Hi Dan,
From memory…Bristol $25. maple and ash $50. We went to Vie Saturday and ate at the bar. Corkage was $25 for the first 2 then $35 after that. I thought that was interesting.
Bristol sounds like the same as in the past and reasonable. Been wanting to try Maple and Ash but $50 is pretty damn steep and puts me off a bit…
Dan,
From experience, they REALLY don’t want you to BYOB. I did and regretted it. Outside of uncorking our bottle, we had take care of ourselves and they weren’t all that friendly about our BYO, which for $50 just doesn’t seem right.
Went to the Blanchard again this weekend to give it a second chance. My mom always told me (and she knew her food and restaurants) a second chance if you thought they just had an off night. The service was better. Still a bit sluggish but they were very, very busy. We had a great waitress as opposed the less than enthusiastic waiter before. The food was outstanding. And the bottle of 1990 LLC we brought was right on point, too. Lots of dark fruits, a hint of leather and a fabulous steely, graphite structure. Mid 90s for those keeping score. Wish it wasn’t my last bottle. Drink up if you like, it isn’t going anywhere soon but I don’t think it is going to improve much, either.
JD
Went to Smyth last night. Absolutely phenomenal meal. Great space, excellent service (some of staff came from Grace). This place has been open a week and already amazing. Chef said he felt “rusty”. If that is the case I can’t wait to see what he can do moving forward. $135 tasting menu only now. Going to offer a bigger tasting menu $225 in the future. Small wine list but $25 corkage!! Tickets only.
Go now!
George
Re The Blanchard— WOW… in Chicagobusiness.com…
Blanchard owner alleges chef stole $548,000
The majority owner of the fine-dining Lincoln Park French restaurant the Blanchard has filed suit against executive chef and minority partner Jason Paskewitz, alleging the chef diverted more than $548,000 for personal use.
In the suit filed yesterday in Cook County Circuit Court, Richard Duffy seeks an injunction that would bar Paskewitz from having check-signing authority of the restaurant’s bank accounts, force him to stop using the restaurant’s funds for personal use and transfer control of bank accounts, bookkeeping systems and cash handling to Duffy.
As a result of Paskewitz’s alleged mismanagement of restaurant funds, the Blanchard faces “a current cash-flow crisis,” in which the restaurant owes more than $80,000 in state and local taxes, the suit says. Duffy claims the restaurant doesn’t have the funds on hand to make those payments.
After months of requesting Paskewitz turn over records, Duffy hired an accountant to inspect the company’s books, according to the suit. The accountant uncovered a pattern of questionable transactions, including:• Checks totaling $161,972 written by Paskewitz to himself, his current wife, his ex-wife and his babysitter.
• Debit charges totaling $61,478.78 for personal items purchased from Barney’s of New York, Bloomingdale’s Sports Authority, Chicago Children’s Museum, Prada, and 578 separate charges from Monsignor Murphy’s, a bar in the Lakeview neighborhood.
Well, I kinda think ownership was insufficiently confrontational here, to say the least.
Will there be a “Chefs Gone Wild” PPV?
Omg - that’s crazy. Sounds like slack management to not notice until that level of loss … Though fights between owners and chefs are always nasty.
Was at Blanchard last Saturday night. Meh at best. They were terribly busy, outside was packed. Service was very slow… Server said printer in kitchen broke so nothing printed for 20 min… She seemed to suggest the kitchen didn’t notice? ![[wow.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/7/7d450e9830889c8943b674446a21b7254cad657e.gif "wow"){kind=small}
Food was fine. Bouillabaisse was bad. Should have sent it back but we were tired of waiting.
George