teatpuller wrote:I'm guessing his initial post was done in a half-joking manner. If you want to split the thread in two that is fine.

Exactly & thanks... I guess it's tough read the tone and I shoulda seen that coming.

Ok... after reading all of the posts, I really am sorry to have started the thread at all & would be happy to burn the whole damn thing & start it over again based only on what the users have to say. The last thing I wanted to see it become was a philosophical discussion on which forum this belongs in & other issues having nothing to do with who we are and/or what you think of it. And for the record, I wasn't wondering why chefs had nothing to say about the concept, but the greater LTH public. Oh well, apologies and i'm going back to the kitchen.

phillipfoss wrote:Ok... after reading all of the posts, I really am sorry to have started the thread at all & would be happy to burn the whole damn thing & start it over again based only on what the users have to say. The last thing I wanted to see it become was a philosophical discussion on which forum this belongs in & other issues having nothing to do with who we are and/or what you think of it. And for the record, I wasn't wondering why chefs had nothing to say about the concept, but the greater LTH public. Oh well, apologies and i'm going back to the kitchen.

Don't sweat it, chef. I appreciate that you're here discussing what you're doing in the kitchen. It's reasonable to assume that the discussion about El would have started whether you solicited it or not. Since you know as well as anybody else that coming here can lead to some harsh criticism, I'm impressed that you stopped by.

Like many other industry professionals who discuss and answer questions about their endeavors here, you couldn't have been more up-front about disclosing your identity or your relationship to the restaurant. Above all else, that's the most important thing...and if you have questions about where to post, just let one of us moderators know.

Thanks,

=R=

Back from the Ball Cave. Wow!! Fifteen or sixteen courses, 3 and 1/2 hours and two bottles of wine later, wow! Walk into the kitchen any time you want but you may wind up plating a course or serving it. The kitchen being about two feet away away from the "dining room" separated by a 1/2 wall easily seen over. Each course is brought out and described by the chef who conceived it. Questions are encouraged. Hell, spend as much time as you want in the kitchen. I know this is very light on details, but two bottles of wine will do that. Some courses are subtle and some are over the top intense but none lack ingenuity, imagination and inventiveness. Please keep this a secret. It's so good it shouldn't be shared, we want the chefs balls all to ourselves.

Got an email yesterday that reservations are being booked for September and October. Going in early September and I couldn't be more excited.

Get on the email list if you're interested. Painless process to secure a reservation once you get the email.

TCK wrote:Got an email yesterday that reservations are being booked for September and October. Going in early September and I couldn't be more excited.

Get on the email list if you're interested. Painless process to secure a reservation once you get the email.

I also received that e-mail. Called about 2 dozen times and got nothing but a busy signal. Dina was nice enough to call this morning to let me know that Thurs-Sun through October have been booked and they have now opened up Wednesdays.

Wednesday it is.

My wife and I were at EL last Friday and enjoyed an excellent meal. My overall impression of EL was that it is like an elevated dinner party. The atmosphere is casual and the food is well prepared, but lacks the refinement or complexity of other fine dining establishments (we recently dined at Per Se and couldn't help but compare the styles, which were drastically different). Instead, the flavors are simpler, which I thought matched the concept of the restaurant very well. This isn't to say that the food isn't great, but rather that they have an approach to cooking that suits their casual environment. The food is unique in that they use premium ingredients and tremendous skill to prepare beautifully composed dishes that taste great without being fussy or overwrought.



From the moment you arrive, you feel like you're a guest at a dinner party. The parking is on the street and you bring a bottle of wine with you (it's BYOB). We were greeted on the street by Bill, the only waiter, who invited us in and explained that guests are encouraged to participate in the preparation and serving of the meal. There are 10 seats and though the tables are separate, we spent most of the evening talking with the table next to us (which included fellow LTHer milz50). The kitchen is completely open to the dining room so you can see, hear, and smell everything that's happening. Beer and wine is shared amongst tables and with the kitchen and an ipod is playing an eclectic mix of pop tunes ranging from En Vogue and Color Me Badd to Fitz and the Tantrums and the Glee soundtrack. This is by far the most comfortable we've ever felt at a fine dining restaurant.



Over the course of the meal, people would walk into the kitchen to chat with the chefs. It's a terrific experience getting to interact with them and see them working intently. It's amazing to see all the different components that go into preparing even a small plate of food. The chefs were hard at work most of the time, so it was tough to have an extended conversation with them. It was remarkable how calm and focused they were. I suppose TV makes restaurant kitchens look like total chaos, and maybe many of them are, but at EL, the kitchen runs like clockwork. They even let me help in plating one of the dishes.



