Category Archives: Illinois

Mon Ami Gabi

Posted on by

Entry

Interior

Seafood platter

Artichoke

Smoked Salmon

Mousse Pate

Mussels

Trout

NY Strip

**** (4 stars)

Lettuce Entertain You always does a good job with their concepts, and Mon Ami Gabi is no exception. Although it is one of the oldest concepts in the portfolio, it is showing no sign of age. This is probably due to its classic French Brasserie theming, which is perfect.

As others have mentioned, the French bread served at the start of the meal is 100% authentic.

We started by sharing the chilled seafood platter, which was a good deal considering all that it included, and was a perfect starter for a table of three.

The artichoke appetizer is served chilled, which isn’t my favorite, and I prefer a mayonnaise based sauce, but my companions like it. I liked my mousse pate, and it was even better with the brioche that accompanied the smoked salmon, which was also excellent.

The mussels were also good, another classic preparation.

Trout was just okay, a bit on the dry side, but my Prime New York strip was a top notch steak. As others have mentioned, the accompanying frites are unusually thin, more like ribbons than traditional pomme frites.

We finished with chocolate mousse that was light and fluffy.

The wine list is the weak spot of the restaurant. Somewhat logically it is all French. But except for some nice Champagnes there are no great wines on the list. They’ve obviously made an effort to keep prices below $200, but since the markup is about three times retail, there aren’t really any wines on the list that manage a rating above 90 points.

Service was professional and attentive.

Mon Ami Gabi
2300 N Lincoln Park W
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 348-8886
http://www.yelp.com/biz/mon-ami-gabi-chicago

Pizzeria Via Stato

Posted on by

Exterior

Bar

Interior

Caesar salad

Pepperoni pizza

**** (4 stars)

Opening another pizza restaurant in Chicago is only slightly less redundant than opening another steakhouse. But Lettuce Entertain You rarely miscalculates, and this place is another winner.

If you like thin crust–and by thin, I mean wafer thin–pizza, then Pizzeria Via Stato is the place to go. This relatively small, casual but nice restaurant is making some of the best pizza in River North.

The crispy pepperoni with fresh basil was excellent, with a cracker crisp crust, and an excellent tomato sauce, and lots of (not actually all that crispy) pepperoni, and generous fresh basil.

I also really liked the “celery” Caesar salad, which was a normal Caesar with lots of tasty croutons and an extra crunch imparted by celery. Although served on a small plate, it was a deceptively large mound, ample for sharing.

Service was professional, and there are interesting beer and cocktail selections.

Pizzeria Via Stato
620 N State St
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 642-8450
https://www.yelp.com/biz/pizzeria-via-stato-chicago

Joy Yee South

Posted on by

Exterior

Interior

Vietnamese platter

Joy Yee platter

Lemon grass chicken

Chicken vermicelli bowl

*** (3 stars)

The thing I like about Joy Yee is the vast menu, which includes Chinese, Vietnamese and a few Korean items, as well as a very extensive flavored drinks and shakes list. I’ve always enjoyed the Joy Yee in Evanston, but I didn’t think this one was quite as good. There was a bit of sameness to all the dishes, even though we tried to order very different things.

The Vietnamese Appetizer platter was a bit more interesting than the Joy Yee Appetizer platter, although the summer rolls on the Joy Yee platter were the best (and lightest) thing we tried.
Spicy Lemon Grass Chicken has almost no hint of spice or lemon grass.

The decor is… well there isn’t any decor. It’s just a white box in a strip mall with some chairs and tables scattered around.

Service was functional if not inspired, and the kitchen was very quick.

Joy Yee South
7101 183rd St
Ste 108
Tinley Park, IL 60477
(708) 468-8520
https://www.yelp.com/biz/joy-yee-south-tinley-park

Proxi

Posted on by

Bar

Interior

Burrata

Elotes

Raw tuna

Cobia

Pork Jerky

Mexican Chocolate semifreddo

**** (4 stars)

I liked Proxi, Andrew Zimmerman’s new restaurant around the corner from his stalwart Sepia. In fact, I liked Proxi considerably more than Sepia. It’s lively without being deafening, and the small plate format provides the opportunity to taste many very different and varied dishes.

The menu is more or less in three columns, vegetarian, fish and meat.

