And Amen for that. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
This fangirl concurs.
I am in Chicago a lot. The place was under my radar. Now I feel like I have to go!
JD
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You mean like a Parisian who goes to a French restaurant in Chicago and complains about it not bring the real thing?
Ouch all around.
I guess Tim really dropped a smooth move here.
I find all those prices reasonable and would happily pay those. I don’t expect retail when i buy wine at a restaurant. I get just as annoyed as others for over priced lists but I wonder sometimes what do folks on the the board think wine should cost a restaurant ? It’s a completely different business model. The prices below are pretty fair imo and bravo for having a nice selection of wines that should drink well.
If I ever get back to Chicago, I’m eating here !
Cheers
A good, and fair question. The service/mgmt was a new low in that we were virtually invisible, but for a few Latino fellas bringing our dishes, we barely saw our server, and when we did, he did not look our way, or even if he did, it was as if we were invisible - it was just odd. At the end of the day, we tried and tried and tried to get someone’s attention, anyone’s, but we could not scream loud enough. You can think I’m overstating things, or you can believe that this was my experience. It’s fact, so really, it’s not up for debate.
Re: the long time thing, I’m reminded that James Suckling has been in the business a long time, too, and that a great many people probably wouldn’t share in my opinion of him, either.
Now that I’m back home (read: not having to type - or worse, voice to text, on my smartphone), I can give a more thorough review, so here goes.
No one (our group was three, myself and a couple from out of state) looked forward to this more than I. I had visited the website several times in advance of our actual experience, and I’d been in touch with them by phone several times - to clarify dress code, corkage, etc. I was excited to go, and I even told them that on the phone. That excitement probably went up a notch when I got there and sat down to actually look at the menu/hear the specials. On its face, the menu is great, I was excited to have the food I love from an area that is most dear to me; it’s not something I can get in CO. - easily or otherwise. After I looked at the menu, I looked at the wine list. I was in love with both (but Favorita is a 8€ wine, which is to say that it’s not a 44€, ever. Ever. And the 'well everyone else is doing it, i.e. has these markups, well, that’s just hollow, and silly.
So here I am, glad to introduce my friends to a cool locals’ spot - upon arrival, I really liked the place (inside and out), and we all agreed neighborhoods across America should have this very same thing - a cool place that we can call our own. And then the wine we ordered came, and it was about 73F, or more. And then the first dish came, the Vitello Tonnato. One taste, and my heart sank. And it just got worse from there. With each dish I clung to the hope that the previous one was perhaps not the best the kitchen could offer, - I was actually making excuses for it, I wanted to believe that badly - but each dish was mediocre, at best. I cannot recall one dish that even closely approximated a traditional dish. Tourist food was the feeling I was left with, I was eating tourist food, and my heart went out to unsuspecting tourists everywhere. None of my friends in Piemonte would have taken a second bite of anything we had that night - not because it was bad, per se, but because it was a deep injustice to the dishes we know and love. To take something so simple, so traditional, and to make it different (better?), well, that’s just logic I don’t understand.
If using 5 stars, here’s how we scored things, fwiw:
Service 1.0 of 5.0 stars
Food, a range of 2.0-3.5/5.0 stars
Setting, if you’re deaf, 3.5/5.0, if you’re not, 2.0/5.0
Overall, 2.5/5.0 stars, which is to say, with as many choices as there are in the Chicago area, this one will never get revisited by any of us.
Ultimately, I paid to get frustrated - across the board - or at least that’s how I felt an hour after I left the place (at which time I wrote the OP). I felt worse about the place in the morning - because I had hoped, really hoped, that someone could do the impossible, bring some of the Langhe to America. On top of the noise and invented dishes (read: don’t, please don’t fix it if it’s not broken), I had to suffer the indignity of the service.
But, they had a great cocktail program, I’ll give them that.
All I can say is that in the two years they have been open, I have absolutely never witnessed what you have described for the service. Obviously I am always looked after(as someone who is a regular), but Aldo certainly looks after everyone when he is there. On top of that, I’ve never witnessed any of the wait staff ignoring one of their tables. It’s a small place, so it’s impossible for one of them to ignore their stations! Seriously, we’re talking about a place that holds 30-40 people per turn. I find it extremely hard to believe that you were ignored as much as you claim you were.
James Suckling he is not. Tbh is a cheap shot at someone who has never been anything but extremely kind and warm to anyone who walks in the door. He’s also meant more to the Chicago wine scene on the business end than many people realize and he routinely brings in winemakers for dinners. His relationship with many Piedmont wine makers and producers is how he’s able to pull them off.
As far as the wine pricing. Every place is at the mercy of the distributor and importer. I’m sure you will go to other places the next time you’re in Chicago and you will be paying the same or worse depending on where you eat. You also won’t be likely to find some of the more lesser known wines and producers either, or if you do, the prices will be much much more than what is being charged.