When courses were ready to come out, all the chefs would grab plates and bring them in. My wife decided to help out on one of the courses. She was moving too fast for me to snap a good picture, but needless to say, they appreciated the help. I remarked that the last time we helped a restaurant bring out plates was at Podhalanka when we were there with a big group. That's a pretty cool comparison in my book.



Once the plates were served, each dish would be described by one of the chefs. It was obvious from their detailed descriptions how much effort and passion went into creating the menu. milz50 said that he had visited the restaurant last month and the menu was totally different.



The meal started off with shrenke caviar served on a potato blini disk and topped with sour cream and three kinds of beets on the side. The caviar had a subtle and delicate flavor that married well with the cream and potatoes. To me, the first couple dishes were more like amuse-bouches than courses, because they perked up your palate rather than hit you with big flavors. My wife noted that typically we like the early courses more than the late courses at tasting menus because the appetizers are more complex and interesting before getting to the more substantial dishes. At EL we felt like the early courses were more subtle and designed to whet the appetite rather than blast you with flavor.



The next course was an array of pickled cucumbers, each with its own flavor. The dish was quite refreshing and once again an excellent introduction to a meal. I particularly enjoyed the cucumber flower that tasted like a cucumber while providing a textural contrast to the pickles.



My favorite of the appetizer courses was the soppressata and watermelon. To me, this dish typified EL's cuisine. On the one hand it's elegant with the thin layers of melon, fennel, and meat and the drops of different fruit syrups. On the other hand, the flavor played on the well known combination of sweet melons and salty meat. At a friend's house this could have easily been served as a plate of sliced meats and melon wedges. EL refined its presentation, used excellent ingredients, and combined the flavors in perfect balance with a flair provided by the crunchy fennel, so you can enjoy them in a couple bites rather than as a stack-on-a-plate appetizer.



After the appetizers, we moved onto the fish courses. There were three fish courses and all were good, but my favorite was the trama negra. It's a fish I hadn't had before and Chef Foss described it as a black cod which is nothing like cod at all because "everything is called cod these days." It has a fishy flavor but isn't too fatty so as to overwhelm the ratatouille-stuffed eggplant it is served with. The stewed, stuffed eggplant reminded me of Turkish cooking with its earthy, vegetable flavor and it paired extremely well with the flaky, fishy trama negra. This was one of the most unique dishes of the night and one of the most memorable.



After the fish courses, they invited all the guests into the kitchen for a palate cleanser. They strained cantaloupe juice and topped it with a salty ham-flavored liquid. Taken as a shot, it perked up my taste buds and made for a nice break in the meal as well as a fun interlude so the guests and chefs could mingle.



This was probably my favorite course of the night. The poached chicken provided a neutral (yet tasty) blank slate to eat with the liver stuffed agnolotti and the brioche spread. This was a highly innovative dish in the way it used pasta and bread as condiments and meat as a base, while at the same time the flavors were familiar. I particularly liked the use of poached chicken since it highlighted the natural, though subtle, taste of the chicken breast, and paired it with rich liver and yeasty bread. This is one of those dishes that pleasantly surprises you at first, then stays with you after the meal.



Next came the foie gras on rutabaga with sugar plums and balsamic vinegar. Chef Foss remarked that one of the joys of cooking for only 10 people is that you can roast a whole foie gras. The foie gras was silky and rich, though not overpowering or gritty at all. The sugar plums and vinegar provided some welcome acidity and sweetness to go with the liver and earthy rutabaga. Once again the preparation was relatively simple, highlighting a fairly straight-forward combination of flavors in an imaginative and delicious way.



For a cheese course, they served a bread topped with melted manchego, fig jam, chard, and candy cap mushrooms. This was interesting take on a cheese course which I think really worked. It married all the interesting elements of a cheese plate, buttery manchego, bitter chard, umami-y mushrooms, and sweet figs into a a course that can be eaten in a couple bites (much like the watermelon-soppressata dish).



After the cheese course, they brought out a bowl of dried roses and cinnamon sticks and a bottle of boiling water. The water was poured into the bowl and created a billowing smokiness that filled the room with pleasant perfume-like scents (I didn't see the dry ice when they brought it out) and the plate was topped with a bowl of stewed cherries. Admittedly this was something of a departure from the dinner-party atmosphere, but it sure was a fun dish and looked cool too.



The final dish was the only one not on the menu, the chocolate salty balls. They have a poster up on the wall of Chef from South Park, so I suppose it was inevitable. They're chocolatey and they're salty, and they're pretty good. I liked that they weren't too rich or sweet, they stressed the balance between salty and chocolate and were a nice jolt of flavor to end the meal.

