Chicon 2000: Fine Dining
Chicon 2000
Fine Dining
Rev. 31-Jan-2000
Previous: Restaurants
(Table of Contents) Next: Smoking
_________________________________________________________________
Leah Zeldes Smith, leah.smith@chicon.org
In case your are looking to have at least one special meal while in
Chicago, Chicon 2000 presents Leah Zeldes Smith's guide to the upper
echelon of Chicago dining.
_________________________________________________________________
Dining Very Well: The Upper Echelon of Chicago's Restaurants
By Leah A. Zeldes
The publisher's paying.... You really want to impress somebody.... Or
you simply want to sample the best Chicago has to offer.... Whatever
the reason you want to spend real money for a sensational, dressy
dinner while you're at Chicon, you couldn't do better. While Chicago
offers fabulous fare in every price range, our top restaurants are
world-class. But dining in them requires advance planning. While you
might get lucky and chance upon a cancellation, if you call when you
get here, you're better off making reservations well ahead.
Besides ordinary weekend crowds, Chicago's annual Jazz Festival will
be attracting people downtown during Chicon, so restaurateurs warn
that the weekend will be busy, especially at peak dining hours on
Friday and Saturday night. Don't risk disappointment - call ahead.
Most top dining rooms will take reservations up to three months in
advance. For the most exclusive table in town, six months is de
rigueur.
Men should pack a jacket and tie - most of the upper-echelon
restaurants require them, and even when that's not the mandatory dress
code, it's customary. Women have a wider range of possibilities, of
course, but forget about denim and wear real shoes - these are
definitely dress-up places.
I've listed the restaurants that are arguably Chicago's top 10. Which
you should choose depends on what you want from dinner. If you want an
intensive experience on the cutting edge of cuisine, go to Charlie
Trotter's. If you're interested in complex and interesting fare in a
livelier atmosphere, try Tru. For a more relaxed experience with very
fine cuisine, attentive service and posh surroundings, you can't do
better than The Dining Room. The most romantic atmosphere is to be
found at Everest, Ambria and The Pump Room; the best views are at
Everest and Spiaggia. If you prefer French, American, Italian or
something more exotic, there are options here.
Several of these are within a mile of Chicon's site, but I have also
included some that are worth making an expedition for.
Enjoy.
Chicago's Top 10
Charlie Trotter's
773/248-6228; fax: 773/248-6088
816 W. Armitage Ave., Chicago, IL 60614
Charlie Trotter is probably Chicago's most famous chef. His namesake
restaurant, an AAA Five-Diamond and Mobile Five-Star award winner, is
a culinary mecca for foodies from around the world (though a cab ride
- 3½ miles - from the Chicon hotels). Trotter, named the James Beard
Foundation 1999 chef of the year, serves unique, formal fare
containing elements of many cuisines, and based on fresh and costly
ingredients - Japanese beef, for example, organic vegetables,
line-caught fish.
Trotter's offers only two menu choices: a regular degustation and a
vegetable one (not vegetarian, per se, though it can be if you ask).
Either is Trotter's choice of six to 10 exquisite small courses,
elaborately and elegantly presented, and will cost $90 to $100 per
person. A selection of wines to match generally costs about $65.
Meals at Trotter's are memorable, almost overwhelming. Dining here
requires concentration to appreciate the complex flavors. One course
might be a square of tuna layered with osetra caviar, smoked salmon,
horseradish potato salad and a pair of tiny oysters, followed by a
little plate of shiitake mushroom risotto with red-wine sauce, or a
lobster claw with jicama slaw and vanilla-scented anglais sauce.
The dining room is small, hushed, elegant and unadorned - Trotter
wants nothing to interfere with his food. Service is attentive but
starchy. This is probably not the place for complex negotiations over
a publishing contract.
There are two seatings nightly, Tuesdays through Saturdays. To
guarantee a table, make reservations three months ahead, though it's
barely possible that a cancellation will get you in if you call just
before Chicon.
The most exclusive dining spot, however, requires reservations six
months in advance - to the day, or it will be booked - which is when
Trotter's opens its book for the celebrated kitchen table. At this
table (seating four to six), you can watch the action and talk to the
chef while you eat your dinner of 12 to 15 courses ($150).
Tru
312/202-0001 or toll-free: 888/LETTUCE; fax: 312/202-0003
676 N. St. Clair St., Chicago, IL 60611
Opened just this year, Tru is poised to give Trotter's a run for its
money. Husband-and-wife chefs Rick Tramonto and Gale Gand have teamed
with Chicago's well-known Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises restaurant
group to present a fine-dining restaurant with both high-impact food
and a sense of fun. The airy open dining room is full of energy, with
nice but silly touches like padded purse rests.
