Walking into The Monarch last night with 3 large video screens are behind the bar, college football on the outer screens & the middle screen showing the music video of Rick James "Give it to me baby" greeting us was quite a way to get our excitement up for the evening. For those not familiar with the tune: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dNIQVYGXbM

The Monarch's chef is Andrew Brochu. The kitchen is TINY, but Chef Brochu is cranking out some delicious fare.

Seeing as we were early, we sat at the bar & ordered a drink. Other videos follow: The Clash, OMD, INXS & some bands from the Where Are They Now file, but all good fun.

Parents arrived & we took our seat, I thought volume of the video music would be a bit loud for my parents (mid 70s) but it seemed to be right at that point where the four of us were able to have a conversation w/out yelling.

There was not a dud in the bunch of dishes we tried, Mrs Willie expressed that it was one of the best meals she has had recently, I had to agree.
Starters:
Blue Crab/cream cheese dip, large chunks of crab, served with deep fried tortilla chips & two side sauce to kick up if needed: a sriracha and a sweet chili.
Fois Gras Mousse - amazingly smooth, paired w/some strawberry jam, the combination was stellar
Fries w/Truffle Mayo - amazing truffle mayo, Mom & I were fighting over the last bit.
Mussels - fennel, shallot, wine, served with baguette crostini

2nd:
Bib lettuce salad w/apples, walnuts, Manchego, sherry vinaigrette
Grilled Tomato soup - croutons, fresh basil
Brussels sprout, (roasted) Thai carrot salad, curry (I have NEVER, repeat NEVER, have enjoyed Brussels Sprouts, I would have been one happy camper if I only had enjoyed this dish last night, it was that good).

Mains:
Pork shoulder, squash, pumpkin seed, ciabatta, fennel jus There was a bit of heat in the dish, our table downed two orders of this.
Fried Green Tomato sandwich with jalapeno cream cheese on sourdough.

Again, not a meh in the bunch, terrific dinner.

We will for sure try breakfast sometime, I was sold upon reading that The Monarch is serving duck confit chilaquiles

Even on a Saturday evening, parking was easy to find along North Ave.

The Monarch
1745 W North Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
www.monarchchicago.com (go to the press section of their website to see many reviews)