We had a wonderful time spending an evening with Chef Foss, Chef Brochu, and the entire team at EL Ideas. Including the chocolate salty balls, it was 15 courses in all (I only wrote about my favorites) and lasted close to 4 hours. They have an innovative idea that really captures the zeitgeist of customer-interaction in a setting that is creative and fun without being pretentious or self-important. I can see how EL Ideas is an extension of the chefs' casual and irreverent personalities. It's funny, after eating at EL Ideas, I'm more interested in trying the Meaty Balls Mobile, though I'm pretty sure it's usually the other way around.

turkob, there were more than just you two LTHers! Asami used to post a lot too! I see her in the group shot you posted! Also tastybitz (blogger from Houston) was there too!

I was supposed to be there, but had a last minute conflict, but was happy Asami could take my spot!

I have a reservation tonight and had two friends cancel. If you want to try El tonight send me a message - I have two seats!

I assume street parking is easy enough since it's a dead end, right?

We'll be there tomorrow if any other LTHers will be as well.

TCK wrote:I assume street parking is easy enough since it's a dead end, right?

We'll be there tomorrow if any other LTHers will be as well.

You shouldn't have any trouble parking. We parked in the lot just west of the restaurant where the Meatyballs trucks are. Bill, the server, said it was fine.

Ronna

Thanks REB!

Regarding BYOB, we are bringing a bottle of white and a bottle of red. Is that the usual fare or are has anyone noticed people bringing a lot more than that? If everything is shared among all, I don't want to look cheap

TCK wrote:Thanks REB!

Regarding BYOB, we are bringing a bottle of white and a bottle of red. Is that the usual fare or are has anyone noticed people bringing a lot more than that? If everything is shared among all, I don't want to look cheap

You're very welcome.

There was a bit of alcohol sharing the night we were there, but it wasn't as if everyone was drinking everyone's booze.

We had a bottle of champagne, a bottle of white, and a bottle of red. We were a party of four (with a few light drinkers), and this worked out fairly well. If anything, we didn't need a full bottle of red.

When we were there, the menu was far more white-friendly than red-friendly. Of course, what you bring depends on how many people you have and how much folks drink. I think, though, even with a party of two, you might like to have a second bottle of white (or bubbly) on hand in case you go through the first quickly. I figure you can always take full or partial bottles home.

Ronna

Everything about our meal last night was wonderful. Ambiance, music, food, service, conversation... it was definitely a home run all around (sidenote: even talking with Dina on the phone 3 weeks ago, who is so pleasant for everything I'm sure she has to deal with, already got me excited and put me in a good mood for this meal). Admittedly I've never eaten at Alinea or Tru or Avenues, thus losing some credibility when it comes to an opinion on "fine dining", but I can say that this was the best meal I've ever eaten. My wife and I truly had an amazing time and the entire experience was unmatched by anywhere else we've eaten.

Almost all of our courses were different from turkob except the manchego, the off-menu rose/cherry dry ice dessert, and the salty balls... at least of those courses he talked about. Some of the ingredients in the dishes were similar, but not entirely, and the presentation was entirely different even when similar ingredients were used. For example, our intermezzo pallet cleanser was an almond milk shot presented in the same fashion, our first course was also "caviar" but different accompaniments and different presentation.

We were the first people there at about 6:50, service started at 7:15 and lasted until 11. Two bottles of wine ended up being fine for us, even though we were almost done with our first bottle by the fourth course.

Being encouraged to get up, interact with chefs, help with plating, help with serving, etc. certainly adds to the experience in a very positive way. We cannot wait to get back. We're already encouraging our friends to sign up for reservations and bring us if they are selected

Apparently, we were at the same dinner as TCK. It was my wife and I going out for my birthday. The meal was exceptional, incredibly beautiful, interestingly flavored and chock full o' quality ingredients. And the opportunity to talk to the chefs was great. Chefs Philip and Andrew were incredibly nice and willing to share the methods they used for preparations. It really was great to be a part of such an exciting interactive experience, I kinda wish that was possible in other restaurants, for me it adds a lot to the dining experience.

Bill, the server, was amazing. Everything was flawless, but still casual enough to joke and chat with him. He was very knowledgeable and made us feel really comfortable. And embarrassed me just enough by announcing the birthday thing to the rest of the guests.

All in all the meal was wonderful, and I think it is really amazing that they are able to make all of the menus so unique from week to week.

