Photo: Maggie Faircloth
Photo: Maggie Faircloth
When I seek inspiration to create new dishes, I pull flavor cues directly from the Champagne,” Chef Andrew Brochu told me as I sat at the bar at Pops on a recent sweltering evening. “While developing new menus, either for a new season or to highlight a great ingredient, we taste a number of champagnes and I’m able to create dishes from the nuances of the grapes.” By building a menu around the grapes, Chef Brochu is able to create dishes like Pan Seared Scallops-tomato confit, curried cauliflower and cauliflower puree, which he paired with Taittinger Prelude, a grand cru from Reims. The pairing was a shock to me, I didn’t expect curry to go well with champagne but it was an incredible flavor, where the earthy spiciness of the curry enveloped the yeasty sweetness of the champagne.
Our server explained that in the champagne region, the growers and producers do absolutely nothing to manipulate their wines. They take the grapes straight from the land and without influence create one of the world’s most celebrated beverages. Another point to understand about champagne, and if you are a wine lover you are aware of this, is that not even bubbles are added to wine. The bubbles are naturally created in the second fermentation (méthode champenoise) where yeast meets sugar and the two create the tiny bubbles we all love so much. The general rule regarding bubbles is the smaller the bubbles, the better the flavor. The bubbles lift the aroma and the flavor from the wine and deliver them in a different form than through the tongue, thereby increasing the amount of flavor sensed. Champagne offers so many flavor distinctions it can be paired well with almost any dish. In fact, many a chef and sommelier alike have told me that if they must chose one wine for every dish, they would choose champagne because it pairs with everything from caviar to fried chicken.
The newest dessert on Pops’ menu is a watermelon lover’s dream. The Watermelon-watermelon sorbet, topped with a tiny sprig of sage, along with pickled watermelon rind, lime pudding and almond shortbread will knock your socks off. Watermelon and sage are a bold and impressive pairing and highlight the slight herbal flavor in the wine.
The bar at Pops is delightful. The round marble bar sits underneath a huge abstract multi-paneled glass chandelier that is reminiscent of bubbles. There is also an outdoor patio and a jazz bar downstairs that is unlike any other in the city. It is a must-see for anyone — whether jazz is in your repertoire or not. The venue is a comfortably cavernous space with exposed brick walls which creates fantastic acoustics. If you love, like, or are curious about champagne, Pops will make for a great evening. They feature seven champagnes by the glass, 70 champagnes by the bottle and 25 sparkling wines by the bottle. Prices are reasonable, so you can easily share a great bottle of champagne for the same price as an average bottle of wine elsewhere.
Pops for Champagne, 601 N. State St., Chicago; 312-266-7677, popsforchampagne.com.
Tanya Fritz Catalano is a professionally trained chef, oenophile, slow-food fanatic and yoga enthusiast.