The Wrigley Mansion was built by the Chewing Gum Mogul of Wrigley’s Gum William Wrigley Jr. and eventually was purchased by Geordie Hormel of Hormel’s Food Products that are……MANY many pork products and canned pork called Spam, LOTS of other meat products, Skippy Peanut Products, Chi-Chi’s Products, Wholly Guacamole, Herdez Products and many more!. The Mansion is a private club. But for a small fee $5.00 (that’s donated to charity……currently a dog charity…. you can be a member for a day and take a tour and or dine. Other reasonable options are offered. On my visit the front is under construction and it’s safer to enter from the valet entrance. I should add that the front has (or used to have) the longest trail of steep steps I ever walked. You had to be in excellent shape to do the front steps. Or at least it used to be that way….It looks like they are putting in new steps so it might be better after the construction is done. The valet side also has steps. I don’t know if this building is handicapped friendly.

When you enter you check in at the desk.

You can sign up for a tour, you are also free to roam around yourself and check out the charming decor or you can go straight off to dine. I forgot to photo the really cool antique operator’s switch board that is by the detailed carved entrance door.

But I took a photo in the Ladies Room….It’s just adorable! You have to see!

Then we went off to dine.

Walking threw to the Dining Room.

Here we are!

The dining room is very formal with big blue velvety high back chairs, set tables with linen and big windows with views of Phoenix.

Here’s my view from my seat.

They started us off with small thin slices of baguette and butter.

I started with Corn Gazpacho.

The chilled soup is refreshing and has a nice vinegar-ree tomato-like cucumber taste. Oddly I don’t taste corn. My husband doesn’t taste corn either……. The corn kernels in the center are tasteless…..However the soup does taste like gazpacho and is good, light and refreshing………it just lacks a corn taste that I was expecting.

Any who

The Smoked Salmon from Christopher’s was SUPERB and I hoped that since Chef Christopher is the Executive Chef at Wrigley Mansion that it might be similar here so I had to order it.

The Wrigley Smoked Salmon is colorful and pretty enough to be a picture. I think I might paint it and hang it on my wall……Brightly colored flowers, herbs, frilly greenery and oil enhance the fish. Tiny squid ink croutons, dabs of creme fraiche and caviar complete the plate. It’s not a bad plate in any way……..but …you know me if you read my reviews……………It’s not my intention to knock the Smoked Salmon plate from The Wrigley Mansion………but……….The Forking Truth is that even with the caviar it doesn’t compare to the Smoked Salmon from Christopher’s (pictured below). I just have to get out how spectacular Christopher’s plate was so you can understand the difference.

The fish seemed like a different quality. Christopher’s Smoked Salmon was cut with expert execution of a surgeon and was sliced paper thin. The Fish was silky and melted in my mouth. The rest of the plate was out of this world too.

To be fair I do need to note some pieces of fish were better than others. The Wrigley Smoked Salmon had several thicker smaller cuts placed together. This fish wasn’t so silky and was slightly leathery. It also was saltier and not as sweet tasting. ………….. Christopher’s was extraordinary and Wrigley was just good.

My husband went with the Spam Cubano Sandwich.

This sandwich is filled with roasted pork, lightly grilled Spam (a Hormel Product) whole grain mustard and a thin spread of mayonnaise (not listed on the menu) The sandwich arrived  pressed panini style and came with pickles and a Spam Can ( a cute nod to the Hormel Ownership) filled with mixed fries. I hear that this was a very good sandwich despite the thin spread of mayonnaise it contained. Both of us weren’t expecting the Cubano to be so generous in size.

I had room so I helped with a side of Summer Truffle Macaroni and Cheese.

It was creamy cheesy and satisfying. What arrived was Cellentani Pasta that’s prepared perfect in a creamy cheesy parmesan tasting sauce with a little bread crumb crunch on the top. Neither of us tasted the truffles but that is a good thing because that means they didn’t use artificial truffle aroma. For a $10.00 side you can not expect to taste real truffle as they are very expensive. Two ounces of fresh summer truffles cost $95.00 from Marky’s.

The Mousse Tower that Christoper is Famous for is on the menu and should still be divine at The Wrigley. But I didn’t go with that today.

My favorite dessert was the Lemon Tart from Christopher’s. It always has the perfect amount of lemon tart flavor combined with the perfect sweetness with a velvet mouth feel. The frozen ices in pastry shells were amazing too! Christopher’s was one of the few restaurants where the desserts were special and were just as amazing as the food.

So I made sure I saved room for it and tried the Lemon Tart from The Wrigley Mansion.

The Lemon Tart from the Wrigley is not as detailed, might differ slightly and does have a thicker crust. However it still does have a good lemon tart to sweet flavor.

Here was my first taste from Geordie’s at The Wrigley Mansion.

I remember the asparagus was loaded with salt and that smear of artichoke had flavors I don’t want to go back too.  I will also never forget the polenta tower.

The Polenta Tower was very strange, very stiff and Forking looked like it was on Viagra.

I was afraid to return to dine here again until I heard about Chef Christopher’s arrival this year.

My second visit was very improved in service and food from my first visit. Some things were better than other things but that is how it goes at nearly any restaurant.

The help were all very friendly and very professional.

I enjoyed the company, atmosphere and the professional service.

 

 

www.WrigleyMansion.com

The Forking Truth is that Every Thing is subject to change and your experience may or may not differ.