From the vegetarian column of the menu, we loved the grilled sourdough that came with the burata, and the Asian take on corn elotes was also spot on.

From the fish column of the menu, raw tuna incorporated a lot of nice flavors, and was inventively served with a sorbet. The cobia in curry sauce was also very good.

The meat column was a bit less successful. The pork jerky was pretty good, but the short rib in curry didn’t have much flavor beyond everyday pot roast, save for the very spicy peppers on top.

For dessert, the Mexican chocolate semifreddo was very tasty; I’m a sucker for cinnamon with chocolate. However the meaning of semifreddo seems to have been lost somewhere along the line, as it was frozen rock solid.

Service was fine, although there were long pauses at various times, partly due to the disconnect between a server taking the order and others delivering it and clearing plates, and partly just due to a lot of business.

The only thing I really disliked was the wine list. Why someone would decide they need fifty wines from France’s Loire Valley and NO wines from anywhere else on the planet is beyond me. The wines from the Loire are fine, but they are limited in style. I could pick six to ten wines that would reflect the entire scope of the region. That leaves forty others that could better be replaced by other varietals and styles from around the world… just like a real wine list. In fact, although I liked the food, this bizarre wine list would be a serious stumbling block to me returning very often to an otherwise very good restaurant.

Proxi
565 W Randolph St
Chicago, IL 60661
(312) 466-1950
https://www.yelp.com/biz/proxi-chicago-3

Chez Moi

Posted on by

Exterior

Chicken

Skate Wing

Interior

Mussels

Mushroom soup

Escargot in pastry!

Gateau Breton Salidou

***** (5 stars)

What a delightful experience we had here on a Monday night. The reason that detail is important is that on Monday wine bottles are half price! That made the bottles of Puligny Montrachet and Chateau Segla excellent deals, and they were both superb.

The menu is typical French bistro food, and is well executed.

We started with the mussels, which were good, and it was nice that the appetizer portion came with the same side of frites as an entree would have.

We followed with the mushroom soup and the escargot in pastry. Both were good, but needed a bit of extra salt, which we added.

The roast chicken was just okay, but my special, the skate wing, was wonderful–perfectly seasoned and complex.

But the real reason for my five-star review is the dessert. Twenty-five years ago I had the best dessert of my life at a restaurant that is long since closed. It perfectly combined the six magical elements: hot and cold, sweet and bitter, crunchy and chewy. For twenty-five years I’ve been searching for a dessert as good, and I finally found it at Chez Moi. If you have nothing else, be sure to order the Gateau Breton Salidou. It’s like a crumb cake, served in a pool of bitter caramel, topped with vanilla ice cream and a sprig of rosemary. You will spend a long time looking for another dessert this good.

Service was friendly, and the chef/owner was a marvelous host. Highly recommended.

Chez Moi
2100 N Halsted St
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 871-2100
http://www.yelp.com/biz/chez-moi-chicago

Mexique

Posted on by

Exterior

Interior

Ceviche

Corn chowder with chorizo

Caper guacamole beef tartare

Black bean risotto and skate wing

Corn

Pork belly mole

Duck

Poached pear and ice cream

***** (5 stars)

I’ve had lots of Asian-inspired Mexican food, and Lots of French-inspired Asian food, but this is the first time I’ve had French-inspired Mexican food, and boy, was it good!

The food is nothing short of spectacular, and defies all your expectations for either Mexican or French cuisine. It’s Mexican-influenced modern dining.

The essential thing is to get the tasting menu. It offers six of the menu’s highlights in small portions that give you an idea of the vast range of the kitchen’s skills. On off-nights, or if you go early enough, you can ask for an eight-course tasting menu that is even better.

The people around us were ordering two courses each, and the servings were huge, and ended up costing almost as much as what we paid to taste our way through much of the menu.

The wine list is quite short, but the selections are reasonably priced and perfectly chosen to accompany the food. Our server was extremely knowledgeable about the wines, and did our wine pairings herself. Each wine perfectly matched the accompanying course. I can’t remember such a consistently excellent set of pairings. And yes, there were eight wines to match the eight courses, with about a two-ounce pour of each.

At $80 for the six-course ($100 for the 8-course) tasting menu, it’s a great deal. And the $40 wine pairing ($50 for 8) is a no-brainer.

