The Top Ten Dishes of 2008 - #2: Pretty Much Everything at the Firefly Grill

By Ian Froeb Tue., Dec. 16 2008 at 2:05 PM

Categories: Restaurant News & Reviews

There was so much, all of it so good, that my memory is hazy. I remember luscious foie gras paired, I think, with peaches and the verdant snap of fried green tomatoes. I remember meaty portobello mushrooms stuffed with surprisingly tender escargot, all of it swimming in a garlicky-buttery sauce so outrageously rich that we kept passing the dish around the table taking turns sopping it up with bread. There were lovely little lamb chops dressed with tzatziki sauce and meant to be eaten as lollipops. There was even crab rangoon, stuffed with actual crab, fried to an ethereal light crispness and served with a sweet chile sauce.

Have you eaten elk? You can at Firefly Grill, and I recommend you do. An elk rib-eye steak, seared barely beyond blue in a cast-iron pan, is wonderful: distinctively flavored without seeming gamy, lean but not overly so, and the perfect foil for a simple side dish of sweet corn.

"The Buzz" (September 18, 2008)

The Firefly Grill
1810 Mid America Avenue, Effingham, Illinois
217-342-2002

- Ian Froeb