If you've been to Franks N Dawgs, you know just how damn good those gourmet sausages can be. So you can only imagine taking that concept of street food and elevating it to a more formal restaurant setting. And by formal we mean that you have table side service with quality food, because this casual, warm space of The Peasantry is anything but stuffy.
Owner Alexander Brunacci quietly opened the restaurant at 2723 N. Clark to try and get things in order before they had a formal opening announcement. But a lot of people from the neighborhood have been coming by and early reviews are really favorable (one Eater reader said it was "ah-mazing!"). Brunacci said some have thanked him for adding a more upscale restaurant to the neighborhood. And as far as upscale goes, that all comes down to the food.
Brunacci calls the menu "street food with a fine-dining twist." Most everything falls under $13, which is surprising when looking at the quality ingredients and attention to detail. Start off with Cognac barbecue frog legs with cornbread; duck wings sous vide in mustard and dried cherry broth; or the mussel bake, mussels baked with garlic, corn, sausage, potato and lemon confit. Move on to a gyros (baby octopus; grilled pork belly) served on roti prata, an Indian-style bread from Singapore.
Then get into pickled lamb tongue or beet flatbread; housemade egg noodle pasta with red wine braised rabbit; a duck burger; or a shrimp and lobster roll. Best of all, the Peasantry has their liquor license so you can enjoy local 5 Rabbit or Great Lakes craft beer or a glass of wine Italy, California, Argentina, Australia and even Michigan.
While the Peasantry may be in soft open mode, get in now. The lines will likely start forming pretty quickly. Luckily Clark is a really long street.