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Big Jones--"Contemporary coastal Southern cuisine"

Big Jones--"Contemporary coastal Southern cuisine"
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  • Post #301 - December 25th, 2014, 2:54 pm
    Post #301 - December 25th, 2014, 2:54 pm Post #301 - December 25th, 2014, 2:54 pm
    The GP wrote:
    stevez wrote:
    The GP wrote:Fall Mushrooms (roasted chanterelles, chicken fried maitakes, creamy butterbeans, crispy Laurel Aged Charleston gold rice cake, pickled peppers)


    Man, does that sound good. Chicken fried maitakes are now on my must try list.

    It was a great dish. I cleaned my plate and I usually don't.


    Agreed!
    Ava-"If you get down and out, just get in the kitchen and bake a cake."- Jean Strickland

    Horto In Urbs- Falling in love with Urban Vegetable Gardening
  • Post #302 - February 11th, 2015, 10:09 pm
    Post #302 - February 11th, 2015, 10:09 pm Post #302 - February 11th, 2015, 10:09 pm
    Hey peeps, Paul Fehribach just posted on FB about a monumental f***up that happened to his Open Table account regarding valentines day reservations.

    Unbelievable, monumental "technical glitch" on opentable caused a mirror of our entire floor plan on the system for valentine's day so even after we blocked reservations they still kept coming in until we had almost 300 reservations when capacity is 180. Apparently we even appeared on "last minute" reservation guides when we had nothing available, and opentable just kept taking reservations on this mirror floor plan. Now angry people think it's our fault. Is Tock available yet?

    If you read the thread you'll see that when they tried to fix it they basically blamed Big Jones, according to Paul here's what they wrote " actually they threw us under the bus, sending a mass email stating that they were writing on behalf of big jones and big jones was canceling their reservation"

    I'll leave it to Paul to deal with this, but I thought I'd help get word out if you have a reservation that night.
    For what we choose is what we are. He should not miss this second opportunity to re-create himself with food. Jim Crace "The Devil's Larder"
  • Post #303 - February 12th, 2015, 1:04 pm
    Post #303 - February 12th, 2015, 1:04 pm Post #303 - February 12th, 2015, 1:04 pm
    I do not. But it has been too long so I think I am booking for the following week.
    Ava-"If you get down and out, just get in the kitchen and bake a cake."- Jean Strickland

    Horto In Urbs- Falling in love with Urban Vegetable Gardening
  • Post #304 - May 3rd, 2015, 8:48 pm
    Post #304 - May 3rd, 2015, 8:48 pm Post #304 - May 3rd, 2015, 8:48 pm
    I had a pretty disappointing dinner at Big Jones on Friday. I'm obsessed with southern food, came here with pretty high expectations, and was let down all around.

    The crab cakes were ok, the sesame seeds kind of distracted from the crab meat flavor, but the sauce was good.

    Skillet corn bread was too dry for my taste

    Pork duet, it was cooked well, but was hardly warm. Was also lacking some flavor, IMO

    The shrimp and grits also lacked flavor and needed something more. Also the grits werent creamy, seems that they may have been sitting for a while and started to collect that 'film'.
  • Post #305 - May 27th, 2015, 2:29 pm
    Post #305 - May 27th, 2015, 2:29 pm Post #305 - May 27th, 2015, 2:29 pm
    Very nice piece on Big Jones from Eater's Bill Addison:

    http://www.eater.com/2015/5/27/8654567/ ... ern-review
  • Post #306 - May 27th, 2015, 2:33 pm
    Post #306 - May 27th, 2015, 2:33 pm Post #306 - May 27th, 2015, 2:33 pm
    A nice recipe reprint from the new, Big Jones cookbook from Sula over at The Reader's site . . .

