chalkboard in lincoln square?

It's scheduled to open this month. Does anyone have any current info on it?

Also, I notice the 'for rent' sign at Charlie's on Leavitt is down too. Anyone have info about that?

Chalkboard
4343 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL
773-477-7144

I remember receiving a Chicago magazine "Dish" email a few months ago about Chalkboard. The chef is Gilbert Langlois (SushiSambaRio, Rushmore), and the cuisine will be contemporary American, focusing on whatever's "fresh and available"; Langlois' mother will be making the pasta.

As for Charlie's, I've heard that they've turned it into a banquet hall. Too bad; I was hoping for another restaurant there.

There's a TimeOut write-up in the current issue. Let's see if this link works.

Thanks for the heads-up on Chalkboard. I hadn't heard about it yet.

As for Charlie's, I live around the corner and walk past it on my way to work. Several weeks ago the For Sale signs disappeared. The other week signs appeared in the windows advertising the space as a banquet venue. Those signs are gone now, but there are tables set up in the space and the shades are being left up. Personally, I don't think the plastic yellow tablecloths and bowls of foil candy on the tables are doing much to present the space as an elegant rental venue, but to each their own.

Hi everyone, Gilbert and Elizabeth here, owners of Chalkboard. WE ARE OPENING SOON!!! We have to finish up some minor, last-minute construction work. We own and and make our home in the building, and this is a huge long term investment for us, so we would like everything done right the first time. As soon as we are finished we will throw open the doors. We apologize for the confusion on our opening date....some publications may have been over zealous....check back here for an opening announcement. If everything goes the way we hope, we will be open the second week of December. We look forward to seeing you for dinner! Call 773-477-7144 for reservations or more information.

chalkboard wrote:Hi everyone, Gilbert and Elizabeth here, owners of Chalkboard. WE ARE OPENING SOON!!!...We apologize for the confusion on our opening date....some publications may have been over zealous....

I don't mean to carp, because I wish you well, but is it the publications themselves that are overzealous when they carry the item that the restaurant is already open, or are they (as is my guess) simply conveying information that the restaurant has provided to them, even if that information is now outdated? I don't see the publications (like Time Out) having any particular motivation to rush the opening date, but I do see the possibility that they're working from a press release (provided by the restaurant) containing now-superseded information. Happy to stand corrected if I'm wrong.

Thanks very much for the update Gilbert and Elizabeth.

We live nearby and are very much looking forward to dining at Chalkboard. Best of luck in putting the final touches on both it, and your new home.

P.S. Please, please, please consider bringing back the deep fried caramel chocolate chip cookie dough eggroll from Rushmore on your dessert menu!

i remember a neighbor telling me a number of months ago how TimeOut had scooped that Chef Paul Kahan's new space would be located in the former Abril space in Logan Square....

well, let's just say that was never a finalized deal (and we spoke with the Alderman on this issue), so it seems they were a bit overzealous on that front. whether the info came from someone on the inside of not, that space never got very far in the planning stage.

needless to say, we were quite bummed when we finally read about it opening up in, where else, the west loop.

thanks,
miss ellen

I spoke to the chef-owner, Gilbert Langlois, today, and he told me that the restaurant will be opening next week.

Daily Candy featured it prematurely as well (talk about a forum that's PR driven!).

kates wrote:Daily Candy featured it prematurely as well (talk about a forum that's PR driven!).

I take it, then, that you share my assumption that Time Out and Daily Candy are working from press releases. In which case, the charge that they're being "overzealous" when they report the restaurant already being open is hardly fair. They're going from information provided to them by the restaurant which they assume is provided in good faith. It's not that big a deal, but it seems to me (if my assumptions are correct) that it's bad form for Gilbert to blame the publications for the faulty info when the responsibility for the misinformation properly belongs to him or his PR firm.

A statement along the lines of, "We provided opening-date information to the publications that turned out to be premature, and I apologize to them for the error, but the good news is we'll be open in a week" would have been perfectly understandable and much more to my taste.

You're opening a business dependent on 1) contractors getting things done and 2) city inspectors bestowing their blessing. Of course it's going to be delayed at the last minute or two, much of the time. Any sensible person would call first if the effort to get there was at all significant.

Mike G wrote:You're opening a business dependent on 1) contractors getting things done and 2) city inspectors bestowing their blessing. Of course it's going to be delayed at the last minute or two, much of the time. Any sensible person would call first if the effort to get there was at all significant.

Not sure if this is in response to me, but I totally agree with all of the above, and if that's not clear, then I haven't been clear enough. The problem (if there is one) isn't the delay, which is perfectly understandable; the problem is Gilbert and/or Elizabeth (username chalkboard) attributing the misinformation about the opening date to overzealousness on the part of publications, when the publications are surely merely conveying the information they were provided by the restaurant. It's a small (but important to me) matter of taking responsibility instead of foisting blame.

