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No problem. If you're not really concerned about the wine, and price is more of a consideration, then you could definitely do a lot worse than Quartino. I think the Trib gave them 2 stars (out of 4), which I would agree with. The food is good to very good, but the value proposition is the key (sorry for the consultant-speak). You can get pretty decent table wine for $30 or less per liter. Also, it is loud (even by NYC standards), so it would be a good place for whooping it up with the guys.

tommy, For your purposes I think Avec might be a better option. Quartino is a great option for us locals or if you were going to be in town for a few nights, but if you're only going to be here for one night Avec is more interesting food-wise (plus a killer, but more expensive than Quartino, wine list).

Le Lan was last year's winner. Here's the entire article from last year. Edited to add: Hopefully this is just the first "Best New Restaurant" award that Alinea will be winning this year

Well, it's been a heck of a week for the guys at Schwa. First the recognition from F&W, now it's three stars from the Chicago Tribune Congrats and keep up the good work! On the downside, while before it was moderately difficult to get a weekend reservation before, I now fear that it will be almost impossible.

I don't believe I've heard anything about where Chef Matsumoto is now. I think that Chiyo still offers kaiseki, as long as you order a few days in advance. While not kaiseki, there are several other fantastic Japanese restaurants in Chicago...Tsuki, Mirai, Kaze, Katsu.

I wanted to get the smelt but I was overruled by the rest of the table. Next time...

Yeah, we wanted to stay away from the pizza. It looked good, but I didn't want to fill up on it and not be able to try other things. Maybe next time. As for valet parking, it is a great deal. I'm not sure where else you can valet park for $5. However, Friday night + cheap wine + live in the city = taxi.

It's a big-box Italian face off on State Street. In one corner, from LEYE, Osteria Via Statto. On the other corner, the newcomer from the people who brought you Gibson's and Hugo's Frog Bar, Quartino. Both are big, both are loud, but the food? I was happy on my one visit to Osteria Via Statto. I thought the food was well executed and I enjoyed only having to choose my entree. All of the other food was just brought to me. Quartino, on the other hand, involves about a million choices. The only thing just brought to you are clean plates and bread. The menu at Quartino runs the gamut from hot/cold appetizers to pizzas to crudi to carpaccio to pasta to risotto to fish to meat, with stops in between for salumi and cheese. Prices range from $2 per plate for some olives to $12 for fish. The rest of the items on the menu are generally priced between $4 and $8. Mind you these are small plates and the intent is for the diner to order quite a few, but prices are still extraordinarily reasonable for what you get. Wine is just as reasonably priced, with some pretty decent table wines served by the 1/4 liter (there's the Quartino), 1/2 liter and full liter. We did a liter of some sort of Montelpulciano for $30 and were quite happy. This after we did a half liter of the same for $15. For food, once I wrapped my mind around all of the different choices on the menu (most of which sounded pretty darn good), I decided to start us off with some salumi and cheese. We started with some soppresata and duck prosciutto. The soprpresata was good, but a bit dry. The duck prosciutto was outstanding. The meat had just enough fat to give it a nice melty mouth feel. and there was a little bit of a spicy kick in the aftertaste. We also ordered two types of cheese: a telagio and a pecorino. Both were quite good. The meats and cheese were both served with appropriate garnish. Moving on from salumi we chose three appetizers. Over the objections of the table I ordered the white anchovies in olive oil. Since I was alone on this one I only ate a bit but I enjoyed what I had (for $4, who cares?). The anchovies weren't quite as silky smooth as those at Schwa, but this was a good attempt. We also ordered the mussels, which were a complete miss. I don't think they were off, but the taste and texture were just a little to funky for everyone at the table (our waitress kindly comped the dish when we mentioned we didn't like them, a nice touch). For our third appetizer we went with the polenta fries. Mmmm, fried polenta. Hard to go wrong here. From the pasta section we ordered the house made fettuccine. The pasta was excellent, but cooked just a tad past al dente. The simple sauce of grape tomatoes and garlic was perfect for mopping up with bread (which we definitely needed more of at this point in the meal). Not wanting to leave a section of the menu untouched, we moved on to the Risotto Milanese, the Sturgeon, and the Crispy Duck Leg. The risotto was cooked perfectly, and was nice and cheesy. Prepared with pork stock the whole dish just had a nice flavor to it. Sturgeon I'm not always nuts about. I think I like it about 50% of the time that I order it. Unfortunately this sturgeon fell into the 50% that I don't really like. Just a little to dry and meaty for my tastes. The crispy duck was outstanding. The skin was perfectly crisp with just enough fat between the skin and the meat to make it interesting. The dish may have been slightly over salted, but that never really bothers me. Dessert? Why not. We had a split decision at the table between the profiteroles and the nutella panini. Clearly we ordered both. The profiteroles were two softball sized beauties covered in chocolate and shaved almonds. The nutella panini was hazelnut chocolate nutella pressed between slices of bread and toasted. The key here was mopping up the melted ice cream from the profiteroles with the panini. Welcome to flavor country my friend. We finished off the meal with some glasses on Vin Santo. The check came to about $160 for all of this food and wine (there were four of us), making Quartino a simply outstanding value. Granted, not all of the food was out of this world, the room is loud, and you are practically sitting with other people the tables are so close together. However, it is a fun place and most of the food is quite good. At least in my opinion, this round would have to go to Quartino.

