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Sorry, but I must. I grew up in New Jersey. Throughout my childhood, everyone around me talked about how "Jersey tomatoes" were the best anywhere. Once I grew up, I moved to Chicago, where I still live, and found that the tomatoes grown here are every bit as good as those from my youth. Over the years, I have found that other folks, in many other places, claim to have "the best tomatoes" (although this is the first such claim I have heard for Kansas). I have come to the conclusion that the very best tomatoes are those that are allowed to ripen on the vine in season, are picked at the peak of their ripeness, don't travel long distances or times (so that they don't risk bruising), and are consumed a relatively short time after they are picked. You can find them, in season, at local farmstands and farmers' markets. These are the keys to the most delicious tomatoes, rather than which geographical area they are grown in. Too bad they're only in season for a relatively short period of time - but that's what makes for the panoply of ingredients we use, which varies with the seasons as well as with location.

1. On the low end, Chicago pizza. Definitely. There are really two popular styles of "Chicago style pizza" - double crust "stuffed" pizza, and single crust "deep-dish pan pizza". The big chains all have delicious pizza, and all have locations throughout the city and suburbs, including the River North area which was first asked about here: Giordano's (stuffed pizza) www.giordanos.com Lou Malnati's (pan pizza) www.loumalnatis.com Gino's East (pan pizza) www.ginoseast.com I love Giordano's the best, because its outer crust is so delicious, but all are terrific, and you'll find lots of people who favor each of the three big chains (as well as some who like other places in outlying city neighborhoods and suburbs). Of course, which is the "best" is all a matter of personal taste. But you really can't go wrong with any of these three places. Note that large pizzas take 30-45 minutes to bake at any of these places. 2. On the high end, a couple of recommendations. Everest is one of the most creative and finest restaurants in the city, but it's not as outrageous in price as some of the others. The real bargain is that they offer a special pre-theater menu deal (I think it's $50) at 5:30 every day they're open except Friday, and also at 5:00 on Saturday in addition to 5:30. The food is sublime, the service is impeccable, and the view from the top of the Chicago Stock Exchange building is breathtaking. www.everestrestaurant.com One Sixty Blue is my second recommendation. It's the kind of restaurant I love, where every bite of every dish is pure culinary bliss. It's not quite as creative as those uber-expensive places, but it's about a third the cost (figure $60-80 per person including moderate wine and tax/tip). The atmosphere is very hip and rather casual (jackets NOT required). www.onesixtyblue.com

I read their review. I think the biggest problem with it is that they are comparing Quince with the various iterations of Trio which preceded it in that location. I think that's totally unfair - unfair because there should be no expectations associated with a location, and unfair because they are totally different types of restaurants (casual/fun vs creative/formal, with the recent prices at Trio roughly triple those at Quince). I don't think it deserves the drubbing it received. I stand by my review above; to summarize, on a scale of "poor/fair/good/very good/great", I consider it good.

Wow, that's a tough one. They're both very, very good, and very creative. So are other, similar places in town, notably Alinea, Tru, Schwa, Everest, and Avenues. Alinea and Trotter's have the highest name recognition and Schwa is the newest, not that either of those factors matters. You will have a wonderful dining experience at any of these seven places. Drawing distinctions among them is difficult. I would suggest trying to hit Everest over the others, for several reasons. I think their service is a cut above the others, which may be especially beneficial for solo dining (as noted in this other topic). The view from their location at the top of the Chicago Stock Exchange building is magnificent. And, while price is not a factor when dining at this level, Everest is the least expensive of this very expensive group; the others range from very expensive to outrageous. You mentioned "some nights". Of course, you could try more than one place. As another option, there are many other places here where the food is exceptionally outstanding, but without either the ultimate creativity or the ultra-high prices of the places noted above. One such place is One Sixty Blue, a couple miles west of the Loop. It offers a very hip atmosphere, but is more casual than the first group (jackets and ties not required, for example). And you'll pay one third to one half the prices of the bigger name places. Just to suggest one other option - if you've never had Chicago-style pizza here, it's worth doing. No, it's not fine dining, but sometimes you need a break from that. Our pizza is unique to our city, and delicious too. There are two popular styles unique to Chicago: stuffed, double-crust pizza (e.g. Giordano's), and deep-dish, single (thick) crust pan pizza (Lou Malnati's, Gino's East). These chains have locations throughout the city and suburbs. If you haven't already done so, I would suggest checking out their websites for each of these places, particularly their menus, to get a better feel for what they offer: Moto www.motorestaurant.com Charlie Trotter's www.charlietrotters.com/restaurant Alinea www.alinearestaurant.com Tru www.trurestaurant.com Schwa www.schwarestaurant.com Everest www.everestrestaurant.com Avenues chicago.peninsula.com/pch/dining_02.html One Sixty Blue www.onesixtyblue.com Giordano's www.giordanos.com Lou Malnati's www.loumalnatis.com Gino's East www.ginoseast.com Good luck, and report back to us on where you went and how you liked it! P.S. I enjoyed eating at Bishop's some years ago. Is it still great?