    Paul Fehribach shares a recipe from The Big Jones Cookbook: gumbo z'herbes

    I've made a few nice things from the book, but the most successful and interesting so far has been the gumbo z'herbes, essentially a vegan gumbo made from an assortment of field greens. I initially assumed that this was in the Cajun tradition of throwing whatever you had on hand in the pot, but Fehribach states in his introduction that it's actually a Lenten dish he offered for his Catholic guests at Big Jones. Counterintuitively, many recipes incorporate ham hocks, so I took that as permission to use chicken broth and smoked pork necks. It was terrific: brick colored from the smoked paprika, meaty tasting from a preponderance of vegetal, umami-loaded ingredients, and as thick and substantial as any gumbo you'll find. Don't be worried about the seeming paucity of stock for this recipe. The greens contribute their own liquid and as Fehribach told me, you can always add more if you need it later—but if it's too thin up front you're stuck with it.

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #307 - May 27th, 2015, 5:49 pm
    Post #307 - May 27th, 2015, 5:49 pm Post #307 - May 27th, 2015, 5:49 pm
    ronnie_suburban wrote:A nice recipe reprint from the new, Big Jones cookbook from Sula over at The Reader's site . . .

    Paul Fehribach shares a recipe from The Big Jones Cookbook: gumbo z'herbes

    I've made a few nice things from the book, but the most successful and interesting so far has been the gumbo z'herbes, essentially a vegan gumbo made from an assortment of field greens. I initially assumed that this was in the Cajun tradition of throwing whatever you had on hand in the pot, but Fehribach states in his introduction that it's actually a Lenten dish he offered for his Catholic guests at Big Jones. Counterintuitively, many recipes incorporate ham hocks, so I took that as permission to use chicken broth and smoked pork necks. It was terrific: brick colored from the smoked paprika, meaty tasting from a preponderance of vegetal, umami-loaded ingredients, and as thick and substantial as any gumbo you'll find. Don't be worried about the seeming paucity of stock for this recipe. The greens contribute their own liquid and as Fehribach told me, you can always add more if you need it later—but if it's too thin up front you're stuck with it.

    =R=


    I have always wanted to make this during the season. This year I had it at Big Jones and really enjoyed it. Had I not had a conversation with our server I would have sworn there was meat in it. And the "green" taste is unmissable despite the smoke and thickness. I wished they kept this on the menu year round.
    Ava-"If you get down and out, just get in the kitchen and bake a cake."- Jean Strickland

    Horto In Urbs- Falling in love with Urban Vegetable Gardening
  • Post #308 - July 13th, 2015, 2:37 pm
    Post #308 - July 13th, 2015, 2:37 pm Post #308 - July 13th, 2015, 2:37 pm
    Last minute decision to dine at Big Jones last night. Started with the asparagus bisque, which was fantastic. I had the current iteration of the roasted mushroom dish since I loved the "Fall Mushrooms" mentioned up-thread. Apologies, but I didn't note the ingredients. The current dish was good, but not as amazing as I'd hoped. It did make for excellent leftovers today. My friends had the crawfish etouffee and the Copper River salmon special. I didn't get to sample their dishes, but they looked good and my friends enjoyed them. The Sazerac I had hit the spot.
    -Mary
  • Post #309 - April 6th, 2017, 10:24 pm
    Post #309 - April 6th, 2017, 10:24 pm Post #309 - April 6th, 2017, 10:24 pm
    Big Jones is still cruising along and putting out some excellent food. The restaurant is currently holding it's first annual Crawfish Festival. On Thursdays, if you preorder, there's all you can eat crawfish. But every night the menu is loaded with various crawfish goodies in addition to much of the regular items. Tonight we had crawfish cheddar fritters; crawfish pie (creamy crawfish filling inside an excellent butter pie crust shaped like a pasty); crawfish etouffee; and Crawfish Andouille Po’ Boys. All were outstanding, though the andouille didn't have a noticeable crawfish taste. I always recommend Big Jones, but I do so with extra emphasis before the Crawfish Festival ends on April 15.
    IMG_0075.JPG Crawfish pie
  • Post #310 - July 9th, 2017, 9:00 am
    Post #310 - July 9th, 2017, 9:00 am Post #310 - July 9th, 2017, 9:00 am
    Yes, Big Jones is putting out some excellent food. But as has always been my problem there, they're also putting out some bizarrely bad food at the very same time. Last night was a perfect example. I started with some outstanding crab cakes - great crab flavor, very little filling, perfectly fried, butter lettuce, and a delicious remoulade. Crab cakes do not get much better than this.