My wife put up some pics on her blog (they aren't the best, but if anyone else who came that night wants to see them, please check it...):
http://research.smunderground.org/el-ideas-912011

Go to El! You will most certainly enjoy it!

On the recommendations of several LTHers (here and in-person conversations), we made reservations at El Ideas for as soon as we could get in...and I'm so glad that we did. This was one of the best meals I've had this year and even though it happened nearly a week ago, I've been thinking about it constantly since then. Every element of this meal was notable. The ingredients were varied and supremely high in quality. The dishes were conceived and executed expertly. They were innovative, comforting and satisfying. Service was friendly and extraordinarily polished (our server, Bill, even gave me a great tip for capturing the candle light in my flashless pictures). It's so rare that one can enjoy a meal of this caliber in a byo setting; especially one this relaxed, and at this price point. Service started promptly at 7 pm, when all 10 diners began the meal together . . .


The dining area at El Ideas (a few minutes before service began)
The setting was certainly intimate but entirely laid back and comfortable. I think the lunch room at my office seats more people...though, the food there doesn't come close



Chef Foss (left) and Chef Brochu
The chefs prep the first course.



Tasmanian Trout | caviar, anise, finger limes
There were many techniques going on here but some of the fish had been cured and smoked, which was awesome. It struck all the right notes: smokey, briney, sweet and salty.



Tasmanian Trout | squash blossom
These squash blossoms, which adorned the plate, were delicate and delicious. I'm pretty sure that is crispy fish skin atop it.



Corn | several preparations, charred avocado
Among the many preparations here, in the center, below the frizzled silk-topped fritter, was basically a mash of sweet corn and butter. It had an intoxicating, concentrated corn flavor. The dish was spectacular.



Lobster | ravioli, leek, bisque
Great balance of flavors and a beautifully-tender nugget of perfectly-cooked lobster resided within the ravioli.



Lamb | beans, tomato, anchovy
Super tender and flavorful lamb, which was accented very nicely by the other components in the dish.



Chicken Liver | huckleberry, onion, apple
This was possibly my favorite course of the night...



Chicken Liver | blini
..in fact, while I sit here typing, I'm actually jealous that 10 people have probably just enjoyed this dish again tonight...and I'm not one of them! The liver was so flavorful and tender on the inside. The exterior was crispy perfection.



Almond Milk | honeydew, wild elderberries
A refreshing, orgeat-like intermezzo.



Almond Milk |
We actually were all summoned to the kitchen to enjoy this one.



Dining Area
Another glimpse of the dining area, as we all returned to our seats.



Moonfish Belly | cauliflower, coconut, salsa verde
I'm pretty sure the fish had been cooked en sous vide in coconut oil. It had a mild but distinctive tropical note to it.



Moonfish Belly |
The fish was delectable and immaculately tender.



Matsutake | snails, yuzu-ponzu, watermelon
I loved the combination of the meaty mushroom with the snails.



Pork Belly | bbq, orzo, cheddar
A great distillation of a bbq meal, and the house-made pork rind on top was just icing on the cake, if you know what I mean.



Foie Gras | kohlrabi, donut peach, szechuan
Whole lobe, roasted and sliced at service. Yowza!



Prepping
The chefs prepare the upcoming course.



Squab | fig, cured ham, soubise
The squab was tender and juicy and the accompaniments worked sensationally with it.



Chef Andrew Brochu
Chef Brochu describes the upcoming course. Before each course, either chef Brochu or chef Foss would take this position and describe the course.



Wagyu | chanterelles, thyme, mushroom sauce
A most decadant umami bomb.



Wagyu | chanterelles, thyme, mushroom sauce
The perfectly-cooked beef had a supremely light crust on the exterior, which added to the intense satisfaction of this course.



Manchego | gooseberries, candy cap mushrooms, endive
A really nice bridge between sweet and savory. I loved the way the manchego and the sweet elements married up.



Tea | rooibos
This course consisted of poured tea . . .



Tea | pumpkin, pear, rooibos
. . . and a little bit of a show. As the magic elixir was added to the service bowl, a mist rose up. The actual dessert was placed atop it.



Tea | pumpkin, pear, rooibos
I loved the way this dish tasted. It was a microcosm of the season. The little balls of pear were perfect both flavor-wise and texturally.



Orange | poppyseed, pine nut, citrus
The highlight of this dish for me was the poppyseed ice cream, which was sensational. I really enjoyed the cake and the citrus elements, too.



Chocolate | salty balls
As a bonus, we were all served this signature Foss item. It was delicious and the salt really launched the flavors on the palate. Fwiw, my friend wasn't nearly as glum as he appears in the picture. He was just really full.