Restaurants come and restaurants go, and it is not always the mediocre places that close down. In spite of this, the fine dining scene continues to improve steadily in every major city I've been in, with many more excellent venues than ten or even five years ago. I can only guess that this trend will continue, as more and more people become more knowledgeable and seek out new fine dining options. Disclaimer: I am not a resident of the Twin Cities, and it's been some years since I spent time in that area, but I would be shocked - SHOCKED! - if the above description didn't apply there as well.

Last night, four of us had dinner at Quince. Overall, I think it is quite good, worth returning to, but there is some room for improvement in minor areas as well. Here is my review. First, I will answer Lady T's question above about the prices on the menu. Ten starter courses were listed on the menu; six were priced $6-9, three were $11-14, and the foie gras was $18. Twelve entrees were listed; six were $16-19, five were $21-24, and the ribeye was $28. Desserts were mostly in the $7-9 range; ice cream and sorbet were priced at $2 per scoop, and I suspect the scoop is the same small ping pong ball size which accompanied the desserts we ordered. We also looked at the menu for their Sunday brunch, which has an assortment of breakfast type dishes (omelettes and other eggs, steak and eggs, French toast, pancakes) for $8-12 as well as salads and fish items for $9-12 and a ribeye sandwich for $15, along with several choices for children ($5-6). When I phoned to make our reservation, I asked about appropriate attire. The woman cheerfully responded that "anything goes" and they want everyone to be comfortable, for an enjoyable experience. Throughout the dinner, I found that, as this implied, the staff seemed very upbeat, that they enjoy working there and they want everyone to have a good time. I observed perhaps 65 percent of the men with neither jacket nor tie, 25 percent with jacket but no tie, and 10 percent with jacket and tie. I didn't observe any blue jeans, and while I wouldn't recommend wearing neat jeans at dinner there, I doubt that anyone would look askance at them, either. We were seated in the very pleasant dining room. It was comfortable, and not overly noisy as some restaurants these days can be. I noticed two unusual and welcome things about the menu. One is that, on the back of the menu, the names of the entire staff were listed - not just the chef and host, but everyone, including the servers and the line cooks. I've never seen this before, and I think this is a great idea; it fosters a team spirit while giving everyone credit and recognizing their contributions. The other thing I noticed is that the wine list had unusually detailed descriptions of each wine, and arranged the dessert wines from least sweet to most, both of which can be very helpful to the wine neophyte. FWIW, a few of the items mentioned by Ron were not on the menu, notably the skate wing and the pineapple tart tatin; otherwise, the menu items were pretty much as listed above. We started with six of the starter courses and asked that they be served together, which they were. They were accompanied by a choice of three breads: sourdough, whole wheat, and olive, which were very good. They also brought butter, which was somewhat soft, which I found a welcome change from the ice cold, hard butter often served with bread. The seared foie gras (remember, this is Evanston, not Chicago) was served with roasted shallots (actually one large one), bleu crostini, and a blackberry on top ($18). It was excellent. The bleu cheese on the crostini made it very tasty; I ate it separately from the foie gras (rather than placing one on the other), for fear of the bleu cheese overpowering the foie gras. It was a nice accompaniment. The bibb and crab salad included peeky toe crab served on baby leaves of bibb lettuce with crispy red onion and lemon ($11). It was delicious as well as beautiful. I ordered the seared scallops served with turnip puree, black walnut vinaigrette, and mandarin orange sections ($14). I specifically asked for them to be "cooked through", at which the server nodded. Unfortunately, they were not; they were uncooked except the very outside edges, which I not only