Again, if I'm wrong about the chain of events that led to the publications posting incorrect information, I will be happy to be corrected.

the problem is Gilbert and/or Elizabeth (username chalkboard) attributing the misinformation about the opening date to overzealousness

To the extent an innocuous passing comment is a problem, yes.

Mike G wrote:To the extent an innocuous passing comment is a problem, yes.

Well, we all have different definitions of innocuous, and different things that send up little red flags and set off little alarm bells in our heads. Perhaps I speak only for myself when I say that the apparent shifting of responsibility is bothersome; or perhaps some others feel similarly. Since I'm the only one who has posted about being bothered, it may well be the former.

You know, restaurants are fragile creatures. While you may take strong exception to what you seem to consider a moral failing on the part of the proprietors, to go on and on about it before the restaurant is even open seems, to me, excessive and certainly shows at least as much disregard for the owners of this yet-to-open business as what you were subject to by the publication of misinformation about their opening date.

annieb wrote:...to go on and on about it before the restaurant is even open seems, to me, excessive and certainly shows at least as much disregard for the owners of this yet-to-open business as what you were subject to by the publication of misinformation about their opening date.

I'm not sure where this idea came from that I've been "subject to" any disregard or injury whatever by the publication of the misinformation. I had no particular plans to go to Chalkboard on any given date, and was not affected in the slightest, personally, by the faulty info. The idea that I'm complaining about being put out or inconvenienced has come up twice now, and I corrected it the last time, but I'll correct it again. That's not what this is about.

What it is about is a little alarm bell that goes off in my head when I detect someone shifting blame onto someone else for what is properly the first person's responsibility. If that is what happened in this case (and I don't know, since the facts still haven't been clarified), I hope it's confined to one stray remark and is not an indicator of a whole m.o. Very possibly it is only an ill-considered offhand remark and nothing more.

As for going "on and on": When it seems to me my remarks are being misinterpreted or misunderstood, I feel the need to try to make myself clearer. I certainly have no problem with anyone feeling differently about this whole matter than I do. But I sense that others do have a problem with me feeling the way I do--and some of this (I infer from the way your post is worded) has to do with attributing motives or feelings to me that I don't have. I agree with you, however, that from this point further, there's no need for me to address the topic. If others misread me at this point, there's not much more I can say.

Let's all look forward to a successful opening of Chalkboard and a continued success in its operation that will please us all.

My wife and I went to Chalkboard on Friday night for an early dinner (they open at 4:30).

The room is very nice, painted in a light green with white accents and orange/melon upholstery throughout. A large chalkboard covers the south wall with the daily menu on it. The room is more wide open than Tournesol (I never went to the incarnation after Tournesol).

The menu is small, limited to five apps and five entrees.

My wife had the smoked mac-n-cheese for an appetizer. The pasta was nicely al dente. The cheese sauce tasted like a smooth smoked gouda. My wife proclaimed it the best mac-n-cheese she has had. I felt it a nice mac-n-cheese with smoked gouda, but nothing revelatory.

For my appetizer, I had seared scallops with chicken confit and pea puree. There were three large scallops seared perfectly. The chicken confit added a nice savory component to go along with the sweetness of the scallops. Overall, it was well executed, and we both liked the dish.

For an entree my wife had organic salmon with roasted cauliflower and corn chowder. The salmon was again cooked perfectly medium rare/medium and had a fresh salmon flavor. The chowder was chunky and creamy (as chowders tend to be) and had real depth of flavor from the roasted cauliflower. It overall was a taste greater than the sum of its parts and was the best dish of the evening. Again, nothing overly creative here, but it was really well done with a richer flavor than we both expected.

I had beef with lobster hash. This is normally served with lobster tortellini, but not on this particular evening. The beef was stated by the server to be filet, but my pre-sliced beef (cooked to a nice rare-medium rare) was narrow slices of beef cut against the grain with a toothsome texture more reminiscent of flank or hanger steak (although not as beefy). The lobster "hash" was really two lobster claws and a few slices of roasted potato served with a butter sauce. This dish seemed a little disconnected with no synergy among the different ingredients. Perfectly cooked beef (whatever cut it was) with fresh lobster in butter sauce is okay by me any day, but that's all it was.

Dessert was a chocolate chip cookie dough egg roll with caramel ice cream and caramel sauce. This looked and tasted like you would expect. The egg roll was nicely crispy while the chocolate chips inside were hot and melty. The caramel ice cream provided a nice additional flavor. If the dessert sounds good to you, you would like it. If it doesn't, then you wouldn't. It was straightforward but solid.

The chef came by multiple times to see how things were going, bringing his young son along with him. We got a great vibe from the place. It was a nicer room than we expected, everyone was friendly, and (nearly) all the dishes were well executed and had good flavor. The prices were also reasonable, with entrees in the $14-25 range. Overall, considering it was in its first week of existence, we were very pleased and feel that it is a welcome addition to the neighbordhood.

Happy New Year everyone!

