Adding on to the Virtue posts above, the Executive Chef, Erick Williams, just won a Beard award for best chef in the Great Lakes region.
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Very excited to finally get back to Parson’s Chicken for their frozen negronis. They are SO good! I didn’t realize that they have multiple locations now.
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Virtue did not disappoint. Amazing food and loved the atmosphere.
I had the summer squash w/red field peas and fried okra, my husband had the shrimp & crawfish w/grits.
We also shared the biscuits w/pimento cheese and mac & cheese.
So good!!!
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Thanks for reporting back and for the great pic.
ate at prime last nite, 10oz filet oscar was fabulous
2 recent meals. We had a small group at RPM Seafood. All the food was wonderful. Service was excellent as always.
Thursday night my wife and I celebrated our anniversary at RPM Steak. Again fantastic experience. I had 2 servings of their Japanese beef. 1 3oz of the snow beef and another 3 oz serving of another one (Forgot the origin). The best meat I’ve ever had.
Going to be in Chicago twice in the next 6 weeks. The first trip we’ll only be in town one night and have Sepia booked. The second time we’re looking at Boka (open for any other suggestions in that general area of town). We really need a spot for Sunday brunch/lunch prior to a wedding that evening. We’re staying in the Loop. Thanks in advance!
Sepia is fantastic, you’ll love it. There are several incredible restaurants in that immediate area, and all the way down Randolph into the west loop (past the highway). You’ll have a hard time finding anything bad, which sounds crazy, but truly the food on Randolph is at a level where anything mediocre won’t make it long. Boka is great and worth a trip. Also close by is Alinea, but you need tickets. Alinea is the top of the top for Chicago, and a spot worth visiting at least once (very pricey). For brunch, there are tons of great options, and I think Longman and Eagle is a great choice (for dinner too for that matter). It’s Logan Square, so an Uber ride, but not a long one. When you come to Chicago you need to get out to some of the neighborhoods - the loop is fine, but there’s so much more to see, especially on the weekend when the loop is pretty dead, and places like Logan are alive and well.
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Had a good meal at Elske on Friday. Haven’t been since before the pandemic but I would say it is pretty much at the same level. Have always enjoyed it there as it is a bit different. Also, had another phenomenal lunch on Saturday at Andros.
George
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Elizabeth is closing in December
Recently visited Chicago, and ate had some fantastic food while there.
Kumiko
First night in town we went to Kumiko. Just such a relaxing space to be in, and the exact sort of vibe I look for in a place. We had the Miso Soup, a Hen of the Woods dish, Scallop Hamachi, and a Milk Toast and Truffle dessert. All fantastic stuff. Don’t remember what all was in our cocktails, but the rum martini, Negroni variation, sazerac, and clarified milk punch were some of my favorite cocktails I’ve ever had.
Claudia
What a treat. Seafood focused tasting menu, that had some high points right up there with the best meals I’ve ever had. Highlights were the foie gras wrapped in tuna & potato caviar thing that came in the bento box, a lobster dish that came with a umeboshi hollandaise, a ham and pork dish surf and turf dish, and a mushroom-dashi tea that may be the best broth I’ve ever had. Bread service was also fantastic.
Wine list was smaller, but we opted for the reserve pairing so I didn’t look through it too hard. It included Marc Hebrart ‘Mes Favorites Vieilles Vignes’ champagne, 2021 Gut Oggau ‘Theodora Weiss’, 2021 Nicolas-Jay Estate Pinot Noir, 2020 Domaine Ferret Pouilly-Fuissé, 2016 Chateau Musar, and Pérez Barquero La Cañada Pedro Ximénez 25yr. All the wines were delicious and paired very well with the food.
Service was spectacular, our waiter, the chef, and the somm all spent time talking to us at the table about the meal. Wished we could have stayed for longer.
Final note, Pequod’s is fucking awesome.
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Thanks for the reviews and the photography.
Claudia isn’t my sort of place, but you made it look great. I used to the restaurants that previously inhabited the space: Takashi and Scylla (Stephanie Izard pre-Top Chef).
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Takashi was the shit. I used to eat his food when he was at Ambria. Sucks this city can’t support such a great chef.
WE had a pretty pretty good dinner at S.K.Y. 2 weeks ago. Very corkage friendly. Any extremely friendly and accommodating staff. Food was delicious and interesting.
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New to Chicago (and the forum) and wanted to thank everyone in the thread for their recommendations. Did a staycation with my fiancée since we couldn’t find reasonable flights anywhere warm and with that came trying out some new (to us) Chicago restaurants. Some thoughts in no order below:
Roister - chicken dish was really good, though we had lots of leftovers of that and the fried potato wedges which we ordered as our shared entree/side. The aged cheddar rillettes to start were tasty, but the highlight of the meal was the baked tomato soup, which comes with a big puff pastry dome on top. We had a bottle of R. López de Heredia Rioja Reserva Viña Bosconia 2011, which was a good compromise for our tastes.
Andros Taverna - started with the mezze, which they kindly accommodated our dietary restrictions. Then had the whole turbot, deboned table-side, which had a delicious lemon-y flavor alongside the spanakopita (which made for great leftovers the next day). Really great food, wouldn’t hesitate to go back.
Sushi-san - our favorite sushi spot in the city, we go once a month. The spicy tuna aburi is the perfect combination of spicy, fresh fish and warm+crispy rice. The nigiri is great, but if you go definitely try the hand rolls (my personal favorite is the scallop). Plus they have great cocktails.
Bob’s Pizza - ordered delivery and got one of their mortadella+pickle pizza and one cheese. The mortadella added a nice saltiness to the pickle and garlic sauce, though it’s heavy. The dough is fantastic (coming from someone whose favorite food is NYC pizza), though the crust can be a bit large in places.
Irene’s Diner - classic diner atmosphere to go with with perfect diner food.
Welcome to Chicago (and the restaurant thread).
New Chicago restaurant from the team that brought you Andros Taverna.
Opens soon.
George
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My wife and I are making very last-minute trip this Friday to see the Maria Schneider Orchestra at Orchestra Hall (~200 S Michigan Ave). The concert is at 8pm.
I’m looking for suggestions for an early dinner. Our budget is “Oregon single vineyard”, i.e. $50-$100/per person before drinks/tip/tax. We are omnivores.
The Gage has a 5:15 opening, but we’ve been there a couple of times.
We will probably eat at MingHin for on Saturday before heading back home.
Let me know if you have any suggestions. Thanks!
Patrick
Cherry Circle Room is a short walk to the concert and they have a great wine list if you’re so inclined. Food is good+, not great.
Thanks. We could expand the radius to a 15 min Uber ride away, if that helps.
15 minute Uber ride opens up a lot, including River North, west Randolph Street and Fulton Market. Dozens of excellent restaurants.
One of the most fun, reasonable cost restaurants down there (for me) is Gaijin in Fulton Market (okonomayaki and other casual Japanese options). Not much for wine, but well executed, including okonomayaki served on a hot flattop on the table
Around the corner from Symphony Center is Russian Tea Time, a good Eastern European restaurant with vodka flights that make up for what the food lacks (I recall some Eastern European wines on their list). Fortunately, it’s stumbling distance to Symphony Center. If it matters in your decision making, the owners are Ukrainian Jews, not Russians
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