I won’t argue with you on the food as that is extremely subjective. I know that many people have utterly loved the food(me included) and that certainly includes many who have been to Piedmont on many an occasion.
The irony of it all is that this thread will actually generate business as it will now be on the map for berserkers that may want to go somewhere that isn’t in River North or the West Loop. I hope that this thread encourages that as well as there are clearly many people that are passionate about this restaurant(me included) and want people to know about it.
It sucks that you didn’t enjoy it. As someone who has been there a lot since it opened is that I have never witnessed any of what you have described.
I went to Osteria Langhe last night to celebrate a friend’s birthday. It was an informal affair, and we met at the bar at the later end of the evening.
The restaurant was buzzing. Positively alive with good weekend energy. It was not raucous. No one was shouting. But the place was packed. The outside patio - last night was simply beautiful in Chicago, an early fall night - was busy as well. Strangely, though, I could hear everything. And everyone else seemed to be able to hear too.
Typically I don’t watch people when I’m out to dinner. I’m focused on my company. But last night - in the wake of this exchange on WB - I watched tables closely.
Here was my assessment. And you can think I’m overstating things, or you can believe that this was my experience. It’s fact, so really, it’s not up for debate.
-Every table was smiling. No couples fighting. No one looking for their server. No one eyeing their wristwatches, looking for food. No one sending food back. No one sitting with arms crossed, sullen, for whatever reason. EVERY TABLE LOOKED CONTENT. Did I look at each one? I sure did.
-Servers were omnipresent. They were hustling - it was a busy night - but THEY were all smiling. Busy nights and happy customers = good tips. Why shouldn’t they smile? I watched them too. They were attentive. No one waved them down. No one was standing up, hand on forehead to shield the sun, peering to find their evasive server. I did see Latino food runners. They were running food.
-My food was glorious. What I love about OL is how predictably wonderful the plin is. I go, each time, and order this dish. And each time, the tiny pillows of La Tur pop in my mouth and the pasta is perfectly cooked and I marvel silently at the consistency and constancy. My carne crudo was on point. The right temperature. The right texture. Simply gorgeous. Evocative of Piemonte evenings on the terrace? Maybe. But so good. And the porchetta was simply unreal. Rustic and delicate at the same time. Hits across the board.
-We had a bottle of wine. I’m sure it had a markup attached. Unsurprisingly, it felt as if it had been stored right around 58 degrees or so. We drank it happily.
-When we left the restaurant, people were lingering. They were still smiling. The energy was still positive. The servers were all in plain sight. People looked pleased, suffering through the indignity of service with full bellies and empty plates. I don’t know how we all got through it last night, but somehow we did, and i can’t wait to return to suffer through it again.
Keith, I am not comparing Aldo to JS, I merely said that because some trotted out the ‘he’s an industry vet’, which carries zero water with me. I’ve no doubt, none at all, that Aldo is far more competent than the aforementioned.
As to the list prices, I found them average to good. My point was that things like Favorita and Erbaluce, while these can be quite nice are just not $45-$50 whites - to me! To the uneducated (read:90++% of the people that come to Aldo’s place, or all restaurants, perhaps, it’s just fine, they don’t know, they don’t want to know, they just want to enjoy. And this is our system here, it’s as good as it’s going to get. Which is very, very sad, again, to me.
As to the overall experience I had there, I’ll say it’s a one-off, things happen. I will however, never return, because I just don’t agree with Plin that is made to taste like cheese manicotti, etc., etc.
Regarding the publicity/irony, yes, I’ve no doubt most (and yelp is most… I choked when someone trotted that out to support their argument/position) here will enjoy this place, a lot.
I wish Aldo the best. I liked the place, a lot, until it unraveled, for whatever reason, it unraveled, and it began with the very first wine and the very first dish.
I think this can/should be put to rest now. I’m glad the locals like their place. Really, I am.
Tim, although we still have different opinions on OL, I am glad you came back and explained your thoughts. I think that had your second post been your first, this thread probably would not have blown up. That said, I cannot claim to have never fired off a similar post after a disappointing experience.
Oh, yeah, I forgot to never open Tim’s threads. Now I’ll remember.
Somehow I have the feeling that if I were a server faced with TH’s tone … I might not be totally attentive either but that’s just me.
Well said.
George
I went a few months ago. Perfectly average. Inoffensive but no rush to go back. I had no complaints just found everything average.
I think Tim made it very clear that he came in with enthusiasm and a positive attitude.
And…
Plin for the Win!
What a joke.
Bumpity, bump. Visiting friends and he make the reservation. Brought in two bottles, no problem with corkage ($25.00). Excellent meal with white truffle options which all of us took. Great food and service. More of a neighborhood place than one of the country’s top Italian restaurants but, none the less, good enough to make us want to return.
JD