Like Trotter's, the menu is prix-fixe, but you can have as few as
three (regular-sized) courses for $70, or go for one of the more
elaborate tasting menus of smaller dishes for $75 to $125. And they'll
accommodate you if you'd really rather have a lighter meal, too.
Tramonto's cooking is complex, but earthier and less fussy than
Trotter's. He is fond of witty creations like cappuccino of carrot
with orange, a soup served in a coffee cup and topped with foamed
milk; "Mirror Image of Tartars," made with tuna, salmon and
yellowtail; or a "Surf and Turf" of ahi tuna and sauteed foie gras in
a pinot noir reduction. The signature caviar appetizer features a
variety of fish roes, from sevruga to wasabi-flavored tobiko; its
serving dish, a custom-designed glass staircase, is just a forerunner
of the restaurateurs' fascination with funky dinnerware.
Gand is the pastry chef and her desserts are spectacular: options like
a duo of blood-orange and chocolate souffles; rhubarb poached in
strawberry juice with strawberry mousse and candied rose petals; and
fudge tart with caramelized banana, peanut-butter ice cream and
cabernet-infused caramel.
The private chefs' table is separated by a glass wall from cooking
operations, but you still get plenty of attention from the chefs. They
also have another private room on the mezzanine. Tru is normally open
for dinner Mondays through Saturdays; at press time, they didn't know
if they'd be open on Labor Day. Weekend reservations should be made
three months ahead, especially for the chefs' table off the kitchen.
The Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago
312/573-5222 or toll-free: 800/621-6906; fax: 312/266-1194
Water Tower Place, 160 E. Pearson St., Chicago, IL 60611-2124
This is my favorite restaurant. Chef Sarah Stegner's contemporary
French cooking is creative without being twee, immensely satisfying
and easy to appreciate. Stegner was the James Beard Foundation Rising
Star Chef of the Year in 1994 and its 1998 Best Chef in the Midwest.
Her sumptuous cuisine features dishes like foie gras with figs in a
port reduction or glazed with a balsamic rhubarb sauce; sea bass over
fingerling potatoes with saffron and tomato remoulade; and salad of
warm goat cheese with cucumbers, olive bread and almonds in tomato
vinaigrette. Pastry Chef En-Ming Hsu does exquisite things with fruit,
chocolate, sugar and whatever other sweet things you can think of. One
particularly memorable dessert was poached peaches on a bed of
mascarpone, drizzled with a concord-grape reduction and topped with a
perfect blown-sugar peach. Dining Room Manager and Sommelier Steven
Lande is inspired at wine pairings. The cheese course alone is to die
for.
But as much as the food, it's the atmosphere. The elegantly appointed
dining room just breathes comfort. A bevy of servers is attentive to
your every need, without being at all hovering or stuffy about it.
Your meal will cost about $70 per diner. The Dining Room is open for
dinner Mondays through Saturdays (though closed on Labor Day) and
brunch on Sunday. The brunch buffet is awe-inspiring - both for its
extensive range of choices and its $48 price, which seems hard to
justify, unless you stay there eating all day (not a bad idea, at that
- who cares about programming when you can have food like this?). You
can probably still get a weekend reservation if you call three weeks
ahead.
Seasons at the Four Seasons Hotel
312/649-2349; fax: 312/280-9184
120 E. Delaware Place (900 N. Michigan Ave.), Chicago, IL 60611-1428
Almost a secret treasure - housed in a sister hotel a few blocks away,
Seasons is just a smidge more casual than The Dining Room; the room
and the service are possibly a bare trifle less luxe. But that fits
the cuisine, which is American instead of French. Chef Mark Baker gets
less press than his colleague at the Ritz, but that is no reflection
on his marvelous modern fare, which relies on the freshest of seasonal
produce and a restrained but innovative sprinkling of flavors from far
flung cuisines. Consider lobster and scallop risotto with roasted
salmon; guinea hen with blackberry juice; ethereally light Jonah
crabcakes.
Pastry Chef Steve Stimson's desserts might include a milk-chocolate
pyramid, dusted with gold leaf and dubbed the "Eighth Wonder of the
World," with a filling of chocolate mousse and caramelized bananas, or
berry cobbler, made according to Baker's mother's recipe. This is a
favorite dining spot for some of Chicago's biggest wine collectors.
Seasons is not to be confused with Seasons Café, the less-expensive,
casual restaurant also in the hotel. The dining room is open for
breakfast, lunch and dinner Mondays through Saturdays and Sunday
brunch, and it will be open on Labor Day. You can probably get a
reservation two to three weeks ahead. Dinner will likely cost $60 to
$70 per person.
