Topaz and Vie - Tuesday. Redstone - Wednesday. My Reviews :

After the negative experience at Topaz in Burr Ridge on Tuesday evening, my mother and I decided to dine over to Vie in Western Springs. We were pleased that there were closeby parking and that the walking distance into the restaurant was minimal. We immediately were greeted by a very beautiful and courteous hostess, who told me that we could sit anywhere we'd like. Near the front of the restaurant across from the bar, there was a row of non-seated half-booth tables. There were two or three not-so-steep steps upwards, which was not difficult for me to climp up, fortunately. It was well worth sitting there, considering that we were the only people dining in that section throughout the entire dining experience at Vie, The benefits being plenty of room and less noise around us. Also, we noticed upon sitting down, that the table was alot "heavier" than the table at Topaz, meaning that there was alot less liklihood of a leg-crashing collision involving the table at Vie. Anyways, the first question I asked the server was if they had non-carboneted lemonade, which they did and they were not "run-out" of the lemonade, thank goodness! The lemonade was good, though not quite as good as the lemonade served at The Cheesecake Factory, which is my favorite lemonade of all the lemonades I have drank throughout my life. Regarding the food served at Vie, I ordered a filet of fish that was either flounder or halibut, grilled instead of pan-seared, along with Wisconsin potatoes. The fish was fresh and cooked well, although I'd prefer to have had a larger quantity of food, However, I understand that the purpose at Vie is geared toward presentation and quality, rather than quantity/portion size, yet I already was relieved to be at a restaurant which actually seemed to care about me, unlike the negative experience at the previous restaurant.

Speaking of negative experiences at restaurants, my mother and I went to Redstone in Oakbrook Terrace on Wednesday evening. I should have known that the restaurant would have problems. Redstone's decor reminded me of Hell's Kitchen, which I had watched earlier Wednesday evening on fox.com's on-demand website. Anyways, we were seated at a booth which had a very heavy table. Also, the server was prompt at taking our beverage order. The problem though, was that it took her nearly ten minutes to bring my lemonade and my mother's water to the table. I noticed that in my lemonade, was a large lemon seed floating in the lemonade from the garnished lemon presented on the glass. I simply could not manage to get the lemon seed out of the glass, nor should I have to. The lemon is there for me to squeeze, not for the restaurant's staff to do. If I squeeze the lemon and a lemon seed pops out of the lemon into the lemonade, then it's my own fault. My mother kindly took the lemonade to the bar and had it replaced with a new, non-garnished glass of lemonade, in order to avoid another potential near- ten minute delay. Also noted, was that while I received a straw in my lemonade, my mother did not receive a straw in her water, nor on the side. The manager visited us at the table in order to explain that typically, they do not serve a straw with water, although he would get a straw since my mother expected there to be a straw with the water. Now to explain regarding the most aggravating and annoying problem at Redstone, which is the food order. I ordered Halibut, grilled, and lightly dusted with cajun spices. The server explained to me that likely the fish, being grilled, would not absorb all of the cajun spices, considering that some of the spices would fall through the grill, whereas if I ordered the fish "pan-blackened", the fish would maintain the majority of the spices. I reminded her that I only wanted the fish to be lightly dusted with cajun spices, and that my main focus was to get the fish grilled with char markings engraved into the fish, and for the fish to be cooked without butter and oil. Then, she told me that it would not be a problem. Sure enough, the fish arrived completely coated in deep, dark red cajun spice, definitely not "lightly dusted". I signaled for the manager, who promptly arrived to the table. It took me a while to explain to the manager about the issue, which he took care of, and I wasn't charged.

Dear fellow LTHers,

Much of what makes LTHForum interesting is our wildly divergent viewpoints. If we give in to sophomoric temptation to poke fun, even if no ill will is intended, at those whose inner eye sees through a different lens we run the risk, as per highly regarded clairvoyant David Hammond, of becoming an "overly sensitive coterie of effete and self-important snooty- pants dilettantes"

Those with posts deleted in this thread may feel free to email moderators@lthforum.com with specific comments. General comments not relating to matters culinary should be posted to site chat.

Personally, I'm going to write a post about breakfast at White Palace Grill, home of sturdy tables, delicious grits and friendly swift service even in the face of a packed mid morning house.

Enjoy,
Gary for the LTHForum moderators

Amen!