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I'll give you my standard answer to this question. If you don't envision yourself going back to Alinea for awhile (if at all), then get the Tour. If you think you'll be back, go for the shorter menu. Personally, I prefer to get the shorter menu and allow the kitchen to add a few courses of their choosing.

Not to nitpick your post (which I generally agree with), but Mindy Segal made a name for herself at mk, not Blackbird. And Sam Mason was the pastry chef at WD50, not Sam Tailor. So maybe they're not all rock stars after all!

Bonsoiree is a new restaurant that has gotten a lot of love on LTH, but no mention so far here on eGullet. That needs to change. I had a really enjoyable meal at Bonsoiree on Friday night. Although the menu only gives the options of 3 or 7 courses, our waiter let me and my dining companion know that there was also a 5 course menu available for $50. Although we would both have to choose the same items for our tasting menu, we decided to just go with it. We started with 2 appetizers, the gnocchi with rabbit and sage and the kampachi tartare. Like I said, the gnocchi was ridiculous. The past was perfectly light and airy, the rabbit tender and flavorful and a gorgeous sauce that just pulled the whole dish together. I could have easily eaten a giant bowl of this for a main course. The kampachi was also quite good. The fish was pristine fresh, and there weren't too many flavors on the place competing with it. Served with a little cracker and some wasabi tobiko, this was another really nice starter. For our main courses, our first was the lamb served with a tortilla with manchego cheese. The lamb was sliced and served a perfect medium rare. The lamb actually tasted lamb-y, so that was really nice to see. The tortilla was actually the surprise of the plate. While I was expecting a little mini-quesadilla (I'm not really sure why), it was actually more like a gratin, layers of tortilla and manchego. Just different and delicious. For our other main we had the sliced flank steak. This dish was the closest thing to a miss we had all night. Although our server told us the steak had been marinated, I could really pick anything up, so it was a bit bland and a bit tough (but nicely cooked). The meat was definitely improved by an onion sauce and some heirloom tomato salsa that were also on the plate. The starch with this one need some help. The menu advertised "wasabi mashed potatoes". First I had to groan because I mean come on, wasabi mashed potatoes. Really? But putting that aside, they were really just mashed potatoes with a whole bunch of horseradish in them. They were tasty, but a bit one-dimensional, and not nearly as interesting as just about everything else we ate. Dessert was bread pudding which was delicious and just the right amount. Service was friendly and efficient, and the restaurant just has an overall nice feel to it. If I lived closer, I would be at this restaurant all of the time. Side question...is this the old Savoy Truffle space? Bonsoiree 2728 W. Armitage Ave. (773) 486-7511

You can get it at the Trotter's to Go on Monroe between Franklin and Wells. You used to be able to get it at the State Street Marshall Fields (now, who knows). I feel like I've seen it a few other places, but can't think of any at the moment.

If anyone would like me to lead a tour of crappy sushi restaurants in the area of Clark/Broadway/Diversey just let me know. I've got 3 fantastic examples to share with the group. In all seriousness, I think some sort of crawl or dinner in Chinatown or on Argyle would be great. Anything else is going to be completely dependent on how many people will ultimately be coming.

Chef, Best wishes on a full and speedy recovery. Beat this thing down! All the best, Josh

Now that might actually get me to one of these things

Metromix is definitely selective on what kind of reader reviews they will post. The way to guarantee that your review gets posted is to follow this format: "My [boyfriend/girlfriend] went to [name of restaurant] and had an AMAZING experience. The food was supper yummy and the drinks were GREAT. I [or "my girlfriend"] loved the food, but my boyfriend [or "I"] thought the portions were too small."

I'll second the recommendation for Webster's Wine Bar if you're looking for wine. They have a great list and a really knowledgeable staff.

Great report tammy. I'll add a few of my thoughts... The skate & popcorn was definitely my least favorite course of the night. First, I can't stand popcorn as a flavoring on other foods (even though I really like popcorn in its original form) and I thought the popcorn taste, at least on my plate, was very pronounced. Also, I thought the skate itself was a bit dry. Oh well, I never like the skate at Alinea either. Maybe my brain just can't handle anything beyond the traditional preparation for this fish. The pork was ridiculously good. Just insane. I thought the pasta & quail was the most interesting dish we had. Maybe not the most delicious (but it was pretty damn tasty), but very interesting. Fruit & bubbles was probably my second favorite of the night. I was at Pastoral on Sunday looking for that cheese, but no luck (but I did have a pretty kick-ass pate sandwich, so it wasn't a total loss). The "nachos" still blow my mind. The comparisons to Alinea are inevitable. Here's how I see them stacking up. If Alinea's food is a 10, then moto is about an 8. Of course that's based on one visit and only having the 10 course menu, but hey, it is what it is. Where Alinea is far superior to moto is service and atmosphere. See, here's the thing, moto isn't cheap. Including wine, tax and tip, our dinner came out to about $200-$220 per person. At that level, there's really no excuse for any simple special requests to be ignored or forgotten. Also, given the creativity of the food, I thought that the room itself needs something to make it more interesting. I'm not sure what it is, but I just felt like I was eating in a plain old restaurant. All in all, a great experience. I can't wait to go back for a GTM.

Moderator's note: These posts were split off from the planning topic, which was deleted. -- CA tammylc was taking notes so I'll leave her to post more of the details, but I just wanted to report back that I was very pleasantly surprised by our dinner at Moto last night. I went in with measured expectations, slightly concerned about encountering too much "gimmickry". My fears were unfounded, this was an outstanding meal. While we only did the 10 course last night, I will definitely need to go back (soon hopefully) for the GTM. More to come later...