I was entirely impressed by our dining experience at El Ideas. It was exciting in a very genuine way, as experienced chefs applied their aesthetic and considerable skills to some amazing, seasonal ingredients. There were whimsical moments but the courses were grounded in fundamentally solid technique, which made the meal one that really resonated with me long after it was over. There are plenty of places in town where you can pay a lot more than this for a meal that won't be half as good. In fact, for the price point, it's one of the best fine-dining values I recall ever having in Chicago. I cannot wait to return to El, though I imagine these 10 seats are going to be very hard to come by in no time at all...and deservedly so.

=R=

awesome, Ron. Lovely photos as always. Given such a small operation, it's impressive to see the turnaround time on these dishes. Between your dinner last week and my dinner last night, half a dozen courses have changed.

incite wrote:awesome, Ron. Lovely photos as always. Given such a small operation, it's impressive to see the turnaround time on these dishes. Between your dinner last week and my dinner last night, half a dozen courses have changed.

I think these guys shop the markets and change the menu as the markets warrant. It's great that they're so small, they can make changes on a daily basis if they want to. I wish more restaurants had this freedom. One set-menu service per night means that dishes that might appear as specials in a larger restaurant, end up as menu courses at El Ideas.

=R=

Ingredients are similar but no course is the same from our dinner three weeks ago.... Except the corn and manchego dishes may be exaclty the same, including presentation. But the corn dish was so fantastic everyone should experience it.

We can't wait to get back there.

ronnie_suburban wrote:This was one of the best meals I've had this year and even though it happened nearly a week ago, I've been thinking about it constantly since then.
...
I was entirely impressed by our dining experience at El Ideas.
...
I cannot wait to return to El, though I imagine these 10 seats are going to be very hard to come by in no time at all...and deservedly so.

I will agree with everything Ronnie had to say, and that's not a cop out on my part. This truly was a fantastic dinner.

Menu and mood lighting


I am a fan of any restaurant that allows BYOB. Brought a bottle of red and some bubbly for the occasion


prep

Tasmanian Trout roe / anise / finger limes


charring



Corn several preparations / charred avocado

One of our favorite courses of the night. Every element worked together perfectly.

Tortellini crab / cucumber / ginger



plating

Lamb beans / tomato / anchovy


Sepia ham / peppers / saffron

Another favorite.

Almond Milk casaba melon / elderberries / hyssop

(photo taken with phone) Nice little palette cleanser.

Prep

Chicken Liver huckleberry / onion / apple

Delicious. Dana doesn't 'do' liver, so I had two helpings. Her loss is my gain.

Cod cauliflower / coconut / salsa verde


Matsutake snails / yuzu-ponzu / watermelon

This was not one of my favorite dishes - though I'm going to attribute this to user error. We were instructed to mash these all together, but I wasn't able to do it. Dish was too pretty.

Foie Gras scallion / peach / szechuan

We have a winner. Savory, sweet, AND I once again got a second helping.

Ribeye maitake / thyme / mushroom sauce


Pear pumpkin / pomegranate / rooibos

Dana's favorite (I loved it as well). Pumpkin was salty, pear was sweet. Perfect marriage of flavors.

Orange poppyseed / pine nut / citrus

Was this meant to be phallic?


And a chocolate salty ball with a cup of coffee to close the night


A great dinner at a great price. For someone contemplating a savings account to dine at restos like Alinea, L20 or TRU (also known as my 5 year plan), it's great to have restaurants like EL, One Sister, and Schwa to fill the high-end-yet-affordable end of the spectrum. Thanks, chefs.

I went last night and I have to say that I was quite impressed with the entire experience.

I did not take pictures, but I will try to describe some of the dishes. I also forgot to grab a menu on my way out, but I remember most of the dishes very vividly. I have them roughly in order.

I brought a bottle of Champagne and a nice Pinot Noir per their instructions and they went very well with the meal.

Foie Gras/Peach/Strawberry/Szechaun
This was the first course and was served without silverware. It was basically a Foie Gras cream squiggle with dots of peach syrup and little piece of freeze-dried strawberries. We were instructed to lick it straight from the plate. This was quite fun and quite good. The rich and salty Foie went very nicely with the sweet fruit flavors.

Eggs/Uni/Roe (and shrimp)
This course was split in two. The eggs were prepared in a French omelet style with a nice piece of urchin on top. This was a highlight for me. The eggs were fluffy and the urchin added a decadent touch. The other part of this dish was (charred?) roe over shrimp. This was just ok. It had a nice smokiness, but next to the eggs, it fell a bit flat.