The sleek space seats at least fifty, and the quietest tables are toward the front.

Mexique
1529 W Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
(312) 850-0288
http://www.yelp.com/biz/mexique-chicago

mfk

Posted on by

Bar

Interior

Ceviche

Aguachile

Bread service for two

Crunchy prawn heads

Sardines (special)

Coquettes

Fideos

“Tortilla”

Basque cake

**** (4 stars)

If you don’t like little fishes such as sardines and anchovies you should stop reading now.

Still with me? mfk is definitely all about the style of fish you would find in the Basque region. It’s a lot like the pinchos we had in Bilbao. Nearly all of the plates are sized for sharing, so expect to order two or three per person, depending upon size and appetite.

The best items we tried were the ceviche and the aguachile. Both incorporated really fresh raw fish. Croquettes were also good.

The fideos was a good pasta dish, but it’s hard not to end up with very soft pasta when it is this thin. The dish we liked the least was the tortilla espanola, which had nothing to do with tortillas. It was basically a very fishy salt cod omelet.

The Basque cake was voted one of the best desserts in Chicago, but we didn’t find it all that special. Actually it seemed kind of dried out, but maybe that was just our piece.

Pricing is reasonable. There is a limited selection of wines, but they are perfect matches for this type of food.

Service isn’t at a fine dining level, with servers shuffling your used utensils from dirty plates to fresh ones, but it is adequate.

As others have noted, it only takes one loud person to make this very small restaurant very noisy.

mfk
432 W Diversey Pkwy
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 857-2540
http://www.yelp.com/biz/mfk-chicago-2

Cherry Circle Room

Posted on by

Entry

Interior

Pretzel

Foie gras

Tuna tartare

Caviar

Grilled Octopus

Simple green salad

Caesar salad

Mussels

Leg of lamb

Leg of lamb

Cauliflower gratin

Carrot cake

Chocolate and mint

***** (5 stars)

The term “hidden gem” is overused, but is the perfect description of the Cherry Circle Room. Hidden away at the very, very, back of a very, very rowdy second-floor space in the Athletic Club (not a club anymore), this oasis of calm recalls fine dining of the Mad Men era, except that the restaurant and its cuisine are far newer.

First off, the wine list is one of the best in town, with great producers and a broad selection, if not a lot of depth of vintages. Best of all, pricing is reasonable, and there are some real gems for those who explore.

We started with a pretzel baguette, a perfect choice to prep for that first taste of wine. Then we moved on to some appetizers.

The foie gras pate was an absolute home run, an elegant ribbon studded with interesting accompaniments and served with the perfect toast points. This was the best dish in a very fine meal.

The caviar was a reasonable portion of superb osetra, made all the better by the reasonable $30 cost. The presentation is interesting although I don’t think it improved the caviar. It’s served atop what is essentially an omelet sphere filled with runny egg yolk.

Big Eye Tuna was another good appetizer, not quite a tartare or a poke, but something in between.

Grilled octopus was very tender, and served in a Spanish tapas style sauce. I would have liked a bit more char on the octopus, but it was very good.

Steamed mussels were in a delicious coconut curry broth, and served with a perfect French baguette.

The simple green salad was just as it says. The Caesar salad had unfortunately succumbed to 1999’s deconstructionist trend, and was served as a whole head of romaine. Our server steered us wrong on this one, because we even asked before ordering it if it was tossed in the kitchen. Fortunately the plate was big enough to cut it up, but that’s really the kitchen’s job. I wish this fad would go away.

For our main course we shared the leg of lamb, which was perfectly cooked, carved tableside, and plated in a marvelous reduction. It was some of the best lamb I’ve had.

Desserts were a bit less to my liking, but your mileage may vary. Both were again deconstructed, and I thought would have been better not. The ingredients for a nice carrot cake were strewn across one plate, and a bowl held small bits of what could have been assembled into a mint chocolate sundae, but wasn’t. Both seemed to be priced more for their appearance than the actual content.

Service was informative and efficient, but not at the level one might expect given the old-school setting. This might be a good thing, because there was certainly no hint of snootiness, and I would be comfortable coming back to this restaurant anytime. In fact, I’m looking forward to it.

