Restaurant advice: lunch high quality, quiet, not overdone

Hi, this is my first post on this forum after lurking for a while. Forgive me if this has been done before and I'll be happy to pull up old posts.

I need a restaurant for a lunch meeting. I have not yet personally met the person with whom I am meeting. He tells me in e-mail communications that he has no real dining cuisine preference, only that the restaurant should be quiet so we can talk. I'm a pretty adventurous omnivore but suspect that this is not the time for something outrageous. Cost is really not an issue but I do not want an ostentatious, stuffy, overblown, gaudy money-is-no-object restaurant because I do not want to give the impression that I am that kind of person. I need an understated, elegant, non-pretentious, quiet, high quality,pleasant place to meet and eat. This is an important meeting for me and if it goes well, it will result in a business relationship that will benefit us both. His schedule is that he arrives at Midway airport at 12 noon on the day of the meeting and needs to be back at the airport by 4pm. A cab ride is easy to arrange.

So, any suggestions? Thanks in advance for your consideration.

May Street Market.

Crofton on Wells might very suit you very well, as might Naha, which is very close by.

Crofton on Wells
535 N. Wells St.
312-755-1790


Naha
500 N. Clark St.
312-321-6242


Very quiet atmospheres, excellent food -- very focused for good conversation. I think both of these would do you well.

Good luck!

Shannon

Mike G wrote:May Street Market.

My thought exactly, upon reading the subject. "Overdone" is, of course, a subjective term, but one glance at the menu should make it clear whether it is or isn't by your standards.

My recommendation:

Cafe Spiaggia
980 N. Michigan Ave.
312-280-2750

Best,
Michael

Thanks for the suggestions all. We ended up at Cafe Spiaggia for a variety of reasons.Not the least of which was several places were not open on Sunday to take my reservation. Had a very nice lunch at a very quiet table. I had Tomato Bread soup and Oriechiette with fava beans, peas, olive oil and parmesan. My companion had some grilled artichoke hearts and a very nice looking walleye filet. He had tiramisu and espresso for dessert and I had a taste of 3 gelatos (gelati?) espresso, caramel and blueberry. The blueberry was the best with deep flavors and just enough sweet. We did not have wine but there is a very interesting Italian wine list with 3-4 selections each from 8 or 9 different regions of Italy. The tab was $103.00USD before tip. The ambience is elegant without being stuffy- nice murals on the walls. Waitstaff was courteous and competent. We had a pretty view of Michigan avenue and the lake. Overall, I'd probably go there again for this type of lunch if there weren't 15000 other places I'd like to try.
_________________

howard wrote:We ended up at Cafe Spiaggia for a variety of reasons.Not the least of which was several places were not open on Sunday to take my reservation.

In case this comes up again, don't forget that many, many restaurants in Chicago accept reservations on opentable.com, and you can make reservations there even when the restaurants are closed. All of the places named above accept reservations on opentable.

nsxtasy wrote:

howard wrote:We ended up at Cafe Spiaggia for a variety of reasons.Not the least of which was several places were not open on Sunday to take my reservation.

In case this comes up again, don't forget that many, many restaurants in Chicago accept reservations on opentable.com, and you can make reservations there even when the restaurants are closed. All of the places named above accept reservations on opentable.

Good point. I couldn't find May Street Market on opentable but Crofton on Wells is clearly listed. Next time.
Thanks

howard wrote:This is an important meeting for me and if it goes well, it will result in a business relationship that will benefit us both.

And now we need to know--did you get the business?

And now we need to know--did you get the business?

You know how it goes. This was the first face-to-face meeting. It was a good first meeting. We've agreed to meet again.