Spiaggia
312/280-2750; fax: 312/943-8560
980 N. Michigan Ave., 2nd Floor, Chicago, IL 60616
In a city full of great Italian restaurants, this is the best. It
offers a sleek dining room, a wonderful view of Michigan Avenue, and
Chef Paul Bartolotta's brilliant New Italian cooking. Seafood is a
fabulous option here - Bartolotta gets the best: Mediterranean sea
bass in citrus sauce; wood-roasted scallops over greens with truffle
vinaigrette; and, if you're very lucky, glass eels in butter with
sage. Meats, pastas, risotti and everything else excel, too. The chef
uses a light hand that lets the high quality of his ingredients shine
through. Henry Bishop may be the least flamboyant wine steward in
town, but he's super-knowledgeable and has worked with the chef so
long he has an almost-perfect understanding of what wines will match
the food.
Dinner at Spiaggia will probably cost $60 to $70 per person. Spiaggia
is open for lunch Tuesdays through Saturdays and for dinner seven days
a week. At press time, they didn't know whether they'd be open on
Labor Day. Reservations should be made six to seven weeks ahead.
Everest
312/663-8920 or toll-free: 888/LETTUCE; fax: 312/663-8802
One Financial Plaza, 440 S. LaSalle St., 40th Floor, Chicago, IL 60605
Everest is literally the top of the pack. It isn't the loftiest
restaurant in Chicago - that's the Signature Room on the 95th floor of
the John Hancock building (a good spot for brunch) - but it's
definitely Chicago's most elevated restaurant reaching these heights
of cuisine. Chef Jean Joho's Alsatian-influenced French restaurant
offers luxurious atmosphere, excellent views and the finest of Old
World-inspired cuisine prepared from the freshest of American
ingredients.
An amuse-bouche of savory mousse - perhaps velvety cauliflower fondant
topped with caviar and a sprig of dill - will be served on a
long-handled spoon shortly after you sit down. Foie gras terrine with
marinated figs is a specialty here, as is salmon soufflé. Other Joho
signatures include sea bass wrapped in thin slices of crisply roasted
potato and pot au feui of beef tenderloin with horseradish cream. The
star may be the lobster in gewürztraminer butter spiked with ginger.
Such haute cuisine, coupled with excellent service, is the reason
Everest has deservedly received the Five-Diamond Award from AAA and
the Five-Star Award from the Mobil Travel Guide. Dinner at Everest
will run about $70 per person, though a three-course "pre-theater"
menu is available early in the evening for about $45, without wine,
and there is also usually a seven-course tasting menu for $80. Everest
is open for dinner Tuesdays through Saturdays. Weekend reservations
are needed six to eight weeks ahead, and can be made up to three
months ahead. Everest's location is a short cab ride from the Chicon
hotels (1½ miles).
Le Francais
847/541-7470; fax: 847/541-7489
269 S. Milwaukee Ave., Wheeling , IL 60090
Before Charlie Trotter opened his doors, if you'd asked a foodie to
name the top Chicago restaurant, he'd have unhesitatingly said "Le
Francais." Never mind that the place is in northwest suburban
Wheeling, 27 miles and at least 45 minutes' drive from downtown. Chef
Jean Banchet opened this French restaurant in 1973, and quickly
brought it to international acclaim. The menu in those days was
classic haute cuisine, rich with unctuous sauces. Ten years ago,
though, Banchet leased the place to Chefs Roland and Mary Beth
Liccione, who kept the world-class reputation while giving it a
nouveau treatment. But now the lease is up and Banchet is back.
The menu, I am given to understand, is lighter than Banchet of old,
but still more classic than not. Feuilletee of cod brandade, par
exemple, offers the classic cod, pounded with olive oil layered into
puff pastry and topped with a quail egg for an update of the
traditional version. And pan-seared foie gras with sauternes sauce and
fresh figs, and sweetbreads with foie gras-stuffed quail are as
classic as you could want. But there is also the very modern ravioli -
a sheet of homemade tri-color pasta blanketing an arrangement of
lobster, shrimp, spinach and mushrooms, with lobster sauce. Raspberry
soufflé and tarte tatin number among dessert choices. Under Banchet's
previous administration and under the Licciones, Le Francais was an
AAA Five-Diamond Award and a Mobile Five-Star Award winner; I see
little reason to think those designations will change.
Le Francais is open for dinner Tuesdays through Saturdays, and lunch
Tuesdays through Fridays. You should make a reservation a month ahead,
which is all they'll allow.