Fluke/Potato Agnolotti/Leek/Hollandaise (and potato chip)
This was all stacked up nicely in a pile of goodness. Another highlight. The fluke was cooked sous-vide. The combination of flavors was basically perfect for me and the chip added a nice crunchy contrast to the otherwise very tender course. This was awesome.

Octopus/Squash/Risotto/Saffron
Chef Foss described this as his tribute to Halloween. It was a squid ink risotto topped with a charred or grilled piece of saffron octopus. Some pureed orange squash was smeared along the bowl lip to make quite a beautiful Halloween-y presentation. Again, another winner. My girlfriend makes a wonderful risotto and even she said it was one of the finest she has had.

Rabbit/Chanterelles/Bacon/Mustard
This one was good, but was a let-down compared to the previous course. The mushrooms were a bit too salty and the rabbit saddle with rosemary (and other rabbit parts) which was wrapped in bacon was just ok. The dijon mustard sauce was great though. The piece of ricotta/rosemary gnocchi was nice too.

Duck/Beans/Anchovy/Cauliflower
This was duck confit over beans and a very nice anchovy. A cauliflower cream was poured around this at the table. This was another well-executed dish. The anchovy added a great salty funk and the duck confit was the best duck confit I have had. I forgot what type of beans were on the plate, but they were nice and firm. The cauliflower cream sauce was nice too. I wanted to lick it off my plate like the Foie.

Off-menu item!
Chicken/Hot Sauce/Bleu Cheese
This one has been either described upthread or I saw it in a slideshow of dishes on a blog (Grubstreet?). Their version of a buffalo wing. It was served with a shot of Corona topped with lime foam. Basically, very tender chicken, smothered in hot sauce with a bone sticking out of the top to serve as a handle I suppose. Pieces of tangy bleu cheese and raw celery spotted the plate. This was a fun and tasty course.

Ham/Fig/Almond Milk
Cold Course! A nice piece of cured ham in almond milk topped by a mission fig. I don't have much to say about this. The ham was nicely salted and it was a heck of a fig.

Skate/Carrot/Veal Heart
This was not one of my favorites. I usually love skate, but this interpretation did not do it for me. Pureed Carrot was spread on the plate. Skate was served over the Veal Heart slices and that was topped by dried brown butter. A few morsels of tart lime dotted the carrot smear. I think I understood what they were going for with the skate/brown butter/citrus combination, but it did not work for me.

Pork Belly/Orzo/BBQ
This is the course that Ronnie has a picture of upthread, complete with the tiny pork rind on top. The piece of pork belly was of high quality. I loved this one. It is elevated soul food.

Beef/Maitake/Red Cabbage
Beef served two ways: a slice of Ribeye (I think) and a piece of braised beef (don’t remember from where). Both were very nice. A generous slice of Maitake mushroom and a red cabbage puree were served off to the side. This was well-executed.

Cheese
Don’t remember what kind of cheese it was, but I think it was Italian. Served with toasted bread and roasted red peppers in olive oil. I liked it, but it didn’t compare to other cheese courses I have had around the city.

Rooibos/Pear/Pumpkin/Pomegranate
Very similar to what Ronnie had, but the pear was thinly sliced and poached I believe. Very good, but the Pomegranate seeds seemed under ripe.

Apple/Salted Caramel/Spice cake
Salted Caramel ice cream with thinly sliced dried apple, three balls of different apples, cake and crumbles. The ice cream was very melty when it was served, which is a bit of a shame. This was a fine dessert. Disclaimer: I am not a big dessert guy.

Chocolate Salty Balls
Yum.

The one tiny disappointment of the night was the coffee at the end of the dinner. It was just bad. I don’t know why.

One of the finest meals I have had this year without a doubt. I can’t wait to go back!

-Todd

There are 2 seats available for EL ideas for tomorrow night. @PhillipFoss posted it on twitter. I guess you would just need to tweet/message him if you would like the seats!

I don't mean to lodge a complaint post, and I'm sure a lot of people will have at me as a result, but the reservations system here has bothered me for awhile. A couple of months ago, I complied with the system they set forth on their website by filling out a form requesting a reservation in November. Actually, it was not so much that I requested a reservation, but that I agreed to enter a "lotto" for seats in November. Okay, fine, I'll play, although I'm not sure what that really means (draw names out of a hat?). If I don't win EL lotto, just like I didn't get tickets to Next Childhood either, I'll live, I'm an adult, in the whole scheme of life it's no big deal.