don't prefer, but also find makes them less flavorful. I realize that this is how scallops are often served; however, that is not how I asked for them. I should have sent them back, but did not. This was the only true "faux pas" of the evening. The wilted spinach salad with warm bacon vinaigrette, red onion, tomato, and fried egg ($8) was very good, although there was perhaps an overabundance of dressing. I did not try the other two starters we ordered, both of which looked good: salmon tartare, served with capers, eggs, smoked creme fraiche, and bagel chips ($9), and pickled greens, served with roasted beets, grapes, walnuts, goat cheese, and vinaigrette ($6). For a main course, I ordered a double portion of an appetizer, the crispy sweetbreads with mustard spaetzle and micro cole slaw ($12 times two). The sweetbreads were delicious, although slightly on the dry side (perhaps slightly overcooked?). The portion size was surprisingly large for an appetizer (assuming that the appetizer serving is one of the two pieces I received as the double portion). The nice sized portion of tiny (rice grain size) spaetzle was superb as well. For me, this was the best dish of the evening. It, and perhaps the foie gras, were the only dishes "to die for". The sturgeon schnitzel (prepared like any schnitzel, pounded thin, breaded, and lightly fried) with pomme puree, melted leeks and shitakes, pearl onion glaze ($19) was tasty, but it too was somewhat on the dry side. The pork tenderloin with goat cheese gemelli, broccolini, and honey lavender glaze ($19) was ordered "cooked through" (explicitly asking for "not pink") and this time, the request was honored and this how it was served. It was very good. The chestnut stuffed squab with butternut squash risotto, cinnamon cream, and cranberry sauce ($21) was also very good. We shared two desserts, and they were somewhat of a disappointment. The huckleberry shortcake was arranged with huckleberries and dried plum ice cream, accompanied by a small glass of pistachio soda ($8). All of it was quite tasty. However, the portion size was very small, with the shortcake perhaps two inches across and the two pieces (top and bottom) each perhaps half an inch high. Huckleberries are very small (half the size of peas) and they were arranged attractively over the shortcake and ice cream. We all laughed at the name of the ice cream flavor, which sounded like they were intentionally avoiding the use of the word "prune". The banana bread pudding with coconut sorbet and peanuts ($8) was more disappointing. For one thing, there was nothing puddinglike in its consistency; it was rather dry, like the consistency of a coffee cake. I expect bread pudding to at least be VERY moist (centered on bread but with a custardlike consistency), and it's even acceptable for there to be custard in any voids between bread pieces when baking. The portion size of this dessert, too, was quite small (roughly 4" x 2" and maybe 3/4" high). While I am not an advocate of oversized portions, both desserts seemed smaller than I would have expected. (Portion sizes of earlier dishes were adequate, except for the sweetbreads, which seemed on the generous size, as previously noted.) Another member of our group ordered a plate of three cheeses ($8) which I did not try. The service was efficient and friendly. There were a few very minor lapses, mostly concerning coffee and tea service (sweetener was neither brought nor offered when serving iced tea, it was not brought when requested and we had to ask a second time, no spoon was served when coffee was first served). We went easy on wine (five glasses among the four of us) and our total was $78/person including tax/tip. All in all, we had a delicious, enjoyable dinner. Although not everything was absolutely perfect, this was an auspicious start for a new restaurant (they have only been open a month). I look forward to returning in the future. Quince 1625 Hinman Avenue Evanston IL 60201-4570 847-570-8400 www.quincerestaurant.net

As another option, Charlie Trotter's also offers catering services for dinner parties and corporate events. You can see their catering menu on their website: http://www.charlietrotters.com/togo You would need to inquire with them about services such as a cooking demonstration/class.

