Pastoral (Betw. Wellington and Diversy on B'way)

Arriving for my Fri. night dinner at La Tavernetta (posted on the appropriate board), I realized that I had forgoteen to BMOB. Walking up the street I had seen the new storefront for Pastoral just a block or 2 down, promising "artisinal bread, cheese and wine" and thought, this is a God-sent opportunity to get 2 new food adventures in one family outing.

Having placed our order, I then sprinted down the block to check out Pastoral.

Interesting. Mixed bag. Very curious to see if there's a market to sustain them.

It's a small shop. I'd say what they're really about is the cheese, and the other items are slightly secondary to that. Posting caveat: I haven't been to Chicago's other cheese temples Cheese Stands Alone or Caputos, so my frame of reference is Whole F., People's, T.I., TJ's and NYC.)

Certainly this is not a place where someone of my means could be a regular. There is a relatively small but quite interesting selection favoring French and American cheeses. Also some Spanish, Basque, Italian and English. Many, many of the cheeses, particularly the US ones are well into the mid-$20s per lb. The rest are well into the teens.

There were to people there; a very friendly lady with whom I chatted, and from whom all the info I'm posting comes, and a gentlemen who was somewhat less outgoing.

I tasted a soft-ripened French cheese that comes in it's own tiny earthenware crock. Ea. one was about $9 as I recall, and I'm guessing that was for about 1/4 or 1/3 lb. of cheese. Very ripe, earthy and yummy.

I then tasted a Basque sheeps milk cheese, semi-soft, which was subtle, a bit chalky (in a nice way), mild but not bland. Brought home a small bit of that.

There were also some salamis and I could not make out the producer. They did not seem to be (at least didn't look like) product from the big three or 4 i.e. Volpi, Citterio, Molinari, Bussetto, etc. There was one that was described as fairly hot - I believe it was called Basque. And a larger one (about 5-6" diameter, with strong fennel seed component) called Petite Jesus. (I'm guessing, because the whole salami was about the size and shape of a swaddled infant.)

There were also a few prepared items: tapenade, roasted peppers (though these came from a can, not roasted there.)

The breads looked nice and I asked where they came from: there not appearing to be enough back space for them to bake from scratch. Surprise! The lady told me that they came partially finished from Bennisons, and they finish them there per demand, so that they're as fresh as possible when bought.

I knew that Bennisons, which had been pretty perfunctory about their breads back in the day, had really invested in improving them, but these at least looked and smelled quite competitive with others that get more attention.

There was some shelf space devoted to oils and vinegars. Like the cheese, the price points were high. $30-40 olive oils (750ml).

My immediate mission was a failure, as the wine shelves were empty. License due next month. I asked her, given the small amount of selling space, if there was a particular focus for the wine. She said that they would have smaller producers and/or regions that were less familiar. But she gave no examples.

It will be interesting to see how all this pans out. It's certainly a bustling neighborhood with nothing quite like it right there. On the other hand, my sense of the demographic is very early professionals/singles, more likely looking for a killer margherita or a filling plate of pasta than an exquisite sliver of $25/lb cheese and a drizzle of $30 oil.

Certainly worth dropping in if you're around.

We saw some press coverage of this place and wondered whether there would be enough business to sustain them given the fairly short walk to Binny's on Clark. The location is terrible for anyone driving there.

In a related vein, I noted an ad trying to sell a wine and cheese store around North and Damen. The telephone number in the ad is for Taste. The one time we were there I wondered about the location with a fairly good but not terrific demographic within walking distance but otherwise something of a pain to get to. The parallels jumped out at me.

And in a similar vein (location/demographics, etc.) there's the Kafka wine shop up the street on B'way. A storefront with an attractive layout - more like a gallerie than a shop - but no clear focus that I can see. I stopped in right when they opened and while they had cheeky tasting notes for each bottle (and I think - but can't quite recall - they may have tastes avail. for nearly everything in the store), the inventory included a lot fo supermarket labels. Really made me wonder about the whole business plan there.

mrbarolo wrote:Really made me wonder about the whole business plan there.

I think the business plan is summarized in bold letters on the window: "150 wines under $15." I may have the numbers wrong, but I think what they're trying to do is expose people to a wide range of decent-to-good wines at relatively low prices - though often inflated by a buck or two over what you could buy them for elsewhere. It's open later than the nearby Binny's and it beats the hell out of the 7-11 up the street. I don't think they're trying to be a "destination" - if they are, they're failing miserably - but the place for people that don't always have bottles on hand to get something decent when the mood strikes them. I certainly wouldn't complain if similar joints proliferated.

Where I think they succeed over Taste in Bucktown is that they limit their pricepoints, offer a wider selection, and make the shopping process unintimidating for even the complete neophyte. Taste, if I'm not mistaken, had about 50 choices, unattentive service, few inexpensive bottles, inflated prices, and the store always seemed like a bit of a mess. I've swung through Kafka when visiting friends in the neighborhood, on various occasions grabbing bottles of carmanere, vinho verde, gruner veltliner, and pinotage among more usual suspects. You've got to appreciate a store that's exposing people to a pretty broad range of wines at reasonable prices. Contrast this with Vintage Wine Bar that recently opened at 1942 West Division prides itself on its unpretentious offerings that give people "works for their palate." As the Reader review said, "there aren't many oddball or challenging wines." So you get a bottle of Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc for $24. I haven't been, but this description aggravates me so much that I'm heavily biased against it.

Whoa - where'd that tirade come from?

rien

I think part of their plan is to provide a handy stop for all the BYOB places in the area.