    My friend's shrimp & grits were delicious. I've never had a problem with how Big Jones cooks their shrimp & grits, but I've found the flavor to vary significantly, sometimes being too bland. This was not a problem last night - delicious.

    The big problem though was my main course, market noodles. They were supposed to have contained house-made noodles, seasonal vegetables (can't recall which ones), some vegetable puree and a fried egg. What I got was a massive bowl of overcooked noodles, topped with a sunny side up egg with a hardened yolk, 3 tiny roasted broccoli florets off to the side and not incorporated in the dish, perhaps a single mushroom finely sliced, maybe a teaspoon of a green vegetable puree at the bottom of the dish, and 2 sauteed (not charred) scallions (not sliced) which I couldn't cut with the butter knife I was given (not that a steak knife would have improved the dish). It was as if they sent me out the child's buttered noodle dish and mistakenly dropped a couple of vegetables in it. That a paid chef sent this dish out is so baffling to me. My dining companion couldn't help but laugh, but upon realizing my frustration, stopped. We were both amazed.

    We also ordered the cornbread, served in a skillet. It was okay but it was extraordinarily light and fluffy. I personally think there was too high a ratio of flour to cornmeal, and perhaps a bit too much leavening.

    Overall, an odd meal, with a couple of standout dishes, one bizarrely awful dish, and then the average cornbread. But since I've experienced this inconsistency on most of my visits to Big Jones, perhaps I should not be surprised. Obviously there's some strong talent in the kitchen. But are they short-staffed such that these problems occur, or is there always one person screwing things up? Service staff itself seemed light as it took us quite a bit of time to order and our waiter seemed to be serving half of the restaurant, so perhaps it's a staffing issue. In any event, the market noodle dish was so disappointing that it will probably be a long time before my next visit.
  • Post #311 - March 7th, 2018, 2:16 pm
    Post #311 - March 7th, 2018, 2:16 pm Post #311 - March 7th, 2018, 2:16 pm
    Big Jones is closed for a few weeks for renovations:
    http://www.chicagomag.com/dining-drinki ... Big-Jones/
  • Post #312 - December 3rd, 2018, 6:55 pm
    Post #312 - December 3rd, 2018, 6:55 pm Post #312 - December 3rd, 2018, 6:55 pm
    University of Chicago is offering the Big Jones cookbook free this month (December 2018)
    https://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/freeEbook.html

    (note that the UoC site suggests reading it on Android with an ancient app -- instead, install Adobe Digital Editions. Necessary because of DRM)
    Last edited by JoelF on December 4th, 2018, 10:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
    What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
    -- Lin Yutang
  • Post #313 - December 4th, 2018, 9:22 am
    Post #313 - December 4th, 2018, 9:22 am Post #313 - December 4th, 2018, 9:22 am
    JoelF wrote:University of Chicago is offering the Big Jones cookbook free this month (December 2018)
    https://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/freeEbook.html

    If you want the actual book rather than the Ebook, check the sale catalog. It's available for $10.
    -Mary
  • Post #314 - December 5th, 2018, 9:20 am
    Post #314 - December 5th, 2018, 9:20 am Post #314 - December 5th, 2018, 9:20 am
    The GP wrote:
    JoelF wrote:University of Chicago is offering the Big Jones cookbook free this month (December 2018)
    https://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/freeEbook.html

    If you want the actual book rather than the Ebook, check the sale catalog. It's available for $10.


