Kevin - Where is Everybody?

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 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.

Kevin
9 W Hubbard St
(312) 595-0055

I've had two excellent meals at Kevin, and I guess that I'm slightly surprised to hear that you could get the reservation that easily. However, I think that there are so many excellent, upscale restaurants in the city that it's hard for many restaurants to ensure the crowds, especially when they're not part of the current trend.

In particular, there seem to be so many high end Asian-fusion choices in town these days (Kevin, Spring, Le Lan, Japonais, Vermillion, Opera, Red Light, China Grill, Meritage) as well as more upscale Japanese restaurants than I can ever recall, so I think Kevin's competition is a little greater than in the past. Sure, Kevin's different than most of the ones listed, but I can't help but think that the ones I listed are nonetheless competing for many of the same diners.

At the same time, I'm not sure that upscale Asian is necessarily the trend in dining these days. I don't know if I'd call it "boring" but so many places have done it very well for so long now that it's just not that new and exciting. Instead, we have Alinea, Moto and Avenues leading the more adventurous of the newbies. And then there's the small plate trend which seems to have strongly invaded Chicago.

So maybe it's time for Kevin to find a way to get people back in the door (assuming the Saturday you dined there was not an aberration) -- advertising, Restaurant.com, who knows. But there have been quite a few very good restaurants in Chicago that have gone away and the competition only seems to be getting tougher.

Anyway, those are just my unscientific thoughts on the issue.

Heading to a show at the LaSalle Theater this Saturday and I'm thinking I might as well finally check out Kevin. Is the general consensus that this place is still firing on all cylinders, or do I risk a bit of a decline in light of the attention being focused on Shikago? There aren't too many recent reviews on here and the prices on the website aren't exactly cheap.

Cafe Spiaggia is also on my 'to do' list, but other than that, I'm really running dry on ideas for alternatives in the area.

Thanks.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:Heading to a show at the LaSalle Theater this Saturday and I'm thinking I might as well finally check out Kevin. Is the general consensus that this place is still firing on all cylinders, or do I risk a bit of a decline in light of the attention being focused on Shikago? There aren't too many recent reviews on here and the prices on the website aren't exactly cheap.

Cafe Spiaggia is also on my 'to do' list, but other than that, I'm really running dry on ideas for alternatives in the area.

Thanks.

Given a choice between Kevin and Cafe Spiaggia, the Cafe wins hands down. It's not even close.

If you're going to the LaSalle Bank Theatre and thinking about Kevin, you might want to try Shi-kago, Kevin Shikami's new restaurant located on Adams next to the W Hotel. My experience there was mixed, but you may like it and it's more convenient than Kevin.

aschie30 wrote:My experience there was mixed

Most of the reviews I've read have been mixed, which is what took it out of the running for consideration.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

aschie30 wrote:My experience there was mixed

Most of the reviews I've read have been mixed, which is what took it out of the running for consideration.

Fair enough!

stevez wrote:

Ralph Wiggum wrote:Heading to a show at the LaSalle Theater this Saturday and I'm thinking I might as well finally check out Kevin. Is the general consensus that this place is still firing on all cylinders, or do I risk a bit of a decline in light of the attention being focused on Shikago? There aren't too many recent reviews on here and the prices on the website aren't exactly cheap.

Cafe Spiaggia is also on my 'to do' list, but other than that, I'm really running dry on ideas for alternatives in the area.

Thanks.

Given a choice between Kevin and Cafe Spiaggia, the Cafe wins hands down. It's not even close.

They serve completely different food. Both are excellent at what they do. Cafe Spiaggia serves outstanding Italian food. Kevin serves a version of Asian/fusion cooking.

I personally would tend to choose Kevin simply because I prefer that style of food. However, there is no way to say that one is better than the other. They are just to different in style.

I just had a business lunch at Shikgao. I have to say despite slow, condescending service, fatty, unchewable pork chunks, and bones in the salmon, everything was great! I am serioulsy embarrased that I was the one that chose this spot for a business dinner.