Non-alcoholic pairing

Wine pairing and Downton Abbey menu

Profiterole

Yorkshire pudding

Goat’s milk and green apple sorbet

Squab

Pork belly and pumpkin

Langustine

Spaghetti squash and kale

Salmon

Bread and tartare

Foie gras crudite

“Porridge”

Oyster with grapefruit

Salmon roe and crab

Interior

***** (5 stars)

Elizabeth offers some of the better fine dining food in Chicago in a more casual environment than most of the top-rated restaurants. Unlike the formal dining rooms at Alinea and Grace, or even the stylish space at Oriole, dining here is more rustic, with individual rough-hewn tables in a space that includes the kitchen. While the food is not quite at the caliber of those other places, it is better than at 42 grams, and the individual tables create a more intimate experience than the counter there. The soundtrack also adds to the ambience, with mostly 70s hits, intermixed with some modern cuts.

The tasting menu we enjoyed was lightly themed to Downton Abbey, although aside from a Yorkshire pudding (served at dessert!) there were few foods the Downton Abbey characters would have recognized. Each course was beautifully presented, and even courses with many ingredients used each one to full advantage. I felt the vegetable courses early in the meal were the best, and that the larger savory courses and several desserts weren’t quite as good, but a lot of that is personal taste.

The wine pairing is an excellent choice here, and each wine matched its course well. The non-alcoholic pairing matched even better, and was a fun mixture of juices and teas in exotic combinations.

Service is a team effort, and is busy, effective, not stiff, but also not the finely tuned machine you’d find at Alinea or Grace. That’s fine, as that sort of service simply wouldn’t fit in to the relaxed atmosphere here.

Elizabeth Restaurant
4835 N Western Ave
Unit D
Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 681-0651
https://www.yelp.com/biz/elizabeth-restaurant-chicago

Fall menu 2016

Working together

“Coffee”

Whiye chocolate with citrus filling

Sweet potatoes gelato, date cake

Flax crisp, jam, cheese

A5 wagyu

Pork

Pheasant

Egg, oba, uni

“Lobster mushroom”

Jake

Crab, squash, speck

Foie gras, finger lime, crispy rice noodles

Jake and Alexa at work

Exterior

Kitchen/counter

Interior

***** (5 stars)

42 grams provides a unique dining experience that is visually stunning, impressive, and, most importantly, fun.

Unlike other restaurants that feature a chef’s counter where you can watch multiple chefs prepare your meal, 42 grams is a tour de force of one person, Chef Jake. Every bite is prepared from scratch, as you watch. From the first ingredient (and there were many in each of the eleven courses of the fall 2016 menu) to the last bite of dessert, you see everything created before you. It’s like watching an elaborate ballet to see it so perfectly timed. And the results are stunningly beautiful.

Of course this only works for a small number of diners, and the counter is limited to eight. With enough warning, a private party of ten can be accommodated at a table, but the counter and table are never used at the same time.

Alexa, Jake’s, wife, provides a delightful history of the couple, the place, and insightful commentary on each course.

A liquor license is in the works, but as of this writing it is BYOB. I loved the fact that advance wine recommendations were provided by email, and that ice bucket and wine opener were already set up for each couple.

42 grams is a very special experience you won’t find elsewhere, and is definitely worth checking out.

42 grams
4662 N Broadway
Chicago, IL 60640

https://www.yelp.com/biz/42-grams-chicago

Smyth: carrots cooked in beef fat with beef fat donut

Smyth: Tomato dessert

Smyth: Duck tongue cooked two ways

Smyth: Squab

Interior of Smyth

**** (4 stars)

Smyth is in the same class as Next, Oriole and Alinea. That’s some tough competition. The space is gorgeous, with a quiet but open kitchen along the back, and a large open dining room. The soundtrack is great, and at just the right level. So I’d rate it above the cramped Next, rustic, Oriole and stuffy Alinea.

Service was terrific. Each course was presented by a different chef, and the wine pairings were presented by a very personable sommelier. Front desk staff was also very welcoming, making the whole experience quite pleasant.

It’s the food that doesn’t quite live up to those competitors. True, you never know what you’re going to get at Next, but at Oriole and Alinea you can rely upon every component of every dish blending together in eye opening perfection. That was not the case here.

This is definitely a menu for adventurous eaters, with courses such as duck tongue presented two ways.

There were certainly some excellent individual components in the various courses (of which there were more than a dozen, counting the amuse bouches). But no single course every quite came together seamlessly. The Squab was delicious, but not improved by its accompaniments, the puree on which the lamb sat was exquisite, but the very vinegary black garlic sauce clashed, and an egg yolk and cream dessert would have been just as good without the egg.

The first few wines (of nine) in the pairing were a bit out there, but the latter wines were better than the pairings at the above mentioned restaurants, and an amaro went particularly well with one of the desserts.

For a restaurant open only a few weeks I was very impressed by Smyth. At over $500 for two people with the wine pairings, tax and gratuity I think it’s fair to expect a bit more, and I imagine that given a bit of time they will deliver on that promise.

Smyth
177 North Ada St
Chicago, IL 60607
(773) 913-3773
https://www.yelp.com/biz/smyth-chicago