Romantic restaurant
 

I promised a girl to invite her for dinner in her hometown Chicago...so any ideas about a nice romantic restaurant?

Tim

any particulars such as cuisine or location?

It should not be too far from downtown. I don´t care about the cuisine for that occasion. The only important thing is that it is a good restaurant to invite a lady to... http://www.flyertalk.com/dining/ftdi...orum/smile.gif

Tim

Try Spiaggia. It is considered one of the best Italian restaurants in the country and its windows overlook the Oak Street Beach and The Drake. Very dramatic during a snowstorm.

Thanks for help!
What should I expect to pay for a normal dinner?

Tim

Just don't go to the Palm at Swissotel http://www.flyertalk.com/dining/ftdi...orum/smile.gif

Why? http://www.flyertalk.com/dining/ftdi...orum/smile.gif

Do you have any other ideas? Perhaps a good club afterwards? She is going to move to Chicago next week and I have just been to the airport so I have absolutely no idea where to go...

Tim

[This message has been edited by Tim2008 (edited 01-24-2003).]

What's your price range?

Palm, in short,
1. Burnt steak
2. Drinks refilled once, when I was given the check
3. Glass of water had 1 insect

I really do not know much about clubs, only the ones I have been to at Weed St (Circus) and Dearborn (Excalibur) but I heard White Star Lounge is pretty good (Ontario St)

Another place I could recommend is Bin 36 on Dearborn just north of the Chicago River, adjacent to House of Blues hotel.

Extensive wine list, not too expensive, I had some really good ones for $11 per bottle and pretty good food. But the best part has to be the atmosphere and space in the restaurant

Welcome to Chicago!

Spiaggia is nice, but I have to admit, I always feel like I overpaid after eating there. As I recall, the entree price is around $30-50 and in general I end up at around $150/person after alcohol, appetizer, entree, dessert. The tasting menu is nice there are well (~80-120/person depending on the day and the menu). View is nice, especially if you are by the window, atmosphere: the room is actually quite well lit, noise level: sedate, very classy decor.

For romantic Italian, I also like Trattoria #10 which is at 10 N. Dearborn. The room is darker, the crowd tends to be theater goers and the like. Slightly less expensive than Spiaggia (~50-75/person I'd guess) Also nice and quiet so it is easy to talk.

If money is no object, Tru is considered to be one of the best places to go. Haven't been there myself, but my friends who have gone rave about it.

If view is more your thing, then Everest is for you. The food is great, the view is beautiful from the 40th floor. Be aware that it is also very expensive. Haven't been there in almost 2 years, so I don't have recent prices, but trust me, if price is an issue, this will blow your budget.

Just for the record, Bin 36 is also great, and it is one of my favorite lunch spots, but at night it tends to be VERY noisy, so you may find yourself straining to hear your date.

How old are you -- what kind of food do you like -- and how much do you want to spend? These are important questions in order to find a restaurant that you will love.

If you want to go to a good club check out Le Passage at 1 Oak Place between Oak and Walton. Show up around midnight Thursday thru Staurday. It goes until 4 a.m.

My wife and I had our second date at Geja's Cafe on Armitage (couple doors west of the Park West/Clark st.)

Think garden level restaurant, gingham table cloths, live classical guitarist playing, low light level, fondue (which gives alot of time to talk)

only drawback is that if it is a busy night, you can smell like a kitchen due to all the fondue pots, but still very romantic. Good wine selection.

I've only been for lunch to Kiki's Bistro, 900 N Franklin, but I could easily imagine it being a very romantic evening place. French cuisine that won't break the bank.

Ambria, 2300 N Lincoln Park West, I've always had good meals here and the setting is "plush Art Nouveau". upscale dining, French inspired.

Here are the Citysearch rankings for the 2002 top ten most romantic restaurants in Chicago:

#1. Geja’s Café
340 W Armitage Ave
Chicago, IL 60614-4739
Phone: (773) 281-9101

#2. Café Absinthe
1954 W North Ave
Chicago, IL 60622-1318
Phone: (773) 278-4488

#3. Narcisse Champagne Salon & Caviar Bar
710 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: (312) 787-2675
Website: http://www.narcisse.us/

#4. Signature Room at the 95th
875 N Michigan Ave
Chicago, IL 60611-1803
Phone: (312) 787-9596

#5. Tizi Melloul
531 N Wells St
Chicago, IL 60610
Phone: (312) 670-4338

#6. Pete Miller’s
1557 Sherman Ave
Evanston, IL 60201-4421
Phone: (847) 328-0399

#7. Everest
440 S La Salle St Fl 40
Chicago, IL 60605-1028
Phone: (312) 663-8920

#8. Dragonfly Madarin
1206 N State Pkwy
Chicago, IL 60610
Phone: (312) 787-7600

#9. Gioco
1312 S Wabash St
Chicago, IL 60605
Phone: (312) 939-3870

#10. Erawan
729 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: (312) 642-6888

New Review: Everest
4-star classic is one of Chicago's most romantic spots

By Phil Vettel

I'm often asked to name the most romantic restaurants in Chicago--a daunting task. As far as I'm concerned, sitting amid comfortable surroundings and gazing upon your sweetie while others bring you food and drink is romantic per se. Everything else is a matter of personal taste.
It's almost easier to define what is not romantic. Display kitchens are not romantic. Surgical-level lighting is not romantic. Intrusive music is not romantic. Too-close tables are not romantic (if you can't stretch your arms without tickling the ear of someone other than your date, the tables are too close).

