Santorini & The Tasting Room ?

I'm planning a night out with another couple that we don't see often, so we have alot to catch up on . I thought of Greek Town since it would be centrally located and not real expensive. I was thinking about Santorini for there seafood. The grilled whole seabass and red snapper sounds very good, has anyone been there lately? I read some reviews that the service and food has gone down. After dinner we would like to go out for drinks at a place thats not to loud and crowded and more for the 40 and up crowd , if there is such a place in Chicago. A friend told me that she heard that The Tasting Room is nice, but has never been. Does the Tasting Room serve other drinks besides wine ? Since we have a beer drinker in our party. Can anyone please advise me on these choices? I really want this to be a nice and fun night for old friends. Thank You So Much.

Kim wrote:I'm planning a night out with another couple that we don't see often, so we have alot to catch up on . I thought of Greek Town since it would be centrally located and not real expensive. I was thinking about Santorini for there seafood. The grilled whole seabass and red snapper sounds very good, has anyone been there lately? I read some reviews that the service and food has gone down.

I've been to Santorini twice in the past 6 weeks and it was excellent both times.

One really surprisingly good dish was called something like "lamb scharas" which was, as far as I can tell, grilled trimmings from all the lamb chops they sell. There were thin slices of blade and rib chops, grilled and seasoned wonderfully. It was exceptionally flavorful and a very good bargain.

-ed

Santorini
800 W Adams St
Chicago, IL 60607
312-829-8820

Kim wrote:Does the Tasting Room serve other drinks besides wine ? Since we have a beer drinker in our party.

The Tasting Room has a full bar, not just wines. At least they did last time I was there, which was about a year ago. Maybe you should call ahead. The upstairs room has great city views, and the staff and overall presentation are unpretentious and delightful. However, the by-the-glass and flight prices might make you draw in your breath with a whistle. Probably 25% to 50% higher than you expect them to be. And the pricing is actually kinda strange, because the attached retail store (Randolph Wine Cellars) is notorious for regularly having large quantities of bargain-priced wines and blow-out sales that can include some really noteworthy bargains.

I went to Santorini on Monday and service was very slow, but it WAS Monday ...

I really love the grilled calamari as an appetizer. I've always enjoyed their lamb, seafood preparations, and their roast chicken.

I enjoy going to Artopolis down the street for dessert; they also have a small bar. It can be kind of smoky, though.

-Katie

Kim,

What a nice combination, Santorini followed by the Tasting Room, two places I really enjoy.

Santorini is known for it's seafood, justifiably, but don't miss the lamb chops. I can never decide between the thicker luxury cut and the chewy, meaty, simple goodness of the thin, the dish to which Ed is referring. Santorini's grilled octopus is excellent, one of my favorites in all of Chicago. Whole grilled sea bass or red snapper, also grilled over charcoal, is always a winner as is most anything cooked on the charcoal fired grill, lump charcoal no less.

Fried zucchini with a side of skordilia, Village salad or any of the standard appetizers are a good way to start. Frankly I, for the most part, prefer the appetizers offered at Greek Island, directly across the street, as they seem bolder spiced. Grilled is where Santorini really excels.

The Tasting Room has two distinct customer areas and, depending on the night, the ground floor can get a bit loud for genteel conversation. Actually, I can only think of one instance where the downstairs was loud, when group of 30, well on their way to inebriated, blew in from across the street, 160 Blue, where they had been attending a company sponsored holiday party. The upstairs, which is quite comfortable, always seems to be chat friendly.

The Tasting Room has a full menu available which I have not tried, nor am likely to try anytime soon. On the other hand they have an excellent selection of cheese with flights matched to wine available. My suggestion, forgo dessert at Santorini and have a wine/cheese flight at The Tasting Room.

Looking forward to hearing your impressions of Santorini and the Tasting Room.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote: Frankly I, for the most part, prefer the appetizers offered at Greek Island, directly across the street, as they seem bolder spiced. Grilled is where Santorini really excels.
Enjoy,
Gary

I do necessarily agree with that. I like plenty, Greek Islands (although think the one in Lombard is better), but appetizer to appetizer, I am not sure Santorini is less. You mention two great appetizers at Santorini, the zuchini/skordalia and the grilled octopus. I would add a third, the tarmasalata. In my opinion, Santornin's tarma is the best in Greektown. I also like their fried calamari, their grilled button mushrooms, the whipped spicy feta, the eggplant salad and their house salad with potatoes. I would say, maybe 1/2 the time I go to Santorni, I never order a single entree. The greek yoghurt with honey is the killer dessert.

