Aquitaine

This is a newish place, opened about a year ago on Lincoln. I went for their first wine dinner, hopefully this will become a regular monthly event for them. I haven't been for their normal meals, but two friends of mine (who helped organize the wine dinner) really love it, and go regularly. Reviews on Yelp are decidedly mixed, really either very good or very bad.

We had a 5-course meal with wine pairings (wines matched by the distributor, a lovely woman who did a good job of explaining what we should expect from the wine, some info about the winery or region, why she chose it for that particular dish, etc). I don't think most of the dishes we had are on the regular menu, but all were quite good:
-Braised rabbit ravioli with mustard cream sauce
-Benton bacon and white bean soup
-White wine poached seabass with lemon, artichoke and olives
-Smokey braised shortrib with chestnut mash potato and roasted vegetable
-Tart Vanille with homespun bourbon ice cream
They source their desserts from Vanille, but made the ice cream themselves. This was, indeed, a vanilla custardy-meringue sort of tart.

The Chef also spoke about each course, and why she liked certain ingredients, and what she was aiming for with each dish.

The space is pretty, with dark wall paper and chandeliers, but light ceilings (the Chef/Owner's mom did the interior design). It didn't seem to be too loud for conversation, and felt comfortable.

Aquitaine
2221 N Lincoln Ave
(773) 698-8456
http://www.aquitainerestaurant.com

That's a very appealing menu and description. Did you get a sense of what a normal dinner price range would be there? Who was the distributor? (Just curious.)

I don't recall who the distributor was, sorry, will see if I can find out. All the wines were quite good.

Their regular menu is available on the web site linked above (as a downloadable PDF, alas, but it is there)

Any reports on this joint lately? We are looking for a place to have pre-theater dinner next month with a large group (right near here).

annak wrote:Any reports on this joint lately? We are looking for a place to have pre-theater dinner next month with a large group (right near here).

We go there four or five times a year, mostly when it's warm out since we tend to walk rather than drive. Last time was in January and had a very nice meal with great service.