Mystery Diner: Plainfield's Sovereign has sophisticated menu with a purpose

PLAINFIELD – When a restaurant advertises itself as farm to fork, the food expectations are going to be high.

So, despite the appealing food photos on its website, I entered Sovereign skeptical it could live up to the expectations.

The building, which appears a lot like a repurposed home in Plainfield’s downtown on Lockport Street, had decor that showed the restaurant’s taste, a trendy craft beer-serving restaurant that doesn’t want to be confused with a bar.

You’ll find boards on the wall with craft beer labels, candles on the table and lights affixed high on the wall to give a moody but not too dark feel.

Upon arriving, I was immediately seated and handed the simple one-sheet menu. In fact, the beer menu (two sheets) was more complicated.

But that doesn’t mean the food, locally sourced, isn’t complicated.

It’s clear a ton of time was put into the creations. You could go after anything from arctic char to chorizo seitan, two items I couldn’t locate or explain to you if I tried. Or there’s a grilled rib eye, pork tenderloin and Amish chicken breast.

Some restaurants add complicated words and combinations to their menu to make it feel sophisticated. At Sovereign, however, it’s clear the words are heartfelt, necessary and real.

So while I oversimplified the names and descriptions, which actually are things such as “Not your butcher’s enchiladas,” be careful to read and understand what you’re about to take part in.

My choice was the “Dig on Swine,” which is described as an eight-hour braised bone-in pork shank, sweet potato puree, sauteed kale and mustard demi.

I don’t often go after kale with my dinners, but this was well worth it.

I sat back and, after weaving my way through the beer menu, decided to try the Hailstorm 2015 Bourbon Barrel Aged Vlad the Conquistador. Yes, it’s a complicated name, but Vlad held his own among the bourbon barrel beer elite out there right now.

Some are smoother, but Vlad packs a warm punch with 11 different malts. Not surprisingly, it’s brewed with ancho, guajillo and chipotle pepper, but its main influence is the Mexican cinnamon, cocoa and dark amber agave syrup that give it the rich, heated but not overly sweet taste.

When the main course arrived, I looked for a knife.

But I soon realized I wouldn’t need one at all as the tender pork fell easily off the bone.

Clearly, someone in the kitchen knows the secret to pleasing taste buds way better than I do because the combination of pork, sweet potato, kale and sauce worked together perfectly as what amounted to be the best meal I’ve eaten in a while.

It’s one that I will certainly remember, along with the attentiveness of the waitstaff, which brought a full carafe of water immediately upon my being seated and was friendly but not intrusive throughout the meal.

I left with the feeling that I was important to them and not just a table to fill and clear.

This is definitely a restaurant I’ll return to because of the varied options, which included four salads, two sandwiches and a Sovereign burger made of their ground brisket and bacon patties on brioche, would allow you to return and have a completely different and yet satisfying dinner (or lunch) experience again.

• The Mystery Diner is a newsroom employee at The Herald-News. The diner's identity is not revealed to restaurant staff before or during the meal. The Mystery Diner visits a restaurant and then reports on the experience. If the Mystery Diner cannot recommend the establishment, we
will not publish a review.