In meeting a few of the local posters here in Chicago from GCA I’m positive at one point or another I have sung the praises of a local bar and restaurant called the Hop Leaf (
http://www.yelp.com/biz/hopleaf-bar-chicago). This tiny bar in Andersonville has developed a cult following because of its extremely extensive beer list (~50 craft beers on tap and a countless bottle inventory) and its Belgian-inspired menu full of mussels, sausage, duck, brisket, and frites.
I had taken the red line or walked the seven miles north to the Hop Leaf many times in the past three years to and had tried most of the conventional items on the menu (with the Duck Reuben being my personal favorite). However, there was one item on the menu though that I just didn’t “get”: The CB&J Sandwich.
The CB&J sounds crazy, and quite possibly revolting, upon first reading the description on the menu. Cashew butter, fig jam (think fig newtons), Morbier cheese (a semi-soft cow’s cheese with a black layer of ash in the middle), on sourdough, grilled the same way you would do a grilled cheese. It also comes with a small side of a formidable stinky Stilton Mac & Cheese, and house-made potato chips.
Exhibit A:
So when something, that when described seems so wrong, can be seen on numerous tables around you being eaten by other dinners I asked myself: why would anyone order that when there are so many solid options on the menu to pair with my Allagash Tripel? Well, two visits ago I decided to order the sandwich considering duck and brisket sounded a little heavy on a 95* summer day.
And?
It was one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever eaten. The mix of the creamy house-made cashew butter, the sweet tartness of the fig jam, and the mild of the Morbier cheese turns out to be a wonderful combination. But when it's fried in butter (or lard) all the flavors and scents come together together in a soft, aromatic, rich and fatty sandwich of awesome. As for the side of Stilton Mac & Cheese? Having smelled the well known pungent cheese, I was anticipating a table-clearing reek, but I was shocked at how well the Stilton and pasta married with the sharp flavors of the sandwich. I know can't get enough of this little slice of heaven!
So what does this have to do with golfclubatlas?
Have you ever ignored a golf course for the same reason I ignored the CB&J? That course is too X, or too Y, or “oh, it’s probably just a boring XYZ course” are common reasons among those on here as a way to opt out of playing certain golf courses. However, have you ever played a golf course so quirky, different, or just plain “wrong” that in your mind you had written off, yet after experiencing it for the first time the course opens your eyes to a whole new flavor of golf you had not yet know…and can now not go an extended amount of time without?
Just a thought...