nsxtasy

I'll make some recommendations and try to give you an idea of prices for entrees at dinner; click on the names for their websites where you can see their menus, usually with prices. Keep in mind that even expensive restaurants often have inexpensive prices at lunchtime; i.e. a place with $30 entrees at dinner may have $10-12 entrees for lunch. For this reason, I'll include a few places higher than your stated limit; hope you don't mind. You can always go to one of the more expensive places for lunch, and/or one of the less expensive options for dinner. The Ford Center is in the Loop, on Randolph between State and Dearborn. Petterino's is a steakhouse at the end of that block, with $10 burgers, $15-25 entrees, and $25-40 steaks. Atwood Cafe is at State and Washington, one block south of Randolph, in the Hotel Burnham. American food in a luxurious, classy setting. Entrees in the twenties. Trattoria No. 10 has Italian food at Madison (two blocks south of Randolph) and Dearborn, with $20ish pastas and $20-35 entrees. Catch 35 has seafood on Wacker (two blocks north) between State and Dearborn. Non-lobster fish entrees in the twenties, steaks in the thirties. If these are too expensive, here are two cheaper options. Pizano's is on Madison between Wabash (one block east of State) and Michigan. They have authentic Chicago deep-dish pizza. Call ahead with your pizza order to avoid waiting 30-45 minutes while seated for it to bake. Oasis Cafe on Wabash has cheap middle eastern food. All of the above are no more than a 3-4 block walk from the theater.

Yes. The chef's name is Graham Elliot Bowles, and the name of his new restaurant is Graham Elliot. Clicking on the Tribune link, his name is correct in the story now on their website. I'm guessing it was originally in error at the time Alex copied it, and they discovered their error and corrected it shortly thereafter.

Yes, absolutely, and in some cases (e.g. Flamingo's Seafood as well as Topolobampo/Frontera Grill etc), even better. (I've taken several trips to/through Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico in the past few years.) Last time I was at Flamingo's, I had a grilled Chilean sea bass with guava habanero sauce and crushed pumpkin seeds that was to die for. Sounds like you need to come visit.

I think it sounds great. I hope they price it high enough to prevent it from being a zoo. Make it like Taste of Chicago, but that strip of 11 tickets will cost $60 instead of $6.

FWIW - Like Frontera Grill, Topolobampo is open for lunch during the week, and the lunch prices are surprisingly similar to Frontera (unlike at dinner). And unlike Frontera, you can make an advance reservation at Topo.

I've just returned from another visit to the area. I went to the Paddock Club and it was very good, a welcome addition to the restaurant scene there. I had the shrimp pesto wontons special, the veal ragu pappardelle, a filet mignon special, and vanilla panna cotta for dessert. All were good and the panna cotta was spectacular. So add it to the above list. I decided to walk around downtown Sheboygan and check out the other places mentioned here. I went to Il Ritrovo and found that the pizza descriptions sounded boring, plus there was a 30+ minute wait to sit (even though it was only 5:30 pm) and the entire smallish bar seating was filled as well, all of which was a big turnoff and not worth waiting for. I also checked out the menu at Trattoria Stefano, which was similarly uninspiring (I think they share ownership with Il Ritrovo). So I wandered a few blocks north to Margaux to check out the menu in the window. And as usual, Chef Hurrie had some wonderful dishes that beckoned, making my choice an easy one. I started with a baby spinach salad, which was good, but the main I selected just blew me away, it was so sinfully delicious. It was a "Duo of Certified Black Angus", a combination of hanger steak and red wine braised short ribs of beef which were exquisite. Equally exquisite, both beefs were served on a bed of mashed potatos mixed with crab and caramelized scallions, which added a slightly sweet touch, accented with a healthy dose of spicy black pepper. Total YUM! For dessert, I went for the "Chocolate Fantasy", four smallish chocolate desserts: a Jim Beam shooter, a truffle with Godiva liqueur, dark chocolate ice cream, and chocolate malted creme brulee. More total YUM! I also had a nice glass of Niagara peninsula icewine for one third the price I had paid for the same thing the previous week at a well-known restaurant in Chicago. Margaux is one of the very best restaurants around; this was my best dinner of the year so far. If it were in Chicago, it would easily compare well with the best casual fine dining restaurants in the city (e.g. Blackbird, one sixtyblue, North Pond, Custom House). It's worth a special trip from Milwaukee and even Chicago, and is a "must try" for anyone visiting the Sheboygan area.