If I do order an entree, one that I like that has not been mentioned, is the swordfish kebabs. The bigger chunked fish cook less than swordfish streaks. It is a delicious dish, with their house sauce of olive oil, lemon and oregeno.

Rob

Vital Information wrote:Greek Islands (although think the one in Lombard is better), but appetizer to appetizer, I am not sure Santorini is less. You mention two great appetizers at Santorini, the zuchini/skordalia and the grilled octopus.

Rob,

Never been to the Greek Islands in Lombard, but if I'm ever in the area I will be sure to stop.

Far as appetizers go, mentally I was not including grilled octopus in the appetizer category, but most certainly it is an appetizer. I guess you could then say I think Santorini has one of the very best appetizers in town, as I dearly love their grilled octopus.

We differ on the rest, but not to the degree which it seems, I simply said I prefer the appetizers, by which I meant Skordalia, Tzatziki, Tirokafteri and Taramosalata at Greek Islands, not that Santorini's were bad.

Frankly, we differ on a few of Santorini's offerings, Fasolakia (green bean side dish) comes to mind, guess that's why there's more than one or two items on a menu. Truthfully, I don't think we're all that far apart on Santorini, I simply feel the flavors come through on many of the 'appetizers' across the street at Greek Islands.

Enjoy,
Gary

Vital Information wrote:If I do order an entree, one that I like that has not been mentioned, is the swordfish kebabs. The bigger chunked fish cook less than swordfish streaks. It is a delicious dish, with their house sauce of olive oil, lemon and oregeno.

I'll second the swordfish kebabs, which I had on my other visit. They were really quite good.

-ed

I had the whole red snapper at Costas recently, and it was also VERY excellent!

gleam wrote:One really surprisingly good dish was called something like "lamb scharas" which was, as far as I can tell, grilled trimmings from all the lamb chops they sell.

Santorini's Lamb Scharas are thin slices cut from the full lamb shoulder, sold by the pound and simply grilled. I much prefer them to the loin chops, but that's a matter of personal taste.

Along with the Lamb Sharas, the Fasolakia (slow stewed sting beans, tomatoes and basil) and the lentil soup (caveat: soups rotate each day) are my favorites, along with the grilled octopus.

Pedestrian as it may sound, the half broiled chicken cooked to order is outstanding, too.

The Galatbouriko (shredded phylo and pastry cream) dessert is excellent.

The high end Greek cabernet (Hazimakis ?sp?) is well worth the money, and the bar generally pours a solid drink.

As for the fish, well, I rarely buy or order it anywhere where that I can't see it come off the boat, so I can't comment.

Steve Drucker wrote:Santorini's Lamb Scharas are thin slices cut from the full lamb shoulder, sold by the pound and simply grilled. I much prefer them to the loin chops, but that's a matter of personal taste.

Hmm, I swear I saw bits of rib chops in there along with shoulder. Strange.

Regardless, it's a great dish.

gleam wrote:Hmm, I swear I saw bits of rib chops in there along with shoulder.

I know what you mean. These are from the rib end of the shoulder.

Bad news folks...lamb scharas is no longer available at Santorini even though it's still listed on the menu.

And something odd that I noticed tonight. Although the display kitchen has a wood (or charcoal??) fired grill on your left as you enter the restaurant, I saw whole fish, probably snapper or black bass, being grilled in the back kitchen on an electric/gas type double decker broiler. (This broiler unit is also visible from this entryway.) The plates with the whole fish were then brought up to the display kitchen/steam table, where starch and veg were added. What's the point of having the wood/charcoal grill if it isn't being used for the whole fish? We stood in the entryway for ten or so minutes tonight waiting for our table and only saw lamb chops and kebabs cooked over the live coals. Disappointing!

Equally puzzling is the fact that although we both ordered grilled lamb chops, Donna got two double center cut chops, with a huge beautiful eye, and I recieved five very thin, single chops which all appeared to be end cuts, all of which had that tiny eye from the small end of the rack.

I've got to say that in my almost thirty years in the kitchen, a cardinal rule has always been that when two of the same item go out to a table together, there has to be consistency in portion size, etc...

We split a Village salad. Our waiter asked if we liked anchovies and we replies with an enthusiastic yes. We got half of a dried out anchovy.

Everything was tasty, including the grilled octopus, calamari and zuchinni with skordalia.

Do they still have the paidakia? If so, they're quite good, too, although not as good of a deal.

On my last trip they were perfectly cooked and seasoned single-cut chops, about 5 of 'em, all with big beautiful eyes.

