Four Seasons Chicago's 62-Degree Egg

Welcome to our series where we focus on a hotel's signature dish and/or cocktail. In the same way that cities and towns have local specialties to try, hotels develop signature items that guests shouldn't miss — whether it's a popular room service dish they've perfected, a cocktail named after the hotel's longtime bartender, or a seasonal specialty that repeat guests always look forward to. These are the things that they love to serve, and that you'll really consider going back for.

OK so "rocket science" might be an overstatement, but using an immersion circulator to poach an egg, rather than, say, a pot of water, seems extra advanced. But that is what native Chicagoan and Four Seasons veteran chef Kevin Hickey, of the new farm-to-table Allium restaurant at the Four Seasons Chicago, has done with his signature 62-degree egg.

He bathes eggs in an immersion circulator that maintains a water temperature of 62 degrees Celsius. It takes an hour for the water to reach that temperature, and another hour of total egg immersion for them to come out perfectly poached. He then places this delicate egg on top of bison tartare and serves it with waffle chips and beer mustard. Chef Hickey learned this technique direct from the "godfather" of sous-vide, Bruno Goussault, a scientist who has also taught the likes of Thomas Keller.