More precisely, measuring from the center of the Loop, Lao Sze Chuan is about 2.5 miles south, Green Zebra is about 2.5 miles northwest, Everest is a few blocks south, North Pond is about 3 miles north, Cafe Spiaggia is about 1 mile north (and even closer to the hotels around Michigan Avenue), and Lula is about 4.5 miles northwest. All short cab rides, or you can take public transportation (click here for info).

Yup. However, the non-vegetarians may be less than thrilled, since they usually have maybe one dish that isn't vegetarian. At the very high end, if it's of interest, the expensive splurge places can accommodate anyone with any restrictions, and come up with a spectacular meal. Everest even shows their vegetarian tasting menu on their website. In the casual fine dining arena, the better places can all do something, but some places are better (and have more veg/vegan choices) than others. I went to North Pond with two vegetarians and they loved it. Another good place with lots of choices for vegetarians on the menu is Cafe Spiaggia, for Italian. Another place that is generally good for vegetarians and omnivores alike is Lula.

Personally, of this group, the one place that always impresses me is one sixtyblue. It's the one place where I can go, and I know that if I order two starters, two mains, and two desserts, all six dishes will just blow me away. And the dining room is nice and spacious, a lovely classic/contemporary setting where you can hear your dining companions (and not the folks at the table next to you), the service is perfect, etc. Just a great place in every way, and consistently so. This is my favorite casual fine dining restaurant in the entire city, with the very best food anywhere near its price range and a great place and space to go to, too. A local treasure. By comparison, I don't get that same result at many other places. For example, I ate at Custom House a few days ago. I absolutely loved my sweetbreads appetizer and short rib main, just sinful and spectacular. However, the dishes of my three dining companions, while good, didn't "wow" me in the same way. And I thought the desserts were just okay, which is a letdown at a place of that caliber. The service and atmosphere were fine (somewhat loud, but not disturbingly so). I would rule out Spring because of its emphasis on seafood. I think it's a great choice when you have a group where everyone, or almost everyone, loves seafood - but you don't. I know they have meat and vegetarian items too (just like Chef McClain's meat-focused and vegetarian-focused places have seafood items), but the emphasis on seafood just doesn't work for your situation. Blackbird is another story too. I've found that the food there is exceptional, almost as good as one sixtyblue, which is high praise indeed. However, it is indeed very noisy, and what's worse is that the tables are extremely close together. As a result, not only are you shouting to be heard, but so are those at the tables nearby. As for North Pond, I love the place, but for more than the food. Foodwise, it's quite good. Bruce Sherman likes to plate many of his dishes with several components side by side. So you might order a main and it has as many as four things alongside the item that you ordered. Some of them might be okay to good, while others might blow you away. For example, last fall I ordered a fish main, and the fish itself was good enough, but what I remember most clearly was that one of the items alongside it was a peekytoe crab mousse that was heavenly. So the food maybe doesn't quite reach the level of one sixtyblue consistently, but some of the items are very impressive. The tables aren't as close together as Blackbird, aren't as far apart as one sixtyblue; it's not exactly quiet, but it's not objectionably noisy either. What I really love about North Pond is the setting and history. It's located in the middle of Lincoln Park (the park itself,not just the neighborhood of the same name), alongside its namesake pond; the renovated building was formerly the warming shelter for ice skaters on the pond. The city skyline looms over the opposite shore. If you sit in the front room with the floor-to-ceiling windows facing the pond, you have a spectacular view. But even if you sit in the rear room, with the open kitchen along one side, you'll enjoy the view and the special atmosphere. It's just a very special place, and not just because of the food. I don't think you will be able to find menus with prices for L2O until they open, currently scheduled for May 14. And I agree that it will probably exceed your budget; it appears to be aiming at the tru/trotter's price range. Frankly, in your situation, I would be hesitant to go to a place (like Graham Elliot's) that's newly-opened and may be experiencing growing pains - just because it's your rare opportunity to try Chicago cuisine, and there are other well-established places that are doing a terrific job, places you've never been so they're "new" - to you, anyway. Let the locals repeatedly try the new places and provide feedback of any kinks that need addressing, and stick to the tried-(or never tried )-and-true. I should also add that, based on my impressive experience at Avenues, I have every expectation that Chef Bowles's new restaurant will be absolutely wonderful, and I look forward to trying it myself. I should add that the level of noise is more of a concern with a group of eight than with a group of two, because in a noisy place, you won't be able to converse with all of the others at the table. To summarize, I recommend going to one sixtyblue if you want to go to a nice place where you can converse normally and the food is so spectacular that it will blow everyone away, or to North Pond if you want to go to a nice place with excellent food where the setting is so spectacular that it will blow everyone away. One other note. You may have a problem with your $70/person limit at any of the places you're asking about. In my experience, with moderate wine (say 1/3 bottle per person of a not-that-expensive wine), I consistently pay $90-110 per person (including alcohol, tax, tip) at all of them, with most of us typically getting three courses plus coffee. For reference, most of them show prices in the sample menus on their websites. HTH

