Figaro Cafe

My grandfather was a butcher. He loved meat. He loved it so much that he used to smear fat across his toast instead of butter. I guess it comes as no surprise that he died of a heart attack.

I love meat too. It's in my genes. So, it was inevitable that I was one day going to consume the quintessential meat dish: Steak Tartare.

It was just my luck when the chef at Figaro Cafe (1802 N Vermont Ave.) prepared steak tartare as a special for their menu. I was going to give it a go. I also enjoyed the fact that I was dining with a table of vegetarians. The look on their faces when my entree arrived was fucking hilarious. They were horrified and repulsed.

There's no elegant way to plate Steak Tartare. It's a heap of blood red ground beef topped with a raw egg, seasoned with dressing and chopped onion. I kept taking small bites slowly waiting to be grossed out, but I wasn't. It's quite tasty...like eating sashimi. My only thought was that Steak Tartare is a little too much to eat as an entree. It would probably work better as an appetizer. I prefer just a pinch of raw, bovine flesh before dinner. Eating it as an entree, made me feel too much like a caveman...an elegant caveman though, as this is French restaurant.

Figaro Cafe is a beautiful restaurant. It looks like they imported the interior from an original 1920's French cafe, walls and everything. It's also quite a popular brunch spot. Many of my associates, however, feel that the dinner menu is overpriced for the quality of their food. I like it. But, when it comes to French food, I much prefer Cafe Stella.