    this is awesome. thanks. i also signed up to receive monthly notifications about other free ebooks.
  • Post #315 - January 17th, 2019, 12:24 pm
    Post #315 - January 17th, 2019, 12:24 pm Post #315 - January 17th, 2019, 12:24 pm
    Soul Food Week 2019 has begun at Big Jones. It's actually two weeks, culminating in a special family supper on 1/24. Both menus look great. The Soul Food Week menu has some regular Big Jones favorites and bunch of really good-looking new items. Family supper is, as is tradition, from recipes from a cookbook from an out of town chef who comes in for the event.
  • Post #316 - February 6th, 2020, 10:37 am
    Post #316 - February 6th, 2020, 10:37 am Post #316 - February 6th, 2020, 10:37 am
    We went to Big Jones last night for restaurant week. The place was hopping, which is good to see. $36 for three courses plus bread service is a great way to experience Big Jones. Once we added drinks and wine, we ended up around $100 each.

    For the first course, Mr. X had the Cochon de Lait while I had the Gumbo z'Herbes. I loved the gumbo. So much flavor. I liked the bite of cochon I had but preferred the gumbo by a wide margin. Jalapeno cheese cornbread followed. It was a touch dry but still tasty. My entree was the Gumbo Fat Fried Chicken with red beans and rice and turnip greens. Mr. X had the Alligator & Andouille Sauce Piquant. In all the times I've been to Big Jones, this was my first time having the chicken. It did not disappoint. Perfectly fried with good flavor. Mr. X thought his dish was okay. Most of the flavor seemed to come from the excellent andouille. The sauce piquant was pretty mild. Mr. X won the dessert course with the Boca Negra - a dark chocolate chili cake, salted butter almonds, dulce de leche, horchata sorbet. I had the Winter Bread Pudding - brandy and orange peel bread pudding, spice apple butter, salter sorghum ice cream, toasted oat streusel. I really enjoyed the bread pudding but the Boca Negra was fantastic. Service was efficient.

    It was fun to share the deliciousness of Big Jones with friends. We might go back during Andersonville Restaurant Week (Feb 21 - Mar 1.)
    -Mary
  • Post #317 - February 3rd, 2021, 9:38 am
    Post #317 - February 3rd, 2021, 9:38 am Post #317 - February 3rd, 2021, 9:38 am
    For whatever reason, we haven't done take-out from Big Jones at all during the pandemic. They are doing some cool things: Little Jones is their more casual carry-out "Southern deli" concept they came up with early on. They are currently doing Krewe d'Beignet, a weekend-only pop-up from 11-2 with donuts, beignets, breakfast sandwiches, etc. They've adapted their regular menu to include some package meals. We opted for the Fried Chicken Picnic last night for delivery. The package included a whole fried chicken (eight pieces) with buttermilk biscuits, turnip greens, and red beans and rice. Mr. X wanted mac & cheese so we added a side of that. Delivery was on time and the food was hot and well packaged. (The container that says Hopping John was the red beans and rice.)

    Image

    This was a fantastic meal. The fried chicken was perfectly done.

    Image

    They do a fine mac & cheese.

    Image

    I love their greens. The touch of coconut milk is nice and they pack a punch from cayenne or something spicy.

    Image

    My photo of the red beans and rice didn't turn out.

    We have plenty of leftovers. Looking forward to them!
    -Mary
  • Post #318 - February 3rd, 2021, 9:52 am
    Post #318 - February 3rd, 2021, 9:52 am Post #318 - February 3rd, 2021, 9:52 am
    The GP wrote:This was a fantastic meal. The fried chicken was perfectly done.

    Wow, that looks great! I think I need to get to Andersonville, stat!

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #319 - February 3rd, 2021, 9:55 am
    Post #319 - February 3rd, 2021, 9:55 am Post #319 - February 3rd, 2021, 9:55 am
    Timely post!
    We just got carryout lunch yesterday - crawfish po boy and a quart of gumbo. Phenomenal. The gumbo is especially amazing and complex. Managed to make me stop thinking about a bowl of ramen for a day. Looking forward to leftovers today.