Oh don't even get me started on that. Damn you Ron! How am I supposed to get any work done now? Must...stop...thinking...about...truffle milkshake.

I'm not sure about the quail, but I cannot recommend the pork dish highly enough. That being said, I'm not 100% sure it's still on the menu. As for glassware, you will be drinking wine out of tumblers. I have seen other people bring their own wine glasses.

Giant scallops. I was sitting at the counter and these giant scallops just kept on coming out of the kitchen. Chef Nobu would separate the fist-sized portion that you eat from the rest and started slicing away. Thin, pristine slivers of gorgeous scallops. Those scallops were just one part of the show at Sea Saw the other night. Thanks to Molto E's fabulous posts I decided to try Sea Saw for dinner the other night while in Scottsdale for work. I sat at the counter and had the omakase. Most of the items on the menu have already been highlighted here but some of my favorites were the oyster topped with uni, the tuna tatake, and the whitefish carpaccio (served with freshly baked bread to soak up the sauce). Back to those scallops. One of the items on the menu was the mushroom melange. I'm not a huge mushroom fan so I asked Chef to substitute something else. He asked my what I like to which I responded "anything but mushrooms." Well, he either read my mind or saw me drooling over the scallops because my substitute course was a scallop shabu-shabu. One of those gorgeous scallops, sliced thin and served raw to be dunked a hot a flavorful broth. Just outstanding. The meal finished with quite a crescendo with the final two courses of lamb and foie gras. I don't get to Scottsdale too often, but from now on Sea Saw will be a regular stop.

I'm going to be in Scottsdale tomorrow night for a meeting on Wednesday and I'm thinking about hitting Sea Saw for dinner. A few questions: 1. I'll be staying at the Mariott Suites (7325 E. 3rd Ave). Is this within walking distance from the restaurant? I think it is, but just want to check. 2. Do I need a reservation to sit at the sushi bar, or can I just walk in? 3. If I do Omakase, what is the price range and about how long will dinner take? I'd love to enjoy the experience, I just don't know if I want to spend 3 hours at dinner. Thanks.

Alright, I've got my menu now. Last night we elected to do the Tasting (12 courses) and we asked for 3 or 4 courses of the Chef's choosing to be added to our menu. Hot Potato - cold potato, black truffle, parmesan. You know it, you love it. Lamb - akudjura, nicoise olive, eucalyptus veil. The lamb and olive is both good and startling at the same time. Pine Nut - radish, balsamic, olive oil - Great transitional course. Like an early palate cleanser. Salsify - parsley, smoked salmon, steelhead row - Mostly unchanged from the last time I had it. The salsify itself was crunchier this time, but it still kept getting stuck in my teeth. Lobster - coconut, hearts of palm, yuzu. Interesting dish in that it seemed like an evolution of a few dishes that have been on the menu in the last few months. Very delicate flavors. Asparagus - egg yolk drops. For me this was an exercise in texture. The only thing I'll say is that this was very cool stuff. Foie gras - hibiscus, licorice, blueberry soda. Again, the debut of the palm bowl. Tasty and refreshing, one of the night's highlights. Pork - grapefruit, cornbread, ohio honeycomb. Mmm, pork and honey. Kobe Beef - honeydew, cucumber, lime rocks. I think I've tried to talk about this enough. Really, it defies description. One of my favorite Achatz "substantial" dishes to date, right up their with the quail with foie gras and watermelon. Yogurt - juniper, mango. This arrived at the table and brilliant me exclaims, "Ah, we've had this before. This is the yuzu." Our server gleefully responded, "No! This is frozen yogurt". I'll be quiet now and eat my yogurt. Duck - apple, onion, pillow of mace air. When I had this last on New Year's Eve, I was pretty full of both food and wine so I don't think I was able to fully appreciate this dish. Breast, confit of leg, foie gras, and crispy skin...what could be bad? Hazelnut - carrot, raisin, melted butter. The amazing, exploding melted butter. Mix it all up, good stuff. Sable - jasmine, toffee, plantain. When I saw this on the menu I thought it was fish. Turns out it was actually a cookie-dough like concoction. I really enjoyed the texture and sweet but understated flavor. Argan Oil - white chocolate, sumac. Right before this course came out I was thinking, "Boy, I could really go for some argan oil right now. That would be perfect." Sort of an interesting mid-dessert. Kind of sweet, kind of spicy. Chocolate - kola nut, chufa, date. The original chocolate ribbon. Peanut - five other flavors. I don't want to spoil this one. All I'll say is after getting the description of the dish when it was presented the thought that came to mind was, "Clever. Very clever." Again, just a perfect evening. We did wine pairings as usual, but this time went for upgrades on 4 or 5 courses which is a great way to go IMO.