But it's not the notion that I enter a lotto for reservations that bothers me so much (although I find it a bit silly and a dubious way to do business). . . it's that it appears that this lotto system is not terribly reliable in filling tables, because EL frequently has cancellations. How do I know? Because in requesting that I be entered into this "lotto" by providing my email, I was placed on an email list and, as a result, frequently receive emails regarding "last minute" cancellations. These requests to fill last minute cancellations are not, in and of themselves, offensive, except that they arrive in my inbox almost daily, and are apparently filled on a who-hits-the-buzzer-fastest basis. What's more, in order to play the game of EL ideas Press-Your-Luck, entrants must take the time to draft an email including their credit card number, expiration date, and security code:

ELideas wrote:These reservations are on a first-come-first-serve basis via email; the first guests to respond with the following information will get the reservation:

1. Date and Reservation Size
2. Credit Card #
3. Expiration Date
4. Billing Zip Code
5. Security Code

If you typed in this information fastest, and you responded in less than something like two minutes, WHAMMY!, you WIN!! If you were too slow [cue the clown and the game show loser whistles], you get this email:

ELideas wrote:Hi,

Thank you all for your responses!

We have booked the seats, so if you did not receive a confirmation email from me, you did not get the reservation. However, I will be in touch for future openings!

(Emphasis mine.)

You could ostensibly be involved in this game of chance on a daily basis, certainly months, and maybe even years. Personally, I don't play, because I try to limit the instances in which I send my credit card information out via email, as a method of good practices. Also, I don't like the idea that I have to take time out of my day to draft an email with all of this information when I know that my chances of getting a table is on par with winning Mega Millions (and I just think that sending out your credit card information and security code via email on a daily basis is going to ultimately result in something bad happening).

I'm pretty tolerant of various business models as long as they're successful, and the restaurant is clearly busy, so hey, they must be doing something right. I like Phillip Foss, he seems like a nice guy, but I can't help but feel jerked around. If EL had a table available in November when I requested it some time ago, then just GIVE ME THE DAMN TABLE. That way, I'm selecting a date that I know will work for me, and the restaurant is best positioned to have me show up and pay them. (Conversely, if I "win" lotto on a date that only semi-works for me, then I'm prone to cancelling it, as apparently others regularly do.) And if the restaurant doesn't want to fill its tables more than six weeks in advance, then there are ways around that. Brooklyn Fare, for instance, announces and enforces a six-week in advance policy, and Eleven Madison (both of which are in NY) only reserves 28-days in advance on Open Table.

I'm sure everyone who's eaten there will say it's a wonderful experience, and they were treated well, the food was awesome. . . , but that's besides the point for me. I recognize that Next does something similar with its same day/same week tables, but at least you have the opportunity to 1) get tickets when they're released provided that you're awake when it happens; and 2) ignore the facebook page that announces the same day tickets, and hope that you're more successful in getting tickets to Next's next incarnation. With EL, I feel like I can't ignore the daily spam, because that's the means by which I get entered into a lotto to win a table. I guess I can just walk away, and show my distaste for the process through market-based principles, but it's just a shame to decline to spend your dollars somewhere based on factors unrelated to the food or service. But at this point, I feel like I could go on this merry-go-round of last minute cancellations and not winning the reservations lotto for years. And I'm tired. I haven't done anything yet, but I'm sadly with a heavy heart considering that I request that they take me off their email list for last-minute tables, even knowing that in doing so I delete any chance I might have had in winning the EL lotto for a proper, civilized reservation.

Yeah it seems pretty weird that they ask for all that info in an email.

Once you get the email it's still a mad dash to call to secure a date. I waited until the following morning to call and they only had three 2 tops left for all of September and October. But they also had all Wednesday's open since the decision to open Wednesday was made the evening before apparently. Plus you have to contend with one phone line and no call waiting. I got lucky that I got through first try around 9 in the morning but Dina said she had twenty voicemails to go through.

One other thing I realized when I got my reservation is that they only do it 2 months in advance. My email was like August 15 for September/October. I'm guessing November and December are done so if you didn't get an emails it's two more months to wait unless you go last minute cancellation.

Personally I prefer this method to Next. The sign up and forget about it provides a nice surprise and I'm not constantly on Facebook or spamming the server looking for tickets like with Paris. That problem has been rectified at Next but still, some of it is still there.

I know none of this is going to make you feel better, sorry... But just some info that might help you. Next time you get that email try calling instead saying you don't want to put all that info in an email and maybe you will get through and they will accommodate you.