Because I'm a stats geek, I had to look into the whole Detroit housing cost issue. According to the National Realtor Association the median existing home price in Detroit for 2005 was $162,100. Report here

If you're going to do Avenues, the chef's bar is a lot of fun. If you're worried about Avenues being too "similar" to Alinea, don't worry because it's not. A lot of media liked to lump Avenues and Alinea together in the whole "Chicago molecular gastronomy" thing. They're really two very different experiences, and it should be interesting for you to eat at one right after the other.

Is there some kind of early-bird special that I'm unaware of? ← Schwa is extremely small (only seats about 30 people), and extremely popular. It is to the point where weekend nights are booked 2 months in advance. On a few days notice, your chances of getting a reservation just aren't that good.

Well, I think your best chance at any of the 3 would be to snag a cancellation (particularly at Schwa where your chances of getting a reservation right now for Friday night is 0.00000001%). I say go to whichever one you can get in to. All are very good.

My favorite place near Second City is Salpicon. Nicely done high-end Mexican (honestly, I prefer it to Topolobampo). They also have a nice tequila list, which is perfect for getting warmed up for Second City. Saplicon www.salpicon.com 1252 N Wells St (312) 988-7811

I'm not sure I buy into this whole thing, but the closest examples I can come up with here in Chicago are Avec and Schwa. Unless I completely misunderstand this whole thing, which is more than likely.

Are you working here this summer?

Well, they're certainly not one of the top restaurants in Chicago, but I don't think that's the space they're trying to play in. If anything, I would agree with this statement from GAF: I would argue that over time they will find that "distinctive niche", as they are further down the path than when I was there last summer. Like I said, it's a nice night out. To be more specific, a great place for something a little bit upscale but not quite to the level of a Naha or a Blackbird.

We went to May Street Market on Saturday night for a friend's birthday. This place has improved significantly from my first visit last summer. For my appetizer I started with rabbit ravioli with English peas, fava beans and a poached quail egg. Two ravioli were served on the side of the plate, completely unadorned. The rest of the ravioli were served in the center of the plate with the aforementioned peas, fava beans and quail egg along with a delicious sauce. I thought it was a pretty bold choice by the kitchen to let a couple of the ravioli stand on their own, but it worked well. The ravioli themselves were delicious, and when combined with all of the other elements they got even better. For my main course I had a special of soft shell crab served with peppercorns, tomatoes and some greens. The crab was delicious, perfectly fresh. The peppercorns really added a nice note to the dish and combined well with the crab. My only quibble is that the dish was served with just a single (and not very large) soft shell crab. Dessert was vanilla semifreddo with some chocolate ganache, caramelized bananas and caramel sauce. It doesn't sound like it, but this was actually a really nice not too heavy way of ending the meal. As much as the food had improved, the service may have improved even more. Our waitress was friendly, knowledgeable and knew when to leave us to our conversation. Finally, I thought the meal was actually a pretty good value. For four of us, the final bill came to $235 after tax but before tip. This included a bottle of wine, a cocktail, three appetizers, four main courses and two desserts. I would definitely go back and would recommend May St Market for anyone looking for a nice night out.

I still don't understand how anyone can walk out of Alinea hungry, especially after having the Tour. mukki - don't worry about it. Go in with an open mind and enjoy. I've loved each and every one of my meals at Alinea.

Oh man, it all comes back to Kaze It's not that I don't like Kaze, I do. The fish is great. I just don't like all the stuff that goes on the fish.

We went to Aigre Doux tonight. I thought it was good, but I don't think it lived up the hype it's been getting (3-stars in the Trib, Best New Chef in Chicago Magazine, etc.) I started with an appetizer of white asparagus, truffle poached egg, banon, and brioche. The asparagus was wonderful and probably could have benefited from a more basic preparation. The truffle poached egg did give the dish a nice richness and mixed well with the vinaigrette that the dish is prepared with. I also had a few bites of the hamachi and avocado salad, which may have been a hair better than my asparagus appetizer. For my main course I had the maple glazed duck breast. While the flavors were quite good (the maple glaze was excellent, and the various spices used in the preparation of the dish made for some interesting flavors), the actual cooking of the duck was poorly executed. The breast was cooked a bit past my desired medium-rare, but the fat hadn't really been rendered from under the skin and the skin itself was on the rubbery side. On the plus side, the duck came with some wild rice that was really good. For dessert I had the much-lauded sticky toffee pudding. Meh. Sweets and Savories does a far superior version. In fact, I didn't find it to be all that sticky...really just a sweet cake type thing. I'm probably being a bit more negative about this meal than it actually was. Don't get me wrong, overall I thought there were some pretty cool flavors going on here. Service was also very professional. I guess the thing is...I consider Blackbird and Naha to be the benchmarks of 3-star dining in Chicago. Not quite upper echelon, but still at the level appropriate for special occasions and guaranteed very good to outstanding meals. I also think the food at both are distinctive, which adds to the enjoyment factor. I think Aigre Doux is good, and may even get better over the next 6 months to a year. Chicago is such a great food town that I just don't think we need to be gushing quite yet about Aigre Doux. PS - The bakery is not yet open.

Well, you could do pretty well for yourself walking around Chinatown or up and down Argyle St. (for Vietnamese). Both are easy trips on the el (which is undergoing some major construction, but hasn't actually been as horrible to use as predicted). You could also check out lthforum.com and search for some "a-thons" (beef a-thon, North Clark-a-thon, etc.) for some ideas.

Well, no one's ever accused me of being a biologist, but still...