Vegan Japanese Omokase on the Patio for 2
In-PersonEast Lakeview, Chicago
2 SPOTS LEFT
$120.00
Restaurant
BYOW
Small (4-10 Guests)
japanese
Vegan
In-Person
We've greatly expanded our outdoor patio at the cafe, and are ready to introduce our first dinner!
The weather this weekend is expected to be good, but JUST IN CASE we get a touch of rain, we invested in a pop up tent and 15 foot umbrellas. :D
We really miss our weekly dinners, so know that we will likely get very excited and come up with some improvements or extra dishes to make the meal all the better.
All of our tables seat 2, and we're selling the dinner as such so we can maintain social distancing.
We do have a table for 4, so if you are a party of 4, just let me know and we'll give you each a gift certificate for $10 for coming together!
Anyways, enough logistics, this will be a fun (and safe) dinner, and here is the menu:
Menu detail
Chilled Genmai Cha (Tea)
Beverage
Genmai Cha is a very mild Japanese Matcha and Toasted Rice Blend that is excellent served chilled.
It's so mellow you can drink it like water, and it's often what parents first give to children in Japan when they teach them about tea! It's chill, and we'll serve it chilled all throughout the dinner.
Our Vegan Sushi
Small Plate
Tofu Misozuke Nigiri: Cucumber, Black Trumpet Mushroom Aioli
Smoked Beet Nigiri: Nitsume sauce, wasabi, shiso, sesame snow.
Asparagus Inside Out Roll: Salt/sugar cured asparagus, avocado, daikon, sprouts, kelp caviar, and spicy aioli.
Eggplant Unagi Roll: Cucumber, Shiso, Sesame, and Unagi Sauce
Baked Burrata-Stuffed Inari
Small Plate
We make fantastic inari, which is often rice filled tofu pockets, but we’re going to mix it up, fill them with our house made burrata, scallions, and a little chile, and bake them to perfection!
Kabocha squash croquettes
Appetizer
Delicious creamy kabocha squash croquettes, fried to perfection and served with a warm soy and ginger sauce.
Abalone Mushroom Sunomono
Small Plate
Shredded and marinated abalone mushroom, accordion-cut cucumbers, wakame, daikon sprouts, and a tosa vinaigrette.
Koji-Cured Lions Mane Mushroom Kara-age
Small Plate
We made homemade koji, which is used as the basis of making sake, soy sauce, miso, and can also be blended with salt to make a marinade. Think of it as a natural MSG.
We'll marinate Lions Mane Mushrooms we get from FourStar Mushrooms in Chicago, and
fry in a light yuzu-kosho tempura batter, served with yuzu aioli and dusted nori.
These will be amazing.
Pickles
Small Plate
Daikon, Burdock, Carrots, and Lotus Root
Miso Soup with Chaga and Smoked Dulse
Small Plate
Dashi is a traditional umami rich Japanese stock that uses kombu (a seaweed that is natural MSG), and bonito (fermented and dried fish flakes). We'll forgo the bonito, and use wonderful dried shiitakes, and a little fermented dried black beans instead. I use this stock as a flavor bomb for much of my cooking. Once you have the stock, it's very easy to make a comforting miso soup using a little tofu and scallions!
Chaga is a mushroom often used for tea, and the smoked dulce is fantastic
Strawberry-matcha Cheesecake
Dessert
Cashew-based cheesecake with strawberries and matcha layers.
With macerated strawberries and matcha meringue.
Vegan Japanese Omokase on the Patio for 2
In-PersonEast Lakeview, Chicago