We had wanted to get into Tru last year and called a month in advance of a trip to Chicago only to be told they were "fully committed." I had heard somewhat mixed reviews, so I didn't mind. But on a recent trip to Chicago, we were walking past and decided to pop in and ask them to let us know if they received any cancellations for the following night - a Saturday.

Meanwhile, we ate that night at Charlie Trotter's and happened to mention to our server that we were hoping to get in at Tru the next night. She had the front desk place a call and we immediately had a reservation. (The following morning they also called us at the hotel with a cancellation.) As it turns out, they probably weren't full to begin with. When we arrived for our 6 p.m. reservation, we were led to a large dining room with just four other tables. One of those remained empty the whole time we were there (about three hours) and the others were occupied by diners only for about 1.5 hours each.

The decor is very spartan. The walls are white, the ceiling's white, the lights are white, the linens are white and there's no art or flowers. Interestingly enough, they also added some false walls over windows, to make the wall appear about six feet thick. Interesting use of space.

You have your option of ordering off the main menu or from the collections menu, featuring the spontaneous eight-course Chef's Collection ($125); the Grand Collection, with the famed caviar staircase and six other courses ($100); and the seven-course Vegetable Collection ($80). Being vegetarians, the three of us opted for the latter. (If you order from the collections menu, the entire table must do the same although each person may just a different collection.) We also asked the sommelier to select wine pairings for each course. This ended up being a wonderful chance to enjoy some wines we otherwise wouldn't have. Most of the wines he selected were $100+ on the menu. The sommelier comped us half the wines and so we paid $105 (it pays to be a Friend of Charlie ). We also had to stop him before he got to the dessert wine, as he'd poured quite large glasses of some very enjoyable wines. One we particularly liked was a chardonnay from Domaine Serene in Oregon's Williamette Valley. And we thought they only made good pinot noirs.

Dinner included three different bento boxes; chantrelle mushroom and English pea fricassee with garli crostini and poached egg; 24K gold chive risotto, marinated tear drop tomatoes with saffrom emulsion (wonderful); carrot ginger cappuccino (the only real loser, although the cups it came in - each a different one from the Versace Collection - were stunningly beautiful); vegetable ragout in a sweet pea sauce; wild mushroom tart with red wine confit shallots and crispy Pecorino; I wish I could remember dessert. We also ordered a cheese course - although we were so full we were tempted to cancel it so the server brough us some light goat's milk cheeses.

Overall, we were surprisingly pleased with Tru. The food was as good and perhaps a little more creative than what we have had on our visits to Charlie Trotter's. Without the comps, the check would have been about the same as it was the night before at Trotter's. Trotter's staff is more friendly (always offering kitchen tours and to show you the party room and where his TV show is filmed), although we certainly had no complaints at Tru. The head sommelier came over to us and welcomed us and said, "I understand you're friends of Charlie's." Um, yes, uh-huh.

If you're looking for a special evening out, Tru fits the bill. And if you're, told they're full, do ask to be put on a waiting list. We definitely got the idea they'd needed to preserve their reputation and so would say they are booked, even if tables are available.

Agreed, they made the nice touch of custom printing the menus to celebrate our anniversary dinner there.

I am a confirmed carnivore, yet was enticed w/the Vegetable Collection. Did not miss my meat once, a tremendous meal.

Being caviar lovers, I've wondered if we could just have the caviar staircase. Guess it is just a matter of calling Tru.

That's nice to know. We collect and frame menus from some of the more famed restaurants we've been to. We were disappointed with Tru's menu only because no where on it does it say the name of the restaurant - except at the very bottom where in tiny type it mentions they serve Tru spring water from Wisconsin. Next time maybe we'll ask if they can specially print a menu with the name of the restaurant on it.

a sample Tru menu can be viewed at:

http://www.chicagochefs.com/clients/Tru/menu/index.html