But there are exceptions. I would consider one sixtyblue a romantic restaurant, provided my table were some distance away from the display kitchen. Rumba, which I reviewed two weeks ago, is crowded and loud, but the stirring Afro-Cuban music and the presence of a dance floor make it a passionate choice for romantic dining. Cafe Lucci, a very good Italian restaurant in Glenview, is a bit noisy and too brightly lit, but it has a strolling violinist. I can't resist a strolling violinist.

Conversely, there are dark, intimate, relatively quiet restaurants I don't find romantic at all. Geja's Cafe, a fondue specialist that invariably tops most romantic-restaurant surveys in Chicago, has never struck me as particularly romantic. I like the place, and it is low-lit, and the live guitar music is delightful. But dunking meat into scalding oil doesn't set my heart a-flutter. For me the most romantic part of dining at Geja's is that, when my wife and I get home, our clothes smell so strongly of cooking oil that we can't wait to disrobe.

Sometimes romance requires a particular table. The window table at Saussy, for instance, or the elevator table at Vivo. I'm particularly enamored of the vault tables at Opera, little brick-lined niches that can seem intimate even when the restaurant is jam-packed.

Some people equate a terrific view with romance; I'm ambivalent on that score. I find a great view to be insufficient compensation for indifferent food, and I've had both at the romantic perches at The Signature Room and Cite. Spiaggia and NoMI have less-splendid views, but both restaurants have such exquisite food I'd find them romantic if they were housed in a grain silo.

Not all my favorite romantic spots are expensive. Cafe Matou, an adorable French restaurant on the Bucktown/Logan Square fringe, is very budget-friendly, as is Bistrot Margot in Old Town and Cyrano's Bistrot & Wine Bar in River North.

But for a restaurant that combines it all--sumptuous surroundings, careful lighting, supremely attentive service and food that is as awe-inspiring as its spectacular views--I'd nominate four-star Everest as Chicago's most romantic restaurant.

I stopped in recently, and found the 40th-floor dining room just as I remembered it, its cream-and-black interior as good-looking as ever (remarkable, as it's more than 15 years old). The lighting is soft enough to be warm, but bright enough that you can read chef Jean Joho's menu, which offers a balance of old and new. Apart from the main menu is a small section offering classic dishes such as tournedos Rossini, and within the main menu are a handful of creations designated as having "made the reputation of the Everest."

Among these is a salmon souffle appetizer, an homage to Auberge de L'Ill, the Alsace restaurant that launched Joho's career. The dish consists of a small filet of salmon wrapped in an ethereal salmon mousse made with so many eggwhites it achieves a souffle-like volume. Browned on the outside, the mousse resembles a pastry crust but has the texture of fine silk, and it keeps the salmon beautifully moist.

One of Joho's great gifts is his ability to raise peasant ingredients to royal status, as he does with a cream of cabbage soup. Actually it's not precisely cabbage soup, but a creamy broth of Alsatian sauerkraut that's ladled over finely diced vegetables and small triangles of smoked sturgeon. For a touch of luxury, Joho places a dollop of creme fraiche, topped with osetra caviar, in the middle of the bowl.

We went conservative on the entrees, or so I thought, with a sauteed veal chop, the meat sliced off the bone and smothered in black-trumpet mushrooms. But the innocuous-sounding herb-crusted lamb was a revelation--three flawless rib chops in a light jus fortified with cardamom, served with flageolet beans in a buttery cream sauce and toasted cauliflower seasoned with turmeric and a light curry blend.

Another Joho trick is creating desserts out of vegetables. On my visit, he offered a composition of parsnip, placing the aromatic vegetable in three sweet guises: as part of a moist spice cake, incorporated into a light custard with a caramelized-sugar lid, and as an ice-cream flavoring. Bold concept, perfect execution--what else could one ask for? Well, if one were my wife, one would request--and receive--Everest's chocolate souffle, which in taste and texture is like a chocolate cloud.

Everest has a world-class wine list that's the equal to its world-class cuisine, and a stellar sommelier in Alpana Singh, whose wine knowledge belies her tender years. Everest's wine list is a fun read, but for a romantic dinner I recommend leaving the wines to Singh while focusing your gaze on more important things.

Everest
440 S. LaSalle St.
312-663-8920

Open: Dinner Tue.-Sat.
Entree prices: $32-$46; seven-course degustation menu $89.
Extras: Complimentary valet parking; no smoking.

Phil Vettel is the Tribune restaurant critic.

Originally published Feb. 5, 2003.

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