    We've also been getting a selection of breakfast treats, which are outstanding. They also have a variety of house-made jams, hot sauce, Worcestershire, etc.
  • Post #320 - February 3rd, 2021, 9:57 am
    Post #320 - February 3rd, 2021, 9:57 am Post #320 - February 3rd, 2021, 9:57 am
    Darren72 wrote:Timely post!
    We just got carryout lunch yesterday - crawfish po boy and a quart of gumbo. Phenomenal. The gumbo is especially amazing and complex. Managed to make me stop thinking about a bowl of ramen for a day. Looking forward to leftovers today.

    We've also been getting a selection of breakfast treats, which are outstanding. They also have a variety of house-made jams, hot sauce, Worcestershire, etc.

    Darren-

    Which gumbo did you get? I was tempted to add the gumbo z'herbes but didn't think we needed MORE food. ;-)
    -Mary
  • Post #321 - February 3rd, 2021, 10:03 am
    Post #321 - February 3rd, 2021, 10:03 am Post #321 - February 3rd, 2021, 10:03 am
    We had the gumbo ya-ya. I think we missed the gumbo z'herbes, so looks like we'll be doing another Big Jones lunch this week. :)
  • Post #322 - February 3rd, 2021, 10:14 am
    Post #322 - February 3rd, 2021, 10:14 am Post #322 - February 3rd, 2021, 10:14 am
    Darren72 wrote:We had the gumbo ya-ya. I think we missed the gumbo z'herbes, so looks like we'll be doing another Big Jones lunch this week. :)

    It's under the Mardi Gras specials. Let us know how it is.
    -Mary
  • Post #323 - March 19th, 2021, 2:27 pm
    Post #323 - March 19th, 2021, 2:27 pm Post #323 - March 19th, 2021, 2:27 pm
    Big Jones was part of the Andersonville Restaurant Weeks. They did a four course vegetarian meal. No photos of the monkey bread or dessert because I forgot to take them. I'll be adding one of the strudel before we eat it tonight. This was a lot of food for $68! The gumbo was delicious -- had a nice heat to it. We also loved the cauliflower and the dessert.

    [edited note: The strudel photos have been added.]

    *Three Mushroom Gumbo: Shiitake, maitake, and king trumpet mushrooms in a rich brown roux, with sweet corn dumplings
    Image

    *Fried Cauliflower: Baked pimiento cheese grits, homemade giardiniera
    Image

    *Garlicky Cheese Monkey Bread: Homemade buttermilk bread rolls smothered in garlic butter and rolled in jarlsberg, cheddar, and pecorino cheeses

    *Southern Vegetable Strudel: Feathery hand-rolled pastry filled with sweet and Irish potatoes, leeks, and many early greens, roasted tomato vinaigrette
    Image
    Image

    *Chocolate Pots de Creme: Dark chocolate custard layered with candied pecans and salted caramel, topped with whipped creme fraiche
    -Mary
  • Post #324 - November 2nd, 2021, 9:21 am
    Post #324 - November 2nd, 2021, 9:21 am Post #324 - November 2nd, 2021, 9:21 am
    Neil Steinberg blogs about his recent visit to Big Jones and their COVID "gratuity."

    http://www.everygoddamnday.com/2021/11/ ... t.html?m=1
  • Post #325 - November 2nd, 2021, 10:14 am
    Post #325 - November 2nd, 2021, 10:14 am Post #325 - November 2nd, 2021, 10:14 am
    I feel bad for the staff, raise the prices on the food and stop stiffing the waitstaff.
  • Post #326 - November 2nd, 2021, 10:36 am
    Post #326 - November 2nd, 2021, 10:36 am Post #326 - November 2nd, 2021, 10:36 am
    Jamie wrote:Neil Steinberg blogs about his recent visit to Big Jones and their COVID "gratuity."

    http://www.everygoddamnday.com/2021/11/ ... t.html?m=1


    Big Jones includes a service charge and adds that $ into the payroll of all its staff, including servers.

