Kevin - Chicago

[jesteinf]

Has anyone been here recently? I think it's supposed to be good, it's just one of those places you never hear anything about anymore. I'd love to get other's thoughts.

Thanks.

[jesteinf]

I'll go ahead and answer my own question...

The girlfriend and I were looking for a nice dinner on short notice for Saturday night. A few places we've been wanting to try being booked, we were able to get an 8pm reservation at Kevin. The restaurant was about 75% full when we arrived for our reservation. My goal for the night was to figure out why it wasn't full and why no one talks about this place anymore.

For appetizers I started with the seared foie gras and beef wrapped in moo shu pancakes served with foie gras chawan mushi. The pancakes were good, but a bit awkward to eat (I assumed I was meant to pick them up and eat them, rather than use a knife and fork, but maybe I was wrong). The chawan mushi was outstanding. A bit more on the cakey side rather than custardey, the flavor was fantastic. The girlfriend had a cold soup of nectarine and green tea with scallops. Maybe it was to sweet or maybe the soup should have been hot, but I just didn't like it. The girlfriend pronounced it "fine" (which translates to about a C).

For my main course I was once again unable to resist an entree involving pork belly, so I went with the Chinese mustard glazed pork loin which was served with roasted pork belly and moo shu pancakes filled with braised pork shoulder. Major props to our server who suggested the pork medium rare (even though it came out medium...but nice effort anyway). The belly was wonderful, presented on the fattier side of the meaty-to-fatty pork belly continuum and served on top of rapini. Again, the moo shu pancakes were just darn hard to eat. I finally gave up and used my knife and fork. The girlfriend had the seared tuna, which was cooked perfectly. A nice sear on the outside and perfectly raw inside. The tuna was served with a couple of slices of different maki (one a veggie, one a tuna I think...they were both gone before I got my bite). The portion was a bit small, but I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

Desserts were just ok. A rum cake for the girlfriend and a chocolate carmel peanut butter tart for me. Both good. Neither anything special.

So why aren't people talking about this restaurant anymore? Why could I get an 8pm reservation on a Saturday night on about 5 hours notice? I'm not completely sure. One interesting point that my girlfriend made is that at this tier of dining (solid 2.5 to 3 stars) people expect more than Kevin's interpretation of Asian influence (maki, moo shu pancakes, hoisen sauce, etc). That might be right. While the food was quite good, I'm not sure I would describe it as refined. It's certainly not outrageously expensive. Excluding wine, tax and tip our food was about $100, perfectly reasonable for 3 courses for two people given the quality of cooking and the ingredients used.

Anyway, I'd still like to hear other's opinions of Kevin. I would certainly go back and would definitely recommend it to someone looking for a high end (but not Alinea/Avenues/TRU/Trotters) type of meal.

[ronnie_suburban]

Interesting take, Josh. Thanks for the report. I too have always wondered about Kevin. I can't remember who, but someone once told me they really loved it there.

Did it feel like it would be appropriate for a business dinner? I've got a few coming up?

=R=

[jesteinf]

I would think it would be fine for a business dinner. The room is fairly small, but not really that loud. Also, based on my recollection, the menu has enough options where an unadventurous diner could find something to eat.

[Barbara Moss]

It is fine for a business dinner. i took a group of 8 and they loved it. I thought the wine list was very expensive but I did not have time to really peruse the list. It gives the appearance of being trendy but it is really not which works for the business dinner. For me, I thought it was fine but not fabulous. The food was more interesting when it first opened.

[babern38]

while walking around waiting for our reservation at Topolobampo I walked by Kevin Restaurant. I had never heard of this place before, but it looked great. It was a beautiful restaurant with french doors that opened to the street. It was a wednesday night, but the place looked completely empty at 7pm. Not much is discussed on this thread and I wonder why. I'm looking forward to my next trip to chicago because I think this place may be worth a try. It could be a great find.

[ulterior epicure]

while walking around waiting for our reservation at Topolobampo I walked by Kevin Restaurant.  I had never heard of this place before, but it looked great.  It was a beautiful restaurant with french doors that opened to the street.  It was a wednesday night, but the place looked completely empty at 7pm.  Not much is discussed on this thread and I wonder why.  I'm looking forward to my next trip to chicago because I think this place may be worth a try.  It could be a great find.

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I've only been once for lunch - 2 years ago. As I recall, it was decent, but nothing seriously memorable. See here for pictures.

[santo_grace]

while walking around waiting for our reservation at Topolobampo I walked by Kevin Restaurant.  I had never heard of this place before, but it looked great.  It was a beautiful restaurant with french doors that opened to the street.  It was a wednesday night, but the place looked completely empty at 7pm.  Not much is discussed on this thread and I wonder why.  I'm looking forward to my next trip to chicago because I think this place may be worth a try.  It could be a great find.

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I've only been once for lunch - 2 years ago. As I recall, it was decent, but nothing seriously memorable. See here for pictures.

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A group of 4 of us went for dinner in September, and I would say the reaction was definitely mixed. My husband and I have no desire to go back since we feel there are many more restaurants that we would prefer to spend the same amount of money on. The other two people in our group have gone back at least once, and often bring it up when we are making plans or recommend it to others. I would chalk this one up to individual tastes. While I enjoyed his signature tuna dish, I don't really think of it as something I have to get again, and I can't remember anything I ate. It wasn't a bad or negative experience, but as UE said it wasn't memorable.