Sepia in Chicago

[Alex]

Sepia has been garnering a lot of praise, especially for a place that's been open such a short time. Does anyone have a personal experience to relate, either theirs or second-hand?

Menu Pages listing

A brief mention in Dish

Metromix First Look

Sepia's web site (front page only for now)

[JDYmeat]

My company sells meat to Sepia so I will not give a biased review. But I will say that Chef Kendal is sourcing the highest grade products that we can find him. Ex.

Merguez sausage from Janie Crawford's farm in New Glarus WI.

Muscovey air chiiled ducks from Grimaud

Berkshire Pork Racks and bellies from Iowa

All natural beef sirloin

etc. etc.

From experience I know when a chef takes as much care in chosing his products as Kendal does, the results always show. It has been a pleasure dealing with this restaurant and it will hit this city big.

[BryanZ]

Marooned on an obscure wall at a lonely table in Sepia's lounge I settled in for dinner tonight. I arrived shortly after 8 to find a bustling restaurant. Although a bit brown and dim for my tastes, Sepia has an uplifting buzz to it. And though the clientele skewed toward the douchey, all types were represented, from a group of older ladies to a couple families. A good proportion of diners were eating the bar/lounge, preventing it from becoming too much of a scene.

The cooking at Sepia is quite accomplished, if the two dishes I sampled tonight are any indication of the restaurant's broader talents. The menu reads well, if a bit boring, with an ample selection of foodie favorites--octopus, veal breast, and artisanal cheeses--and standbys--grilled chicken and salmon.

Since my tastes generally trend toward the more unique, I tried the octopus and veal breast. The octopus, served with grilled bread and a bright tomato sauce, was well-cooked, if quite underseasoned. This was a good dish but nothing memorable. My veal breast was at another level entirely. While this is far from light cooking, it was deeply satisfying. Hunks of slow-cooked veal breast sat atop mint noodles, peas, and carrots. The veal was like a grassier, more subtle pork belly and benefited from a wide range of textures: silky fat, crispy exterior, pleasantly chewy muscle. This was quite the ample portion too, bordering on being overwhelming given the rich meat and buttery sauce.

I should also note that bread service here is rather amusing. Although I was not offered bread, upon asking (and waiting, but more on that later) for bread I was served a super dense whole wheat roll on a wooden platter with a metal cone of butter resting on what seemed like fresh watercress to garnish. I was quite amused with this bit of elegantly rustic showmanship for something as simple as a single roll.

So while the food has potential, the service was disorganized to say the least. Again this was in the lounge, but while the restaurant was busy it was not packed to capacity. As overeager and efficient as the staff at Otom was on the night prior, the staff at Sepia was, well, not those things. I was waited by no fewer than four individuals over my two courses, none of whom made a particularly strong impression. The captains/floor managers/wine stewards/dudes in suits seemed polished but were far too scarce. For both courses, silverware was placed after my dish had arrived. My water glass ran empty for stretches. And after my main was cleared I was cast off to a lala land of neither receiving dessert menu nor check nor check-in. For a restaurant with so many staff bustling about this felt almost awkward. So much was going on yet it seemed like not that much actually getting done.

All in all, I think this place has two star potential. On a good night in the main dining room, maybe at an off-hour I can see myself having a really solid meal here.

Edited July 26, 2007 by BryanZ (log)

[Lenski]

We dined at Sepia last week. It is a beautiful space (odd lamps aside), very inviting and I am sure it will be a great place to have dinner during the long fall/winter season.

We ordered several things on the menu and I agree with BryanZ that the baby octopus was ok, but the veal breast was outstanding.

Among the winners for me: watermelon salad with fennel and a yogurt dressing (simple but outstanding, perfect summer dish). The Steak tartare was very good, perfectly seasoned. The overall winner for me was the roasted rabbit appetizer served with ricotta dumplings. Perfect.

The only dish that I did not enjoy (and it was unanimous) was the avocado/cucumber soup. I thought it was on the bland side.

I will go back soon to try more dishes and I will report.. The Chicago press seems to like it very much (TOChicago just gave it a very high rating) and it was very busy for a weeknight. Service was very, very good.I was pleasantly surprised at how reasonably priced it is (I might even say cheap).

[ronnie_suburban]

I would describe my recent meal at Sepia as disappointing. We sampled a lot of food and with few exceptions most of it was either flawed or forgettable. I didn't think that prices were out of line but I never got a sense that I was eating premium ingredients, either. I'm sorry JDYMeat. Maybe the kitchen is just not handling the product you ship them very competently.

The brazen upselling of the flatbreads and anally retentive ordering regimen turned me off immediately. The flatbreads, we were permitted -- and encouraged -- to order, the moment we sat down. But when we tried to bypass the flatbreads and order appetizers, we were told that we would have to wait to do that. It was for our own protection. Customers are warned to order appetizers and entrees at the same time or risk a long delay between courses.

When our waiter returned to take our appetizer orders, we threw him a curve ball and ordered a couple of the $6 flatbreads (a couple of us ended up wanting to try them). But before we could piggyback the rest of our order onto the moment, he ran off to put our flatbread orders in. After a few moments, he returned to take the rest of our orders. After several more moments, our flatbreads finally appeared. Before the four of us could finish the 8 total bites they consisted of, the first round of our appetizers arrived at the table. Oh well.