I haven't been there for lunch. But it never hurts to make a reservation. My suggestion is that if you intend to "play it by ear", that you call the restaurant that morning - there's no harm in doing so, and they can either give you a reservation or tell you they're full, and either way, it can avoid an unnecessary trip there if they're full. I don't know about the shorts, sorry (but that's something you could call them to discuss; most restaurants are happy to be frank about such things). Almost every nice restaurant in the Loop (where the Art Institute is located) is open for lunch. If you're looking for upscale contemporary American food (in the same genre as Blackbird) I would suggest Custom House, which is in the South Loop, about a ten minute walk from the Art Institute. Five minutes walk away is Vivere, in the Italian Village complex, for Italian food. If it's raining and you don't want to go far from the museum, consider Park Grill, right alongside Millennium Park, or you could get deep-dish pizza at Pizano's on Madison. If you're in River North, my top picks for upscale contemporary American, open for lunch, are Aigre Doux, and Naha, whose chef is nominated for a James Beard award this year. Other good places in the area include Coco Pazzo for Italian food, Shaw's Crab House or Fulton's on the River for seafood, and the original Uno's and Due for deep-dish pizza. Note that all of these places are open for lunch during the week, but some of them are not open for lunch on weekends; check their websites (or Metromix) for hours.

Atwood Cafe is right in the hotel, and it's very good indeed. There are lots of other good places in the area, including Vivere and Trattoria No. 10 for Italian food, and Pizano's on Madison for Chicago-style deep-dish pizza. Neither one sixtyblue nor North Pond is open for lunch (although North Pond is open for Sunday brunch). Both of the Bayless restaurants are open for lunch during the week, and Frontera Grill is open for Saturday brunch. If you're looking for a contemporary American restaurant near downtown open for lunch during the week, in addition to Atwood Cafe in the hotel, I suggest Blackbird. Incidentally, I have eaten at both one sixtyblue and North Pond within the past six months. Both were excellent, my two favorite casual fine dining restaurants in the city. If I had to describe them, one sixtyblue continues to serve the very best food of any such restaurant, in a classy contemporary setting; North Pond serves excellent food in an exquisite, unique setting in the middle of Lincoln Park.

I think the distinction between "formal fine dining" and "casual fine dining" is an important one, because it affects so many aspects of the experience - pricing (typically $200-300+ vs ~$100 per person including moderate alcohol, tax, tip), attire (jackets required for gentlemen vs business casual), menu (extensive tasting menus vs a la carte selections), etc. Based on these criteria, in the categorization above, I would move NoMI to the formal group and Vie to the casual group; Avenues, listed in both, belongs to the formal group, at least in its Bowles iteration. The price factor is why I named places based on price categories in my previous post above. I really think that all of our formal places are excellent: 1. Alinea 2. Everest 3. Charlie Trotter's 4. tru 5. NoMI 6. Schwa 7. moto 8. Spiaggia (?) Avenues - I would put it at number 2 under Chef Bowles, need to try it under Chef Duffy For casual fine dining, here are my favorites (all in Chicago except where indicated): 1. Tallgrass (Lockport) 2. one sixtyblue 3. Michael (Winnetka) 4. Oceanique (Evanston) 5. Vie (Western Springs) 6. Aigre Doux 7. North Pond 8. Chef's Station (Evanston) 9. Blackbird Incidentally, I ate at Avec a couple of months ago, and I was really unimpressed with the food. It wasn't bad, but there wasn't a single dish that wowed me. And that's quite aside from the noise level, the uncomfortable seats, the long waiting times due to the no-reservations policy, etc.