It will likely cost about $80 each to eat there, and one classic
Banchet touch remains unchanged: The waiter will delicately ascertain
who the host of your party is - and only that person's menu will list
the prices.
Ambria
773/472-5959 or toll-free: 888/LETTUCE; fax: 773/472-9077
Belden-Stratford Hotel, 2300 Lincoln Park West, Chicago, IL 60614
Another of the Lettuce Entertain You organization's upper-echelon
restaurants, an AAA Five-Diamond Award winner. Chef Gabino Sotelino is
in charge of the kitchen here, turning out French fare with
contemporary flair. You'll find dishes such as sauteed sweetbreads on
a bed of roasted belgian endive with tomato basil sauce; rack of lamb
with potatoes dauphinoise and tarragon sauce; sautéed duck breast with
figs, shiitake mushrooms and foie gras in sherry sauce; and black bass
with fresh-fruit chutney. Add a world-class wine list, a charming room
and impeccable service.
It will probably cost about $60 for dinner if you order a la carte.
There are also several five-course tasting menus, including vegetable
and shellfish options, for $50 to $65, and an eight-course grand
degustation, for $70.
You should make your reservation four to six weeks out, although you
can do so up to three months ahead, and probably ought to if you'd
like to sit at Ambria's chef's table. Getting there will require a
taxi (3½ miles).
The Pump Room
312/266-0360; fax: 312/266-9866
Omni Ambassador East Hotel, 1301 N. State Parkway, Chicago, IL 60610
Opened 1938 by Ernie Byfield, The Pump Room is one of Chicago's
landmarks. It was, historically, the place to see and be seen (a role
now probably held by Gibson's Steakhouse or the Michael Jordan-owned
one sixtyblue). The Pump Room's celebrated Booth One was a vied-for
spot among the rich and famous who ordered a variety of viands brought
to them flaming on skewers. A huge collection of celebrity diners'
photographs decorates its foyer. But Booth One is long gone and a
great many changes have happened over the years. Last year the
restaurant underwent a change of ownership (one of several in its
history) and a $2 million restoration. The kitchen is now in the hands
of Chef Martial Noguier, whose cuisine is classically French, with a
bit of international fusion here and there.
The Gold Coast salad, a Pump Room classic, has been updated with chips
of dried pear to sweeten and add texture to the traditional greens and
blue cheese. Appetizers of sweetbreads with a ragout of enoki
mushrooms and smoked-salmon and cream-cheese terrine are new, as are
entrées such as duck breast over a mix of couscous with dried cherries
and sea bass in vegetable bouillabaisse and olive tapenade. A nod to
the restaurant's fiery past comes in form of individual baked Alaskas.
The food is exemplary; the room is elegant. Reports on service,
however, have been mixed. Dinner at The Pump Room will probably cost
about $60. It's open for breakfast and dinner daily, and lunch Mondays
through Fridays, and will be open on Labor Day. It offers live jazz
with dancing on some nights, and there are still celebrities to be
spotted there from time to time. Reserve two to three months ahead.
It's a short cab ride from the Chicon hotels (1½ miles).
Arun's
773/539-1909
4156 N. Kedzie Ave., Chicago , IL 60625
Ask many of Chicago's chefs to name their favorite eatery, and it will
be this one, Chef Arun Sampanthavivat's namesake restaurant. Its
nondescript exterior and working-class ethnic neighborhood hide a
quiet, formal interior and food that's been described at the best Thai
cuisine outside of Bangkok.
There's no menu. You pay $75 per diner, and get a 15-plus-course
dinner tailored to your tastes after the waiter quizzes you on your
preferences: "Do you like spicy?" "How adventurous are you?" "Is there
anything you don't like?" "Do you have any food allergies?" If you and
your party agree on things, you'll get a family-style feast; if
everyone has different tastes, individual selections will be served.
You might get a trio of curries: fragrant masaman beef curry, then
poached sea bass and cabbage in souplike sour curry, followed by
delicate fried catfish in a light red curry, and then a variety of
dumplings, such as light, pork-filled pockets with chili-shallot
dipping sauce, or a collection of salads, such as seafood and grilled
vegetables.
Arun's is open for dinner Tuesdays through Sundays. You should reserve
at least three or four weeks ahead, and they'll take your reservation
up to two months ahead. You need to be sure of your plans, however,
because the restaurant requires a credit-card guarantee on its
reservations, and will charge for last-minute cancellations. It's 8
miles from the Chicon hotels, so you'll need to take a taxi or have an
adventure in public transit if you don't have wheels.
In her day job, SF writer Leah A. Zeldes (a k a Leah Zeldes Smith) is
the managing editor in charge of food, entertainment and general
features for Chicago's Lerner Newspapers chain.
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