All the big chains selling Chicago-style pizza have downtown locations (and they're all delicious). These include the two most popular styles, the ones that made Chicago famous: stuffed pizza, with its double crust, and deep-dish pan pizza, with a thicker, single crust on the bottom. Edwardo's, known for their stuffed pizza, has a second location in the South Loop, at 521 S. Dearborn, in addition to the one that Ron mentioned. Other chains with locations downtown include: Giordano's (stuffed pizza) http://www.giordanos.com 223 W. Jackson Blvd. (Loop) (312) 583-9400 135 E. Lake St. (East Loop, in Prudential Plaza) (312) 616-1200 310 W. Randolph St. (Loop) (312) 201-1441 730 N. Rush St. (Mag Mile) (312) 951-0747 Lou Malnati's (deep dish pan pizza) http://www.loumalnatis.com 439 N. Wells St. (River North) 312.828.9800 Gino's East (deep dish pan pizza) http://www.ginoseast.com 633 N. Wells St. (River North) (312) 943-1124 162 E. Superior St (Mag Mile) Phone: 312-266 DEEP (3337) Pizzeria Uno (deep dish pan pizza) http://www.unos.com 29 East Ohio (River North) 312-321-1000 619 North Wabash Avenue (Pizzeria Due, River North) 312-943-2400

Perhaps 18th Street, in the neighborhood we call Pilsen?

Any word on who's taking over?

Hi Molto,What a great idea, to make a list of eG things to do this year! I hope you don't mind that I took it and ran with it by creating a new topic on this. You'll find it by clicking here. Thanks!

In another topic, molto e mentioned his "2007 have to's". Here are mine: OVERALL GOAL 1. Lose weight. Okay, I'm sure that's not what anyone else here wants to hear about. But I HAVE TO DO THIS, or I'm going to regret accomplishing anything in the rest of this list. PLACES I'VE NEVER BEEN 2. Quince (Evanston) I am looking forward to trying this new restaurant in the old Trio space. Watch for a report... very soon. 3. Fine dining I keep a long list of fine dining places that I've been wanting to try - doesn't everyone here? - and I hope to go to at least four of the ones on my list, which currently looks like this: Sola (Chicago) Sweets and Savories (Chicago) Vie (Western Springs) - per Ron's recommendation Courtright's (Willow Springs) Avenues (Chicago) Scylla (Chicago) Cuatro (Chicago) Fulton's on the River (Chicago) Custom House (Chicago) Spring (Chicago) Vermilion (Chicago) Le Lan (Chicago) Naha (Chicago) Pancho Viti's Mexican Cantina (Highwood) 4. Tallent (Bloomington IN) Yes, I know it's out of town, and this topic is for Chicagoland. But I've heard a lot about this fine dining place (as well as some places in Indy I'd like to try) and I'm determined to go there this year. 5. Thai food I intend to try at least two new (to me) places in Chicago that I have never been to. 6. Pizza I intend to try at least one new (to me) place specializing in pizza, in addition to the big Chicago-style chains I already love. 7. Barbecue I want to try at least one new (to me) place specializing in barbecue, to see if it's as good as Carson's, which I still enjoy. 8. Hot Chocolate (Chicago) I keep hearing about the desserts in this restaurant. 9. Chocolate Box (Winnetka) Fine chocolates (although Piron remains my ultimate standard of comparison and is as great as ever). PLACES TO RETURN TO 10. The Lobby Restaurant in the Peninsula I just loved this place the several times I've been there for dinner. I loved the food, I loved the chocolate-infused iced tea (it's a lot better than it sounds), I loved the service, I loved the all-you-can-eat chocolate dessert buffet on weekends. I want to go back! 11. Close by places I'm looking forward to returning to places close to home that I enjoy, hopefully at least one visit to each of these: Oceanique (Evanston) Chef's Station (Evanston) Black Ram Steakhouse (Des Plaines) Mitchell's Fish Market (Glenview) Lupita's (Evanston) Thai Sookdee (Evanston) Walker Brothers Original Pancake House (Wilmette, Glenview, and other locations) Pete Miller's (Evanston)