Here are three recommendations for great food, all within 10 minutes drive of O'Hare: 1. Black Ram Steakhouse is a restaurant in Des Plaines. All of the food there is absolutely GREAT - the steaks, the seafood, the desserts, everything. It doesn't get a lot of press, but it gets a lot of repeat business. The proprietor greets lots of arriving guests by name. If you're looking for a great steakhouse (and seafood) restaurant that nobody ever heard of, this is it. Black Ram Steak House 1414 Oakton St. Des Plaines, IL 60019 847.824.1227 2. Pizza. I think the most impressive and unique specialty in Chicago is our Chicago-style deep-dish pizza. One of the very best is Giordano's, which specializes in a double-crust "stuffed" pizza. You can phone your order ahead of time if you want to avoid waiting 30-45 minutes while seated for your pizza to bake; you can find their menu on their website. Giordano's 9415 West Higgins Road Rosemont (847)292-2600 3. Flamingo's Seafood - Another place near O'Hare is my very favorite Mexican restaurant in the entire Chicago area (heck, the best Mexican food I've had outside of Mexico). It's called Flamingo's Seafood, in the suburb of Mount Prospect. Open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. They specialize in Mexican seafood dishes, and always have a large number of daily specials in addition to their extensive regular menu. Last time I was there I had a grilled Chilean sea bass with guava habanero sauce and crushed pumpkin seeds that was to die for. Located at Busse Road and Dempster, just north of Algonquin Road. Take I-90 westbound, exit at York Road, go north to Algonquin, and turn left. Flamingo's Seafood 1590 S. Busse Road Mt. Prospect IL 847-364-9988

I've had dim sum at a couple of the places in Chinatown. I've found that the Chinese food I like best is at places (e.g. Lao Sze Chuan) that do not serve dim sum.

My understanding is that they're targetting an opening in late May.

I ate at Siam's House in Niles late last year, and I thought it was dreadful - the worst Thai food (by far!) that I have eaten in the past few years. And I like to try a lot of Thai restaurants; I've probably eaten at a dozen in the past year. Thai Sookdee is still my "gold standard" when it comes to Thai food. In saying that, I should note that I prefer fairly common Thai foods, such as tom kha gai (soup), satay, panang, mango with sticky rice, Thai iced tea, etc. Thai Sookdee has the very best tom kha gai I've had in the Chicago area, and they do a great job with the other dishes, too. In the past year I've eaten at TAC Quick and Sticky Rice, and while I can appreciate the fact that they have a Thai language menu with more unusual dishes, I think the food tastes a whole lot better at Thai Sookdee. (I thought TAC Quick was pretty good, better than Sticky Rice.) If you're in Rosemont, you might also consider altThai in Arlington Heights.

Congratulations also go to the following nominees in other categories: OUTSTANDING RESTAURATEUR AWARD Richard Melman Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Chicago OUTSTANDING CHEF AWARD Grant Achatz Alinea, Chicago OUTSTANDING PASTRY CHEF AWARD Mindy Segal HotChocolate Chicago OUTSTANDING WINE SERVICE AWARD Bin 36, Chicago Wine Director: Brian Duncan OUTSTANDING SERVICE AWARD Spiaggia Chicago Owner: Tony Mantuano 2008 James Beard Foundation America’s Classics Awards Tufano’s Vernon Park Tap 1073 Vernon Park Place, Chicago Owner: Joseph DiBuono

I believe the name of the restaurant is "Avenues" rather than "The Avenues"...

In what city is this restaurant located?

Can I reserve the other 16 spots? I want to auction them off on eBay. j/k...

Both of us in for both parts on Thursday, with the bits menu. Great, we haven't been back to Blackbird for a while...

Lack of mention is more likely a reflection that people posting haven't been there yet, rather than any statement about its quality. Especially with a place like yours that's still relatively new on the scene.

Both of these are located a couple blocks south of the farmer's market and a couple blocks north of the church where the heartland gathering will take place, so they are easily walkable. Dream about Tea is a single location owned by the couple who manage it (and are usually there, and happy to discuss tea with you). Argo Tea is a chain in the Chicago area.

Asian? I have to think it might have something French to it...

Here's my reaction. There is a trend in menus at top-shelf restaurants to describe dishes by listing primary ingredients, without indicating how they are cooked or presented. Two of our very best restaurants, both with names beginning with the letter "A", do this. The effect of these menus is that it's difficult to tell exactly how the dish will come out. I'm not claiming that this is a bad thing; on the contrary, when the dish arrives at the table, this can create a "eureka moment" in which it's always a surprise and not usually what you might have guessed by looking at the menu. For example, take "Hickory Braised Short Rib, Pancetta Brussels Sprouts, Yuka, Chanterelle". This can be done so many ways, using the same description - short rib on the bone, or boneless, or shredded? Pancetta wrapped around the sprouts, or flat on the plate, or alternating slices? Chanterelles, sliced on the plate, or used in a sauce, or presented whole on top of the short rib? What the heck is yuka? To me, though, the bottom line with such menu descriptions is that they don't really tell you what the dish looks like or tastes like. So, when you are asking about reactions, it's difficult for me to give any kind of reaction when the menu leaves so much to the imagination.