I’ve had three, low-to-moderately priced good meals lately. Two of them were in Grant Park.
We are really getting to love Lamplighter. Our most recent meal included braised pork over mac and cheese with truffle oil, the scrapple burger (right) and this very pink pepper mill belonging to Chef Carmen Cappello’s girlfriend. The restaurant will open for lunch soon, featuring a menu that is top-secret for the present.
I’ve had quite a few inquiries about Cappello’s scrapple burger. Here’s a description from the chef’s PR folks:
When patrons come into Lamplighter on Connally Street in Grant Park, most of them don’t even know what scrapple is. Yet, Chef Carmen Cappello (formerly of M!X in Brookhaven and Sweet Lowdown in Midtown) uses slices of this loaf made of offal meat to make a burger that will put you in a food coma while jonesing for another. Cappello uses two patties of ground beef, two slices of American cheese, a fat slice of fried scrapple and, as a garnish: a fried egg with a runny yolk that runs down the side of this pile of heart-stopping goodness – all tucked inside a toasted hamburger bun. Oh yeah…fries come with this Lipitor-inducing plate.
A native Philadelphian, Cappello grew up eating scrapple and makes it in-house to complete his meaty masterpieces. He says that it is regarded as the king of breakfast meats up there. His restaurant has only been open for a matter of weeks and he already has regular customers who come in weekly – some twice a week – for this heady delight. For folks who are curious about this ingredient – think hot dog without the casing – Cappello fries up a slice to induce the craving….
We also continue to enjoy Stella. The most recent surprise on the regularly changing menu was the Capricciosa pizza. It included prosciutto crudo, cremini mushrooms, artichoke hearts, mozzarella, organic tomato sauce and hardboiled eggs.
Hardboiled eggs?
The chef happened to come by our table and I mentioned that I’d never had pizza with hardboiled eggs. She said that it is commonplace in Italy to break a single egg over a pizza before putting it in the oven. When it’s served, the egg is still runny.
But, she said, brief experimentation with that resulted in diners returning their pizzas to the kitchen. So she switched to hardboiled eggs.
“You really have to adapt to people’s tastes,” she said….
We finally made it to Ecco to try the restaurant’s Tuesday-night special of Cocido Madrileño. It’s a $17 bargain ($24 with wine) and is a gigantic serving. This picture doesn’t do the dish justice — the restaurant is too dark not to use the unflattering flash — but, believe me, it’s delicious, especially the house-cured brisket.
I was most surprised by the complex, rich broth. Technically, the soup is a starter, usually served in a separate course in Madrid. Don’t let the server talk you into a separate starter, because you couldn’t possibly finish the dish if you order one.
(Photos by Cliff Bostock)