Ron's thoughtful post has gotten me thinking about the places I've loved in 2006. For me, 2006 was not a big food year, thanks to a long (and so far successful) weight reduction regime. But I still managed to come up with a highlights reel. I, too, had some wonderful food out of town (Albuquerque, Columbus, Sheboygan, Louisville), but that's not what this topic is about. Anyway, on to my own list: Chicagoland faves of 2006: Food Shopping (alphabetical): Al's Deli (Evanston) A lot of people go there for the sandwiches, but I fell in love with their cookies this year (chocolate chip, lemon iced, iced sugar, fudge brownie). They put the chocolate chip cookies in the front window. Get there at 11 a.m. when they open, and they're still warm out of the oven. Just like the best homemade cookies using the recipe on the bag of Nestle's chips. Belgian Chocolatier Piron (Evanston) The very best chocolates in the country, handmade in the shop from Belgian ingredients every day. Proof: at the start of each day, Mr. Piron's apron is clean, and by the time they close, it's full of chocolate smears. Fox and Obel (also on Ron's list) What a wonderful gourmet food store! I just love this place. The quality of everything is absolutely superb. I like Foodstuffs because it's close to home, but the quality and variety at F&O is far superior, IMHO. Personal favorites: cinnamon swirl rolls, prepared soups, cornbread-stuffed chicken breasts, omelets in the cafe. Gourmet Frog (Highwood) This adjunct to Froggy's restaurant sells excellent French pastries and bread, as well as prepared food (e.g. soup). Kaufman's (Skokie) Still the best Jewish deli food in the area. Marketplace on Oakton (Skokie) Terrific produce, terrific deli counter, lots of European imported stuff. I have not been to either Lincolnwood Produce or Produce World, on Ron's list, but both sound very similar to MoO. Anyone who's been to all three, I'd love to hear any comparative comments. Schaefer's (Skokie) Great wine selection and knowledgeable staff. Nice selection of cheese and other gourmet foods. Notable: their warehouse sales, their tastings on Saturdays. Spice House (also on Ron's list) Three Tarts Bakery (also on Ron's list) This place doesn't get a lot of press, but it's wonderful. Don't overlook all those small cookies right before the cash register! Zier's Prime Meats (also on Ron's list) - Everything Ron says is true. We served their dry-aged prime rib on December 25 to celebrate the 11th night of Hanukkah, and it was superb, as good as the very best restaurants. Cheap Eats (alphabetical): Giordano's, Lou Malnati's, Gino's East (multiple locations) What can you say about it? Love it or hate it, it is what it is. I love it, and it's the thing I miss most when trying to take off pounds. Lupita's (Evanston) My favorite Mexican restaurant. The food on their regular menu is very good, but if that's all you have, you won't understand why I cite them. They have weekly lunch and dinner specials, and this is where they shine, in both creativity and quality. They keep their dinner specials updated on their website. Their grilled fish specials are as good as any seafood restaurant. Thai Sookdee (Evanston) Currently my favorite Thai restaurant in the Chicago area, and I've tried 40-50 of them, all over town, including all of the dozen or so in Evanston and most of those nearby. They have improved markedly in the past few years; I wouldn't have made such a statement 3-4 years ago. But lately, everything there has been just wonderful, including all my favorites: chicken satay, tom kha gai soup, panang, thai iced tea, mango with sticky rice for dessert (in season), etc. Walker Brothers Original Pancake House (Wilmette, Glenview, and other locations) Still as wonderful as ever for breakfast items, especially their famous apple pancake and German pancake. Finer Dining (unranked): Michael (Winnetka) My best dinner of the year, and one of the very best all-time. See my detailed report in the separate topic for this restaurant. Oceanique (Evanston) Always superb. Everything at this place is simply wonderful. Sure, you expect the seafood items at a place specializing in seafood to be excellent. But you might not expect the same quality to extend to the sauces, and the soups, and the desserts - oh, those heavenly desserts! Chef's Station (Evanston) Another winner. Again, everything is consistently excellent. I ate here twice this year, including on Thanksgiving when they had a special, limited menu. It was worthy of the occasion. I'm going to stop here for a comment. These were the only true fine dining places I hit locally this past year. I usually hit a few more than that, but this year I decided to do most of my finer dining out of town. However, I also enjoyed dining at numerous local places that I would not classify as "fine dining" - they are not places that I would consider particularly creative or expensive - but they don't really fit neatly into the "cheap eats" category, either. Those are: Black Ram Steakhouse (Des Plaines) This is a place that nobody here ever heard of, that you'll never hear mentioned by anyone else on a gourmet board. I go there several times a year, and everything I have there is just excellent. Don't look for creative, unusual food; DO look for well-prepared, delicious food. Their steaks are perfect, their seafood is perfect, their prime rib is the best in the area, their desserts are equally outstanding (including not only the more unusual, like the banana bavarian cream or white chocolate mousse, but also the utterly conventional but delicious creamy rice pudding). The service is extremely accommodating. This place is extremely comfortable and has a huge percentage of repeat customers, many of whom are greeted by name as they arrive. Carson's Ribs (Deerfield, Chicago) There are lots of barbecue places in the Chicago area; this is still my favorite. Great baby back ribs, also great prime rib and steaks, and the best cole slaw I've ever had in the Chicago area. Mitchell's Fish Market (Glenview) Yes, it's a chain, which means some people won't like it, often without even trying it. But the seafood is consistently excellent, and the preparations are often creative. Bonefish Grill (Skokie) Same comments as Mitchell's. If I have to choose between the two, I would give the nod to Mitchell's. Tin Fish (Tinley Park) Another excellent seafood restaurant. I went there before a concert at World/Tweeter/FirstMidwest/whatever Amphitheater. Beware long waits, and they don't take reservations. Gio (Evanston) This newcomer has excellent upscale Italian food. Wolfgang Puck Grand Cafe (Evanston) Consistently good American food. Wildfire (multiple locations) Again, consistently good American food. May Street Market (Chicago) Very good upscale dining. Not Cited Here are some of the other Chicago-area places I hit this year, just in case you're wondering which ones didn't make my favorites. Many of them were quite good, too, just not at the same high level as those previously mentioned: 42 N Latitude (Chicago), Mt. Everest (Evanston), Bad Dog Tavern (Chicago), Mr. Thai (Chicago), El Tipico (Skokie), Wishbone (Chicago), Thai Classic (Chicago), O'Hare Hilton (Chicago), Seasons (Chicago), Prairie Moon (Evanston), Maggiano's Little Italy (Skokie), altThai (Arlington Heights), Kona Grill (Lincolnshire), Gridley's Grille (Buffalo Grove), Pinto Kitchen (Evanston), Noodle Garden (Evanston), Barn of Barrington, Miramar (Highwood), Vita Mia (Mount Prospect), Cafe Central (Evanston)

