The shuttering of Lincoln Avenue--Acqualina, Bransfield's

Walking down Lincoln around Montrose last night, I noticed that the restaurant biz hasn't been booming on this stretch. She She closed a while back. Now it appears that Acqualina and Bransfield's have also closed. Cork in the erstwhile Tournesol space and Horseshoe also seemed sparsely populated for 8 pm on a Saturday night.

I'm ambivalent about these departures--I never tried most of these places. Just wondering what it means for the neighborhood. I did notice that crowds got bigger further north. Bad Dog Tavern, Grafton, Essence of India, Square Kitchen, La Boca Del Veritia, and Opart Thai all seemed to be doing brisk business. And I think my personal favorite, Taqeria El Asadero, is safe too.

Hasn't Bransfield's failed in more than one location on Lincoln? I never visited it in it's newest incarnation. I tried Acqualina soon after it opened. I had a decent dinner there (I think it was something like macaroni & cheese with bacon) but I never felt the need to go back. I read a quote from the owner of Acqualina about the closing where he said he got an offer he couldn't refuse. It sounded like there would be another place opening there too. Tournesol is a real loss, though. I was there once and really enjoyed my meal. It was just an excellent place to have in the neighborhood.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Charlie's on Leavitt join that group of shuttered restaurants. I've been by there a few tmies at peak dining hours and found it dead.

The Horseshoe is more bar than restaurant, so it's not too surprising that it's slow at 8:00. I believe Cork is owned by the same folks behind Tournesol. It's just a new concept. Too bad, because I really like Tournesol.

I can't blame the neighborhood for the failure of those restaurants. There are a number of other successful places on Lincoln between Montrose and Irving (Jury's, Cys, Woody's, Cho Sun Ok). Restaurants (and small businesses in general) open and close across the city all the time.

The recent change from Tournesol to Cork is a travesty. I was surprised to see the turn around was so quick until I stopped in for a drink. The space is unwelcoming and unwieldy. Tournesol was always a big family favorite - a great place to bring older folks. Not so anymore.

I do think the neighborhood plays a role in the demise of these upscale offerings. Lincoln Square proper has the Old Town School and good foot traffic, south on Lincoln not so much. The sustained success of Jury's, Cy's etc. is fundamentally different as these other three are much more up-market.

MAG wrote:The recent change from Tournesol to Cork is a travesty. I was surprised to see the turn around was so quick until I stopped in for a drink. The space is unwelcoming and unwieldy. Tournesol was always a big family favorite - a great place to bring older folks. Not so anymore.

I agree with all of this. I may be back to Cork, but probably not too soon.

A co-worker told me his son, a Kendall graduate, will be involved in the new restaurant venture in the old Acqualina space - supposedly it will be called Block 44 and be open in about 4 months - no info yet on cuisine style.

On another note, I used to enjoy Tournesol too - a great place to bring my parents for a nice meal with good service. My mom is sad that she can't think of another place that serves kidney (any suggestions?). I'd be interested to hear what the food is like at Cork - I heard that it would be 'small plates', but I haven't heard anymore about what they're actually serving. How are the prices per glass on most of the wines?

Le Bouchon, and maybe sister restaurant La Sardine, has veal kidneys on the menu.

It seemed like a good wine list with a good variety on price as well as other markers. I don't recall the specifics on the food, other than it was small plates, which as a concept has been well covered by Avec, Volo etc.

Tobermory wrote:On another note, I used to enjoy Tournesol too - a great place to bring my parents for a nice meal with good service. My mom is sad that she can't think of another place that serves kidney (any suggestions?).

Well, it's a bit far, but for a preparation of veal kidneys that you likely won't find around here, you might consider this place, though again, it's a bit of a trip...

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=47356#47356



Antonius

I'd be interested to hear what the food is like at Cork - I heard that it would be 'small plates', but I haven't heard anymore about what they're actually serving. How are the prices per glass on most of the wines?

Here is a small review I posted last month. As you can tell, I was not very impressed by the food service. I don't recall the exact wine prices, although I do recall many wines by the glass and I seem to recall that several were under $10 per glass. I guess I was not really willing to cut it much slack even though it was relatively new when I visited since most of the staff at Cork merely carried over from Tournesol (including the chef).

I was much more impressed with Volo -- a link to my review of Volo follows my Cork review.


http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.ph ... light=cork

as one of the previous posters surmised, Charlie's on Leavitt is now closed. As a new resident to the area, it' pretty disheartening to see 4 good restaurants (Charlie's, Acqualina, SheShe and Tournesol) to shut down in such a short period of time....

Though SheShe may be closed, there's already another restaurant opened in that space (Soiree). And, as another poster pointed out, the restaurants closer to Wilson/Lawrence seem to be doing quite well ~

And yet Jury's still seems to be going strong. They just sent me a five dollar coupon through the e-mail and I'm sure I'll use it.

rfirsty wrote:As a new resident to the area, it' pretty disheartening to see 4 good restaurants (Charlie's, Acqualina, SheShe and Tournesol) to shut down in such a short period of time....

rfirsty,

I might argue that only one good restaurant (Tournesol) shut down.

Enjoy,
Gary

My feeling is that the restaurants that closed were the ones that mistook the corner of Montrose and Lincoln for the corner of North and Damen.

The neighborhood has a lot of families, a lot fewer singles or no-kid couples with money to burn eating out. The places that have survived, like Bistro Campagne or Square Kitchen-- or thrived, like Jury's-- are relatively modest-priced and unpretentious, affordable and approachable for a family of 4 or 5 people. The more upscale and expensive places, like Charlie's on Leavitt et al., had a much harder time building repeat business (though some, like She She, at least had a good run of several years). It's not to say that the neighborhood couldn't support a couple of such places, but it couldn't support five brand new ones within a year or so. I'm just sorry, like GWiv, that Tournesol didn't make it, as it seemed far ahead of the pack.

Hi

wondering - other than having a great outdoor space - what does Bistro Campagne have that Tournesol did not? I found both to be good, affordable, reasonable places. And generally, liked the service and consistency of food better at Tournesol.

Lee

leek wrote:wondering - other than having a great outdoor space - what does Bistro Campagne have that Tournesol did not? I found both to be good, affordable, reasonable places. And generally, liked the service and consistency of food better at Tournesol.

I generally agree. I liked both places but I had a preference for Tournesol.

But, I found myself at Bistro C. more often.

Why? Not for the patio, but for the bar. I enjoy the comfortable, small bar at B.C. along with the affable bartender. It's an excellent place to stop in for a snack of Trappist ale and a charcuterie plate after walking around Lincoln Square.

The only other thing that I would propose that contributed to B.C.'s success over Tournesol is its visibility. The stretch of Lincoln north of the library (Sunnyside) is significantly more exposed to foot-traffic.

That being said, if I knew the magic formula that made a restaurant a success, I'd be in the restaurant business.

Best,
Michael