I'm sitting here trying to think of how I can do justice to last night's dinner at Alinea. Sure the food and service were as good as ever, but last night just felt different. There were several new items on the menu last night that show what a high level both in terms of skill and confidence level that the kitchen at Alinea is working at right now. Let me try to give you an example, and forgive me on ingredients. I don't have my menu on hand but should have it later and I can post more details then. The Kobe beef course has changed form. The course comes out and looks a bit like a terrine. The bottom layer is comprised of little slices of melon slightly smaller than the size of postage stamps, each sliced impossibly thin. There have to be 20-30 little slices of melon, standing on edge against each other. On top of the melon are about 8 or 10 little nuggets of beef, each seared on one side. On top of the beef is one long thin (translucent) slice of cucumber. On top of the cucumber are some cilantro leaves and lime rock. Some soy sauce is then drizzled over the whole thing. The flavors in this dish are so wonderful and so complex, but none of the flavors on their own are overwhelming. If I had to choose a dish that defines the word sublime, this would be it. I just sat there in awe of what was in front of me. Other highlights included pushed foie gras with blueberry soda (which marks the debut of the "palm bowl") and an asparagus dish that features the most interesting preparation of an egg you are likely to see anywhere. Elrushbo - I don't know if you're still trying to figure out whether or not to go to Alinea, but based on last night's meal all I have to say is GO GO GO. Don't worry about all of the dishes not hitting the mark. While not every dish will blow you away, each can and should be appreciated in the context of the entire menu that you will be served. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go back to thinking about the Kobe beef.

I know. I'm just saying when I first saw the pics I said to myself, "Hm, that looks familiar". After spending more time on it, I was completely satisfied that what I was looking at was evolution/inspiration and nothing more. My only point is that this type of cuisine brings up some interesting questions/discussions, much like this one. Kind of a bonus over the food actually tasting good.

There seem to be gray areas all over the place. I'm actually surprised no one has brought this up... Now I'm not trying to call anyone out here but it does illustrate the point that with this type of cuisine it will get harder and harder over time to distinguish between inspiration and copying. For the record, I do not think Venue is guilty of anything here. Although the serving piece is the same as one used at Alinea, and discussed up-thread, the contents look different enough to avoid any charge of impropriety. This can go on and on and on...

Glad you had a great time Simon. I'm going on Saturday night and this has only gotten me more excited.

Ah, pork roll (aka, Taylor Ham), one of my favorites. One of the foods I miss most now that I live in Chicago. Especially on a roll with fried egg and cheese. Although on an English muffin with melted cheddar works too.

Interesting that only 2 of the 5 Best Chef, Midwest nominees are from Chicago this year. I think last year it was like 4 out of 5. Nice to see the selections branching out a bit. [Edited to add: Cross-posted with Ron. Great minds think alike ) I think Best New Restaurant is a 2 horse race between Alinea and Robuchon in Vegas (my money's on Alinea).

Apparently you may not have had to leave Australia to eat some of the items on the Alinea menu...

Looking at the November, 2005 food gallery I count 4 dishes that are identical to those served at Alinea. A couple more are darn close. I guess that gallery will be taken down next.

The tasting menu is still available. My girlfriend's dad had it last night.

Well, anytime I do a guys night, dinner is always meat in some way shape or form. Steakhouse, Brazilian, Argentinian, whatever. One of my favorites was the "5 Courses of Beef" dinner at a local Vietnamese place. The annual excursion to Rib Fest (street festival in Chicago where 8-10 places sell ribs and have a cook-off) is always good times too. Especially the year when they were giving away free samples of sausage. Nothing like free sausage to wash down some ribs.

In case you're still hungry after that bacon sandwich, a minor league baseball team in Illinois has created the donut sandwich. Article here I'm not sure how well this would go with a beer though

They're open for brunch on the weekend (not sure if it's just Sunday or both Saturday and Sunday), and I believe they also serve high tea during the week if you make a reservation. On the subject of the parfait, my recollection of the contents is: poached egg, smoked salmon, bacon, truffle oil, frisee. Just a whole lot of delicious in a glass.