Cherry Circle Room
12 S Michigan Ave
Chicago, IL 60603
(312) 792-3515
http://www.yelp.com/biz/cherry-circle-room-chicago

LYFE Kitchen

Posted on by

Exterior

Interior

Guacamole

Buffalo chicken

Vietnamese shrimp salad

**** (4 stars)

This is a quick serve healthy concept where you order at the counter and they bring your food to the table. It’s not entirely vegetarian, but that’s the emphasis.

The guacamole appetizer was very fresh and well seasoned, although the accompanying chips are a bit on the indestructible side.

Buffalo chick is baked rather than fried. It was moist and flavorful, although the coating was much more like barbecue or chili powder than true BUffalo sauce.

The best item I tried was a special, the Vietnamese shrimp salad, which had a nice mix of romaine and arugula dressed in a vinaigrette, and a handful of shrimp in sweet Tahi chili sauce.

This location is large and airy, with lots of sidewalk seating, too.

LYFE Kitchen
413 North Clark St
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 836-5933
http://www.yelp.com/biz/lyfe-kitchen-chicago

Steak 48

Posted on by

Entry

One of many dining rooms

View from private tables in the rear

Bread-half Parmesan dill, half sea salt

Crab and avocado

Shrimp cocktail

PB&J

Crispy shrimp

Wedge salad

Small NY Strip

Small bone in filet

Creamed spinach

Mac and cheese

Asparagus fries

Brussels sprouts

Corn creme brulee

Crispy banana split

***** (5 stars)

Steak 48 is from the team that used to own Mastro’s Steakhouse. The chef is Brian Key, who previously worked at Gibson’s.

It’s a very large restaurant, on two floors with a huge bar. Some of the rooms can get quite loud, so if you don’t want that, ask to sit in a smaller room. There are three glassed in tables back by the kitchen that are fantastic.

The music soundtrack is excellent, with upbeat rock mostly from the 70s and 80s.

We started with the shrimp cocktail, which is sold by the piece; it came with cocktail sauce and mustard sauce. We also tried the crab and avocado stack, which was made more interesting by a layer of crispy wonton.

On a second visit we had the PB&J pate appetizer and the crispy shrimp (which is almost identical to Bang Bang Shrimp at Bonefish Grill). Both were excellent and were, in my view, the best appetizer choices.

Caesar salad is traditional, and definitely has anchovies blended into the dressing. The only non-traditional element is a poached egg, which we skipped.

The wedge salad isn’t exactly a wedge, it’s the whole heart of a head of iceberg lettuce.

Steaks are cooked in a 1500 degree broiler and served on 500 degree plates. Do not touch.

My bone-in small filet mignon was nicely seasoned, but cooked beyond the requested medium, and the hot plate added to that. My companion’s NY strip was a much better choice, perfectly cooked to the requested medium rare, and was actually as tender as the filet and of course much more flavorful. It was the best steak I’ve gotten at a Chicago steakhouse. Even though it was also the “small” it was a generous 12 ounces, with no wasted fat to trim off.

For sides we had the mac and cheese, which was fairly light, and the creamed spinach which was nicely smokey.

On a second visit we had the asparagus fries and the Brussels sprouts, neither of which seemed remarkable. The corn creme brulee was interesting, but is very, very sweet, more a dessert than a side.

The crispy banana split was an interesting variation on a classic, with salted caramel ice cream, luxardo flavored whipped cream, and corn flake crusted bananas.

I would rate the food as good, but not exceptional, except for that NY strip. If you’re looking for a great steak, that’s the reason to come.

The wine list has a fairly high mark up, especially on the prestige bottles, but the wines by the glass are generous pours, so they aren’t quite as expensive as they appear.

Service was incredible, especially considering the place had been open four days. It’s the reason for the five star review. It’s the best service I’ve experienced at a Chicago steakhouse by far. The bus persons were measuring the distance from the edge of the table to the silverware as they set the tables, and when clearing plates they asked how we enjoyed each course.

Our server, Nadiyah, was extremely knowledgeable and personable, and even took time out to give us a tour of the restaurant. Kudos to management for assembling such an amazing staff so quickly.

Steak 48
615 N Wabash Ave
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 266-4848
http://www.yelp.com/biz/steak-48-chicago