Evil Ronnie wrote:Everything was tasty, including the grilled octopus, calamari and zuchinni with skordalia.

Evil,

Had dinner across the street tonight at Greek Islands, but popped in for a quick peek at Sanrotini's grill. Still lump charcoal but, even though the restaurant was full, there were only 12-15 squid bodies chuckling away and only one of two grills was in use.

Sorry to hear of the demise of lamb scharas at Santorini, that was one of my favorites. Along similar lines, chewy lamb flesh, slightly fatty, smattering of grill char, are Greek Island's lamb ribs, which is what I had for dinner this evening.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:Along similar lines, chewy lamb flesh, slightly fatty, smattering of grill char, are Greek Island's lamb ribs, which is what I had for dinner this evening.

Enjoy,
Gary

A perfect description of Greek Islands' lamb riblets, which our waiter, incidentally, tried to discourage me from ordering. I got the "Do you know what this is?"

Nothing like the aroma of charred lamb fat.

Last night (Friday) we had a reservation for a party of four at Santorini. We met our friends at a nearby gallery beforehand, and four more mutual friends were there, so we became a party of eight. I had no certainty whatsoever that Santorini would be able to accommodate our newly-enlarged party when we showed up there, but nothing ventured nothing gained.

When we arrived at the restaurant, we let them know the situation, hopeful that they could handle it. Just so I’m clear, let me say this right now: If they had replied, “We’re sorry, but it’s going to be a long wait,” we would have totally understood and weighed our other Greektown options, no hard feelings. We had thrown them quite a change, after all. But they didn’t say that. Instead, they pointed to a specific, currently-occupied table and told us that it would be ours as soon as the occupying party left. Their best guess was about a half-hour. That sounded OK to us so we ensconced ourselves in the cozy bar. Unfortunately, that promise would be broken some time later when they seated a different party at that table instead of us. Since we’d been in the bar, and not breathing down the hosts’ necks, we didn’t see this happening until it was too late. But now that we did see it, we brought it to the hosts' attention, and they pointed to another table that would definitely be ours once it emptied. Unfortunately, this promise would not be kept, either.

Upon the hosts’ “promise” of a third table, we let them know we’d be going elsewhere, and we did. We didn’t get the sense that they cared one way or the other. Their attitude, while not hostile, seemed to be: “As you can see, we’re going to be full tonight whether you're here or not. So do as you wish."

We would have appreciated either 1) more honesty/accuracy upfront, or 2) some sense of follow-through on the commitments made. While they were never unfriendly or unpleasant (nor, for that matter, were we), they gave off a sense after each disappointment that we had no recourse other than to "take it" or leave, an attitude which was in itself disappointing. And perhaps leaving (which we ultimately did) would have been our only recourse--were it not that I could post about it to LTH.

riddlemay wrote:We would have appreciated either 1) more honesty/accuracy upfront, or 2) some sense of follow-through on the commitments made. While they were never unfriendly or unpleasant (nor, for that matter, were we), they gave off a sense after each disappointment that we had no recourse other than to "take it" or leave, an attitude which was in itself disappointing. And perhaps leaving (which we ultimately did) would have been our only recourse--were it not that I could post about it to LTH.

Maybe you should have tipped the hostess. My guess is that someone else did (or a regular customer came in) and therefore got your table.

stevez wrote:Maybe you should have tipped the hostess. My guess is that someone else did (or a regular customer came in) and therefore got your table.

You know, that could have been it. Even though I have always had an inhibition about bribing a restaurant host/hostess (unlike bribing a maitre d' at a Sinatra show in Las Vegas, about which I had no compunction), I should consider doing that if a comparable situation ever comes up in the future. When the hostess said, "See that table over there? That will be yours when that party leaves," I should have discreetly handed her a twenty by way of a "thanks in advance." There is no way we wouldn't have had that table if I had done that. And it might have been appropriate, given her apparent willingness to accommodate us despite the change in the size of our party.

In a way it's a shame that this might have been necessary to keep things from playing out the way they did, but it probably was. I will keep it in mind.

riddlemay wrote:When the hostess said, "See that table over there? That will be yours when that party leaves," I should have discreetly handed her a twenty by way of a "thanks in advance."

Most definitely a thank you and a Jackson handshake was in order, given your situation.

stevez wrote:Most definitely a thank you and a Jackson handshake was in order, given your situation.

I think my personal slogan should be, "57 years old and still learning." Sigh. Although the alternative (life without continued learning) would be worse.