In response to an email sent out today regarding some extra seats available for a few nights in November, I asked about the CC issue--they responded that you can always call in the info.

boudreaulicious wrote:In response to an email sent out today regarding some extra seats available for a few nights in November, I asked about the CC issue--they responded that you can always call in the info.

That's weird, because the email Dina sent out today reiterated the same thing I posted above, even putting email in caps:

EL wrote:The first four guests for each date to respond VIA EMAIL with the following information, will receive a confirmation email for their reservation. If you do not receive an email confirmation, the reservation has been filled:


1. Credit Card #
2. Expiration Date
3. Security Code
4. Billing Zip Code

I guess I'd assume that if I didn't put that information in the email, they would ignore me even if I responded first. I just wish they would remove that request for credit card information altogether and have people follow-up with their payment information like Next does.

I didn't ask her why they do it but I'm guessing it's just easier for them to get everything at once if the guest is willing v. trying to connect later. So they always ask for it and, I agree, that people probably provide it thinking they may be shut out if they don't. But I emailed her a few minutes after the notice went out asking about it (and I wasn't trying for seats) and she wrote back a few minutes later saying it was always ok to call it in if I preferred.

I own a different sort of business* but I'd have a few suggestions for them based on my experience. First, reservations made that far in advance are significantly more likely to cancel, so they may want to try holding their lottery 3 weeks in advance - it's a lottery anyway, so there's not much reason to hold it months ahead of time. I accept reservations 2 months in advance, but I often chuckle or roll my eyes as I do, thinking, these people probably aren't really coming.

Second, if EL wants immediate credit info, they should set up on-line credit, which would allow some fields to repopulate, so that people didn't have to re-enter all that info. EL could even use PayPal, which I found cheaper than my existing credit processing, and allows patrons to create an account and then sign in with a password if they like rather than entering their credit each time. (Note, overwhelmingly, our customers use their credit cards in our PayPal payment window rather than using a PayPal account, which I found surprising. But nonetheless, the option would exist for someone like Aschie30.)


* canoe/kayak rental and guided trips on the Chicago River and the Skokie Lagoons, for those who are curious.

ryanwc wrote:Second, if EL wants immediate credit info, they should set up on-line credit, which would allow some fields to repopulate, so that people didn't have to re-enter all that info.

Using a secure website to enter credit card information also offers a higher level of security than e-mail.

Dina and I discuss the reservation system on a daily basis: What do we do with tables of three and single diners who throw the balance off for us to be able to fill each and every seat? Originally we only took 50% of the cost of the table up front, but then last minute cancellations still screwed us over pretty good. Those who applied to the lottery in the beginning are getting antsy to say the least. Friends and family are pining at me to get in. From my side, these should be the worst of my problems, but they are still problems that I give serious consideration to. I love you all for wanting to dine with us. What I do doesn’t make two bits of difference if you don’t have a desire to check it out and keep coming back. Yes, we send out mass emails to our lottery applicants. We used to use Twitter and Facebook for this and as many times as not we wouldn’t get a response. So one morning a couple weeks ago I suggested to Dina that we use our email database to offer them. Lo and behold, we got about 50 responses in 2 minutes.
People need to cancel on a moment’s notice for a variety of reasons. My own mom had to cancel last week on the morning of her reservation! We could also very easily take the stance that once you pay for the seats (we charge in full one week out) the burden is on you to go through the trouble of finding the replacement for your cancellation.
In regards to credit cards being asked for through email, I will discuss this with Dina – who does much more for us than manage reservations. It’s a legitimate concern and deserves addressing. The thought on our end is that once we have someone interested, we don’t want to continue chasing people around to get the necessary information to confirm. We all know that any of us can get called away from the computer for meetings or to walk the dog or whatever, and we have better things to do with our time than worry about whether someone is going to follow through on their word. Our philosophy is that we are here to work with you and to help where we can, and judging by the response to the surprise opening we can turn a negative into a positive for all of the involved parties.
Trust me when I say that we are still a work in progress, and to hear about our shortcomings is vital. Still, we will tirelessly uncover every stone in an attempt to perfect our model, protect the integrity of our experience, and get every aspect of it right.
Though not really public knowledge until now, we have plans to grow our seating by at least 50% in the coming month, but it isn’t a done deal yet. Our growth will take some of the burden out of the difficulty of securing seats, though we are still small and intimate by nature and I truly hope it never becomes too easy.
So good luck to you, and I hope you enjoy all of the great restaurants in Chicago that think ‘inside the box’ and are modern and large enough to enjoy the luxury of having a full time reservations system. I may be biased, but I think you’re missing out.
Sincerely,
Phillip