    This person comes off as a serious douche. Such a well informed diner, but this is the first he's heard of a covid related service charge? gmafb...
  • Post #327 - November 2nd, 2021, 10:48 am
    Post #327 - November 2nd, 2021, 10:48 am Post #327 - November 2nd, 2021, 10:48 am
    WhyBeeSea wrote:
    Jamie wrote:Neil Steinberg blogs about his recent visit to Big Jones and their COVID "gratuity."

    http://www.everygoddamnday.com/2021/11/ ... t.html?m=1


    Big Jones includes a service charge and adds that $ into the payroll of all its staff, including servers.

    This person comes off as a serious douche. Such a well informed diner, but this is the first he's heard of a covid related service charge? gmafb...

    Agreed. Singling out a restaurant for something like this in these times is some serious douche-baggery. Damn those poor restaurateurs, cooks, servers and bussers getting rich on the customers' dime. How dare they?!

    =R=
    Same planet, different world
  • Post #328 - November 2nd, 2021, 10:55 am
    Post #328 - November 2nd, 2021, 10:55 am Post #328 - November 2nd, 2021, 10:55 am
    He made sure to throw in some casual misogyny to put you in the right headspace for his douche-y take on the service charge. You don't want to pay it? Don't eat there and move on with your life. He'd have no doubt complained if all menu prices went up 20% as well.
  • Post #329 - November 2nd, 2021, 11:10 am
    Post #329 - November 2nd, 2021, 11:10 am Post #329 - November 2nd, 2021, 11:10 am
    Here is what Big Jones said in their email newsletter last month about their service charge. Like others said, they are trying to go with a more European model, where servers don't need tips to survive, but where smaller tips are welcomed but not expected.

    We decided to introduce a 20% service charge - the standard modern tip rate - and apply that to wages and benefits. Everyone at Big Jones makes at least $16 per hour ($17 and up in the kitchen) and has access to health care, dental, and vision with a 60% co-pay by Big Jones, and everyone receives free accident and hospitalization insurance at our expense. With paid vacation, time off, and sick leave, everyone receives up to two weeks paid time off every year.

    What about tipping? Most guests still choose to leave a tip - in fact, we added the tip line back to the sales slip at customer request. Any additional gratuity you choose to leave is definitely appreciated, but keep in mind that our dining room staff all make at least $16 per hour before tips. If you're happy with the service, 10% would be generous, 5% appreciated, and leaving no tip is not inappropriate. They don't depend on tips to make a living, but if you like their service, you are welcome to leave a little extra for them, it definitely is still an incentive for them to provide excellent service.
  • Post #330 - November 2nd, 2021, 11:19 am
    Post #330 - November 2nd, 2021, 11:19 am Post #330 - November 2nd, 2021, 11:19 am
    gnarchief wrote:He made sure to throw in some casual misogyny to put you in the right headspace for his douche-y take on the service charge. You don't want to pay it? Don't eat there and move on with your life. He'd have no doubt complained if all menu prices went up 20% as well.


    Where was the casual misogyny? I re-read the article and didn't see anything, although I may have missed it.

    As for whether this is douchey or not, I have mixed feelings. I think there's douchey-ness on both ends.

    I understand surcharges now, be it for Covid, supply chain issues, or just the cost of food increasing.

    That said, restaurants absolutely should make this clear before the bill comes. If the menu says an item is $10, then it should be $10, not $12. If the restaurant doesn't want to fold this cost into the menu prices, then there should be a disclosure on the menu.

    And what's really douchey on the restaurant's part: forcing the wait staff to explain the upcharge after the meal. I can certainly see situations where the wait staff is getting shorted/stiffed because a customer is pissed off at the policy. That's not fair to them.

    On the other hand, if I were Steinberg, I'm not sure I would have named the restaurant. Shit's so tough for restaurants right now. So while I do think it's fair for journalists to criticize these types of practices, I do think they should refrain from "naming names", or at least give the restaurant an opportunity to respond before publishing the criticism.

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