and came smothered in tomatoes and a lemon-garlic glaze. The sauce complemented the briny and buttery scallops and added a softness to the otherwise tender texture. Of course, we ate the scallops and bread together, which made for tasty and chewy bites that left us craving more.

Butternut Squash Soup

Blackened Scallops

Entrees

For the entree round, we were taken aback by the high prices. As college students, we did not see the need to order an overwhelming number of large plates but instead decided to split one and really stock up on the side dishes (the ones that really mattered). In honor of the southern twist of the restaurant, we ordered the Buttermilk Fried Chicken with two sides of Brussels Sprouts and one serving of Mac ‘N Cheese. The fried chicken came out right away, and from the first bite, I knew exactly why this restaurant was a winner. The juicy chicken was coated in a light fried breading that allowed for a nice crunch, and the combination of subtle spices and salts brought out the richness of the fatty inside. Not to mention, the drizzle of hot sauce on top added a necessary pang and turned a seemingly ordinary dish into something extraordinary. In addition, the garlic mashed potatoes as a side were extra creamy, light, and fluffy from the mixture of butter and milk.

Farm Sides

The chicken amazed me, but I also could not help but look on in amazement when our waiter brought the side dishes to the table. The brussel sprouts had an overwhelming amount of parmesan sprinkled on top, and I am not the biggest fan of bacon, but once I pushed those to the side, I unlocked the crispy brussel sprouts with their sweet balsamic glaze. After being roasted in the oven, the sprouts had a crunchy outside with a soft and nutty inside, and the balsamic topping mitigated the unfair reputation of being bitter that brussels sprouts often claim. For the mac 'n' cheese, it is simple, right? Just some pasta and cheese? However, Blue Door Kitchen expanded on the classic dish and added their own twist by incorporating mornay and trottole cheese into the recipe. The macaroni pasta was generously coated with a cheesy, buttery goodness, and after the first bite, I was transported back to my grandmother’s home with her famous mac creation.

Mac ‘N Cheese + Brussels Sprouts

My friends and I definitely entered a food coma after eating all of our plates and practically licking them clean, of course, but we had absolutely no regrets. The quality of the food, paired with the attentive service and stunning ambiance, made the price worth the trek. The atmosphere of the restaurant is unbeatable, and the food is impeccable. While this might be a restaurant reserved for special occasions, given the cost, I definitely recommend exploring Gold Coast and Blue Door Kitchen at least once in your University of Chicago college career.