FWIW, the flatbreads were disappointing. One, containing bacon, peaches and blue cheese, was decent but the lamb sausage atop the other one was way too lean for sausage and tasted like dry, chewy lamburger.

There was 1 winner in the first round of 3 appetizers: the charred baby octopus. The octopus was braised and then grilled. This, however, was not mushy as I expected but crispy on the outside and nicely tender within. It was served with a ubiquitous "toasted" bread (that appeared throughout the meal), which was actually slightly overgrilled (aka burnt) bread and some perfectly delicious tomato sauce. The softshell crab was fairly run-of-the-mill and the steak tartare was remarkably devoid of flavor. A couple of folks at our table thought it had some sort of "off" flavor note (an ingredient that didn't belong) but I didn't sense it. It was just bland.

Round 2 of appetizers included a lackluster and chewy grilled quail, pork rillettes that were as flavorless as the tartare -- served on the aforementioned burnt bread -- and my favorite of the 3, "roasted rabbit with ricotta dumplings and riesling reduction." Here I loved the buttery sauce and the tender, savory rabbit. The dumplings were tasty too, if not a bit too mushy.

An instant before our entrees were served, a loaf of bread and ramekin of butter was dropped on the table and the aggressive sales pitch that was applied earlier to the flatbreads suddenly came into focus. Why wouldn't the bread be brought out first like it is at every other restaurant? Well, every other restaurant isn't trying to ram $6 flatbreads down its customers throats. I really hate crap like this.

Entrees were mostly a letdown. The scallops, seared rather sloppily on only one side, were ordinary. The lamb sirloin, through no fault of its cooking, was extremely tough (cooked perfectly to medium, as ordered, however) but the smokey great northern beans that accompanied it were delicious. The slow baked veal breast was tender, juicy and tasty, although I admit that the mint noodles that accompanied it sounded so unappetizing to me, I didn't even try them. The berkshire porkchop was just destroyed. It was completely dried out, even near the bone. Ordered medium, it was served well-done and a potentially wonderful, $25 piece of meat was ruined. Our server did eventually ask about it and did offer to bring another one but by then, it was pretty late in the meal.

We also tried 3 sides and enjoyed 2 of them. The chilled roasted baby beets were great and the potatoes in duck fat were crispy and nicely-seasoned. The onion rings, touted by our server, were already soggy and limp when they hit the table.

I was having a nice time, even though everything was pretty meh. It was like an out-of-body experience. Not having been my choice, I could enjoy the misery of the moment because I wasn't even remotely responsible for it. The room, while remarkably uncomfortable, was attractive. But across the board, seating was ill-conceived. That was true in the lounge and the dining room, where the chairs forced drinkers and diners alike to sit at bizarre angles that were not conducive for drinking or eating. And the leather tablecloths really made things difficult for us and the staff. Nothing slides at all on leather and that's very annoying after spending a lifetime eating at tables on which things do slide. Try nudging your water glass over a bit or swirling your wine stem on leather. Try using a crumber on leather or setting down a plate without splashing. It just doesn't work and frankly, it borders on pretentious when function is so completely obliterated by form.

I guess my companions weren't as bemused by the experience as I was. They refused the dessert menu before I even got a chance to read it. They couldn't wait to leave and when the bill showed up with the destroyed, uneaten berkshire pork chop still on it, I think they felt vindicated.

I can't say I have any burning desire to return. And with Avec and Blackbird right around the corner, why would I?

=R=

Edited September 12, 2007 by ronnie_suburban (log)

[Lateralus]

I ate at Sepia last night and I also had an experience similar to ronnie. Very disappionting. I have heard both good and bad reviews and comments about Sepia. The service I thought was ok...better than I heard. The food on the other hand...very forgettable. I sitll can't believe the lamb sausage flatbread.....what was that? The veal breast was so heavy and greasy, no care taking in the cooking of it. The noodles were pasty, and the garnish of cippolini onions, baby carrots, baby beets were obviously an after thought. The only plus of my experience were the prices of apps/ entrees. You can tell the talent in the kitchen....(chef)?

[davebill]

sepia has a new chef. has anyone been to the restaurant yet?

[sailracer]

Ate at Sepia a couple months ago and had a wonderful evening. Decor was stunning (warm and inviting) and service was fantastic. The food was creative and delish. It truly was one of the best meals I've had in Chicago.

[Alex]

Ate at Sepia a couple months ago and had a wonderful evening. Decor was stunning (warm and inviting) and service was fantastic. The food was creative and delish. It truly was one of the best meals I've had in Chicago.

Could you provide details about your meal, please?

[Chris Hennes]

I dined at Sepia a few evenings ago and enjoyed myself: although the food was not terribly inspiring, the cocktails were very well-made and there were some interesting selections on the menu. Food-wise I had the charcuterie plate and a flank steak with béarnaise. Neither was remarkable, though the pâté had an interesting seasoning to it. The steak was good but not great, and the béarnaise a little thin and a little cool for my tastes. Frankly, next time I'd probably skip the entrees entirely and just enjoy the charcuterie and a few cocktails. I was dining in the lounge: service was slow but not unbearably so, and was otherwise polite and unobtrusive. I was a little miffed when our waiter took away the cocktail menu after we ordered one round, but she returned it promptly when asked.