A RESTAURANT FOR ALL (Micro) SEASONS

A captivating collection of new rotating specials at Vistro Prime in Hinsdale gives us an opportunity to enjoy Paul Virant’s seasonal menu in new and more gloriously granular ways.

This past February, Paul Virant stood at the window of his restaurant, Vistro Prime in Hinsdale, staring into the snowy blur of yet another bleak Midwestern winter. February is to restaurants what the Sonoran Desert is to cell service. Generally, it’s a dead zone. Aside from Valentine’s Day—every restaurateur’s favorite holiday—you’ve got little to work with. A dearth of fresh produce. Potential guests suffering from holiday spending hangovers. And too many open slots in your reservation book for your accountant’s liking.

Nonetheless, Virant had much to be thankful for. Most restaurants survive 10 months. Vistro Prime had just celebrated its 10th anniversary. Launched in 2014 as a more budget-conscious cousin to his fine-dining flagship Vie, the concept drew “all-age” crowds from the start. It was homey, never haughty. For every platter of wood-grilled sturgeon set atop a bed of exotic mushrooms to forage through, there was a cheeky bowl of gourmet Cheez-Its to graze on.

Post-Covid, the concept evolved into Vistro Prime by adding a serious selection of rib-eyes, T-bones and the like. Virant repositioned Vistro as a kind of high-low hybrid: one part neighborhood steakhouse, one part casual American bistro. But great chefs are restless souls. What better way to kick off Vistro’s second decade, Virant decided, than to freshen up the menu with new tweaks and introduce a revolving list of modern-day blue plate specials.

One of Virant’s key decisions? Phoning Spencer Blake, a longtime kitchen collaborator. Blake had cooked in many of Virant’s kitchens before venturing out to work with other chefs and later assuming the role of executive chef at the now-shuttered Clever Rabbit. Virant’s pitch? Let’s get the band back together and refresh portions of Vistro Prime’s menu.

Based on our most-recent visit, it’s safe to say that Virant and Blake have more than rekindled their old kitchen chemistry. Vistro Prime’s new menu has preserved virtually all of its signature dishes, while introducing a rotating list of specials that are guaranteed to convert once-casual visitors into loyal regulars. There are three offerings we couldn’t resist:

A daily chef’s pasta offering, a fish-of-the-day selection and a new bread basket—focaccia was the pain du jour during our visit—which is now baked in house by Spencer and Co., as opposed to relying on Publican Quality Bread as the restaurant did previously.

None of these new glorious specials are permanent fixtures. Every night, it’s the kitchen’s call as to what will come out. Some pastas may vanish after one service, while others might stay on for a week or more. Same goes for its seafood specials, which might be built around different catches or redressing yesterday’s fish selection in a new way.

The keyword of Virant and Spencer’s new menu is “microseasons.” We are all aware of Mother Nature’s traditional four-part calendar. But Vistro Prime’s menu now celebrates the mini seasons within those seasons, the shorter pockets of fleeting produce and ultra-fresh seafood that arrive and depart faster than our New Year’s resolutions. Consider the glory that is ramp season in mid-spring. Or the rush of Copper River King Salmon, which can stretch from the late spring into the summer. These are the fleeting culinary opportunities that so many chefs skip over. At Vistro, Virant and Blake lean into them.

Take the gorgeously verdant pasta that Spencer made during our visit: a mint-pesto casarecce that’s so green you’d swear each squiggly noodle had developed its own grass stain. This is the glory of a Middle America summer in a bowl. The pasta freckled with firm, springy peas, crushed almonds, bits of guanciale, all crowned by a dollop homemade lemon ricotta. You’ve got an important choice to make: Do you want to delicately run your pasta through the ricotta or immediately fold it all together, the way egg yolks sauce up a carbonara.

I’ve eaten my way through enough of Virant’s menus to know he loves pairing sharp acids with soft vegetal flavors—thus the lemon-spring pea marriage. But consider Blake’s kitchen hack for preserving color and adding extra body to this particular pasta. First, he combines the cheese with crème fraiche, then he moisturizes the casarecce with some of the leftover whey as well as the pesto, producing a texture that’s part silk, part genius. It’s nothing less than pasta primavera reborn.

I probably would have lodged a formal complaint if anyone touched what I’d argue are some of the most delicious greens in the western suburbs: Virant’s crispy Tuscan kale. The frilly oversized leaves are dressed with brown butter, lemon and honey, then flash-fried. The results are wispy and crispy, with a flavor profile that tastes like a Midwestern play on furikake.

Virant and Blake have upgraded some of their staples. I recommend the filler-free crab cakes, which are now gilded with pickled peppers and a chowchow remoulade, both accent flavors a tribute to Virant’s signature pickling skills.

The steaks remain stellar, too. Vistro sources subprime cuts from DCK farms in Illinois, then breaks them down in-house. Each is massaged with oil, salt and pepper and then broiled. Before they’re sent out, they’re finished, Vistro style, with some beef tallow. Two new accoutrements are worth a spin: a bright flora chimichurri and a classic sauce Diane.

Vistro’s seafood towers, already generous, has only grown more opulent, but the most enticing new lure was the daily fish selection. We caught the early window of halibut season. (Spencer expects to showcase halibut throughout the season.) But this particular prep is already a dish-of-the-year candidate: sautéed halibut mortared with a one-two-punch of woodsy morels and sweet green garlic. It’s a dynamite example of Vistro’s microseason philosophies in action. The meaty halibut, immaculately moist, is counterbalanced with crispy smashed potatoes and a mustard-tarragon vinaigrette. Imagine a Greek yiayia fist-bumping a French saucier and you’ll get the idea.

The more you know about Spencer’s background, the more this new collaboration makes sense. Born in a small town on the Illinois-Iowa border, Spencer cut his teeth working at a local supper club. From there, he paid his dues. While he was studying at the Culinary Institute of America, one of his instructors recommended he visit Vie. Spencer loved every pickled morsel of Virant’s menu. So when Blake looked for someone to apprentice under, his first choice was Virant.

This was followed by stints with Carrie Nahabedian at Naha, followed by the aforementioned stint at Clever Rabbit. Suffice to say, I’m thankful that the apprentice has returned to play the role of co-collaborator with his old instructor. Together, they’re reminding everyone of the advantages of being a Vistro regular. The steaks still sizzle, the kale still crunches. But remember that those perfect bowls of pesto pasta and mustardy halibut are in short supply. Just as the years are long, some of the best microseasons are very, very short.