Thanks for the kind words! Let's see... starting with the Chicago area: Le Francais (separate visits under Banchet, Liccioni, and Lachowicz), Everest, Ambria, Trio (separate visits under Tramonto/Gand and Achatz), Les Nomades, NoMi, Charlie Trotter's, Seasons, Crofton on Wells, the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton, Spruce, Le Titi de Paris, Le Vichyssois, Chef's Station, Oceanique, Tallgrass, One Sixty Blue, and going back many years to some of the pioneers of Chicago's French cuisine (in addition to the previously-mentioned Jean Banchet), Le Perroquet, Louis's Bon Appetit, and Le Bordeaux......and out of town: the French Laundry in Yountville, L'Orangerie and Wilshire in Los Angeles, Sanford in Milwaukee, Jean Georges and Lafayette and Le Cirque and Lutece and the Four Seasons and Picholine in New York, le Bec Fin in Philly, Picasso and Renoir in Vegas, le Maisonnette in Cincinnati, Gary Danko and the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco, Seeger's and the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta, Mary Elaine's in Phoenix, Jean-Louis in Washington, the Inn at Little Washington, Le Relais and Lilly's in Louisville, the Glass Chimney in Indianapolis, Geronimo in Santa Fe, the Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas, Commander's Palace in New Orleans, Tapawingo in Charlevoix, Bishop's in Vancouver, Margaux in Sheboygan (don't laugh, it was excellent), and L'Antibes in Columbus. I'm sure there are others I've missed. And some of these may or may not be considered "French"; nowadays, when it comes to fine dining establishments, the lines between cuisines are often blurred. In any case, I guess most people would say that I've been to quite a few French (and other fine dining) restaurants. Oh, I totally understand! There are SO many fine places I haven't yet tried - particularly in a great restaurant city like Chicago - and, heck, SO many places that I've already tried and loved and haven't had a chance to return to - that I almost never return to anyplace where I had a really bad experience.All I can say is, I absolutely loved my dinner at Michael, and consider it one of the very best dinners I've had. To put that into perspective, above I stated, "For me, the difference between GOOD and GREAT is, at a great restaurant, every single dish, every single bite, is an absolute delight, so delicious that it makes you roll your eyes and swoon. There are very, very few places that I would consider GREAT." All of the places mentioned in this post are very, very good. The ones that I consider "great", according to this definition, constitute fewer than half of those fine places. And I put Michael into that category. FWIW, I have no "in" at Michael. I did not know anyone in the restaurant, and our party was not unusual in size. I only spoke to Michael (briefly) at the end of the dinner and did not mention any websites or even Le Francais; I just complimented him on the entire dinner and particularly the foie gras dish. He doesn't know me other than that he might remember my face or name if I go there again (not that I am unusual looking, just this is what some restauranteurs are good at).

