Ping my romantic dinner in Glenview

Sparky is invited to a birthday party at "Pump It Up" tonight, after which we will be headed for somewhere that has an isolation chamber (just kidding, sort of) and this gives the hubs and I a chance at a few hours on our own at dinnertime, between 6-7pm Any ideas?

Pump It Up of Glenview
http://www.pumpitupparty.com/
(those of you without children may want to shield your eyes if you click through)
1857 Elmdale Ave
Glenview, IL 60026

Prairie Grass

The Glen Club isn't far, better food than you'd expect for a golf course club, nice views over the course - a favorite of my Mom's.

Glen Club
2901 W Lake Ave
Glenview, IL

Cafe Lucci is also very good, Italian - it's where we took our big family group for Easter. Massive wine list.

Cafe Lucci
609 Milwaukee Ave
Glenview, IL

If you're in the mood for Austrian food and great pastry, with the option of meeting with people to redesign your kitchen, check out Jolane's

Jolane's Cafe
1100 N. Milwaukee
Glenview, IL

We enjoy Pizano's Pizza on Waukegan in Glenview, although it's not what I'd call romantic.

Hackney's on Lake is good, also, but same as above. It's dark, at least.

Himalayan on Golf in Niles has pretty good Indian.

Francesca's North on Church in Northbook.



Enjoy the time!

Thanks for your replies, everyone! My first thought was also Prairie Grass - but I wasn't sure how far it was from the dropoff point, after checking I found that it was only a 15 minute drive - and that's where we wound up. Many of the other places mentioned were closer - the Glen Club is right around the corner, Hackneys just up the road - but I hadn't tried Prairie Grass for dinner and was curious to see what it was like.

We had a fabulous meal; I ate to the point of embarrasment; all our plates were sent back spotless. We were a little overwhelmed by the menu, and opted to split an entree so we could order a couple appetizers and the soup - and a good thing we did, there's no way we'd have been able to eat another entree and still have room for dessert.

For apps, we had the pate with apples, an excellent liver mousse that may well have been foie, it was certainly buttery enough, with a light livery funk. The apples were a perfect accompaniment (we tried it on the house bread and found the apples to be a crucial part of the equation, offering depth and opening up the flavors) We also had a peekytoe crabcake that was served atop an excellent cucumber, avocado and grapefruit salad - the crabcake was more like a fritter: the inside was almost all crabmeat and the exterior a crispy fried breading, but I far and away preferred the accompaniment. With a tinge of regret, (it was chilly) I decided on soup rather than salad - but I was rewarded with one of the best Butternut Squash soups I've ever had: simple, just squash and cream (I'm guessing A LOT of cream) and a sprinkling of pumpkin seeds. The spouse opted for the skirt steak, again a simply prepared but absolutely excellent thick hunk of meat, rare as ordered and meltingly tender. It had a slightly sweet, slightly spicy sauce and was accompanied by a grilled red onion, mushrooms, and watercress - and they were kind enough to divide it between two plates for us.

Somehow, after all this, we managed to find room for a dessert and opted for the creme brulee - a windowpane-thin sugar crust over a custard that highlighted the rich cream and eggs.