I dined at Michael last month. It was a SUPERB dinner in every respect. Simply OUTSTANDING. First, I should qualify what I mean by these superlative terms. I've dined at many of the most highly regarded restaurants in the Chicago area and elsewhere. They are almost always GOOD, with tasty food and attentive service. For me, the difference between GOOD and GREAT is, at a great restaurant, every single dish, every single bite, is an absolute delight, so delicious that it makes you roll your eyes and swoon. There are very, very few places that I would consider GREAT. Based on my dinner last month, Michael was definitely among them. It is not an exaggeration to say that this was one of the very best dinners in my entire life. Two of us arrived first, and the other two in our party got slightly lost; the wait staff could not have been more gracious, notifying us when our guests had called to get directions. (The visibility of the restaurant from Green Bay Road is somewhat limited, since there is no sign and the entrance faces the parking lot, not the street.) The dining room has an atmosphere of casual, relaxed elegance, which carried through our entire meal. This made the entire experience that much more special! As noted in the Metromix listing, business casual attire was entirely appropriate (fewer than twenty percent of the men wore jackets and ties, although one would not feel out of place thus attired). Our waiter was joking with us when he brought one or two of the items. Michael himself came by all the tables and knew exactly what we had ordered. The entire atmosphere was one of celebration, but without any pretension or stuffiness. Again, the food was HEAVENLY! Every bite of every dish was simply divine. The descriptions on their menu sound good, but so do those at many restaurants; if you think of how good each dish could possibly be, if it were exceptional, that's how good everything was. Here's what we had last night: AMUSE BOUCHE: Mini cream puffs (pate a choux) filled with gruyere cheese APPETIZERS: A medallion of seared foie gras over foie gras and mushroom strudel A duo of warm crab gateau and orange dusted scallop with a sweet curry cream A rosette of house cured smoked salmon on a warm potato cake with whipped chive, citrus crème fraiche Truffled potato "cappuccino" (soup) ENTREES: Duo of grilled filets of salmon and wild escolar with morels in cream sauce Duo of braised short ribs and sauteed tenderloin of beef "Grand Mere" with potato gratin Duo of Moroccan braised leg and grilled rib chops with toasted Fregola di Sardinia (cous cous) Filet of Japanese black cod in a fine brioche and thyme crust with heirloom tomato "Béarnaise" Creamy mashed potatos for all DESSERTS: Duo of petit fallen chocolate soufflé "Les Deux Gros" and hot chocolate "Michael" with cookies (one each of biscotti, shortbread, and pfefferneuse) Apple upside down tart with caramel and nutmeg ice cream Classic vanilla bean crème brulee. Maple Mascarpone cheesecake with maple caramel and Linzer shortbread vanilla creme brulee When our waiter overheard that one member of our party was celebrating her birthday, he brought a plate of truffles with a birthday candle in one of them (without any prompting on our part). The dinner was also surprisingly reasonable in price, considering the quality of the food. Appetizers were $9-15, entrees were $26-29, and desserts were $8-9. With modest beverages, our total came to $70 per person including tax and tip. Michael Proprietor: Michael G. Lachowicz 64 GREEN BAY RD. WINNETKA IL 847-441-3100 http://www.restaurantmichael.com Dinner Tuesday-Thursday - 5;30-10:30pm Friday-Saturday - 5:30-11:30pm Sunday - 4:30-9:00pm