We opened Chalkboard on December 18th. Thank you for you interest and patience with us!! We'd like you to come in and visit us. We are serving dinner from 4:30 to 10:00, Wednesday through Monday, closed on Tuesdays.

We look forward to seeing you!

Sincerely, Chef Gilbert and Elizabeth

Dined at Chalkboard Friday night and found it to be a little hit and miss, although I definitely will try it again. Appetizers were stronger than entrees.

The brioche grilled cheese (with blue cheese) and tomato bisque was very good -- although there was a lack of blue cheese flavor, the texture and flavor were both very nice and the tomato soup excellent. It was also accompanied by a very small, but very nice fennel salad.

The scallops with chicken confit and pea puree were outstanding, although unlike a previous reviewer, I only recall seeing two scallops.

For main courses, the seared duck with porcini ravioli in a spicy lemongrass sauce was just ok. The duck was nicely seared and seasoned, but the ravioli was not well prepared. The ravioli was merely one huge ravioli and while the porcini mushroom filling tasted very good, the pasta dough was unusually tough.

The fried chicken was disappointing. The chicken itself was perfectly crisp. However, the breading lacked seasoning and the chicken was a tad on the dry side.

I loved the macaroni and cheese -- very smoky and very creamy and the pasta was cooked perfectly. This makes a nice side dish for sharing.

For desserts, the chocolate chip cookie dough egg roll was excellent -- perhaps a little better than expected. However, the lemon meringue dessert was only decent. Although the meringue filling was very nice, the pastry in which the filling was encased was bland and boring. The fruit compote served with the meringue was excellent, however. The small plate of miniature chocolate chip cookies at the very end was not so exciting as the cookies were a tad on the burnt side.

Service was fine, nothing great and nothing bad. It's just that our waiter seemed to lack enthusiasm. The place was packed and noise level was quite high, to the point where our waiter even had to ask us to repeat orders because he couldn't hear us. I liked the decor quite a bit (I suspect you will too if you are a fan of Restoration Hardware). It's upscale, yet relaxed. I also must note that the wine list is one of the most reasonably priced lists in the city -- almost impossible to break the bank here.

I'll certainly give Chalkboard another try. All restaurants suffer a few missteps in their early going, but I definitely see some reasons to return.

BR wrote: also must note that the wine list is one of the most reasonably priced lists in the city -- almost impossible to break the bank here.

BR,

My wife ate at Chalkboard last week and also commented on the reasonable wine list. She quite enjoyed her duck breast, though her friends steak was cooked past the requested med-rare.

Overall she liked the place enough that we are going for dinner next week.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:BR,

My wife ate at Chalkboard last week and also commented on the reasonable wine list. She quite enjoyed her duck breast, though her friends steak was cooked past the requested med-rare.

Overall she liked the place enough that we are going for dinner next week.

Enjoy,
Gary

I will be curious to hear your review. Of course, I'm always mindful of the fact that no matter how much experience the chefs/owners have in the industry, it takes time to get all of the cylinders working together.

Just got back from an early evening dinner at Chalkboard -- the second in as many weeks.

The room was busy, even at five.

There were five of us (including 11 month old daughter). We ordered a seared ostrich with grapes, pepitas and greens (aggressively seasoned, cooked rare with a nice crunch from the pepitas and cool sweetness from the grapes), a cheese plate, tomato bisque with sliced fennel salad grilled blue cheese sandwich (a nice bisque topped with truffle oil and a buttery, meltingly delicious blue cheese sandwich), and a house salad (roasted tomatoes, soft boiled egg, fennel seed and vinaigrette -- a pronounced fennel flavor which really hit the spot).

For entrees, two of us had roasted sturgeon with truffle risotto, toasted garlic and chard (a crusty sear on the outside with a medium/medium rare center, full flavored sturgeon and a not too truffle-y risotto), bouillabaise (which I did not try due to a shrimp allergy -- overly cautious since there actually was no shrimp in it), and fried chicken with greens and mashed potatoes with sausage gravy (maybe not like grandma made, but it satisfies that craving).

I do not have any affiliation with the restaurant even though two of my five or so posts are reviews of Chalkboard. Our two visits have shown us consistently well-prepared dishes from a changing menu utilizing fresh ingredients (only about half the dishes tonight were offered on our visit last week). My wife and I just moved back to Chicago, and having this restaurant within walking distance is delightful (although it's worth driving if we had to).

BR wrote:Of course, I'm always mindful of the fact that no matter how much experience the chefs/owners have in the industry, it takes time to get all of the cylinders working together.

BR,

I believe this was the case last evening, packed house with people waiting at 7, service was a little distracted and timing was off as well. The room was noisy, normal conversation was pretty much impossible, though I like what they've done with the old Tournesol space.

I agree with you on both the brioche grilled cheese (w/blue cheese), though, while I liked the tomato bisque I thought the flavor suggested liquid pizza, which I found slightly odd in the context. Small fennel salad was, as you said, quite good.

I also agree that the fried "airline' chicken breast was lacking seasoning and a tad on the dry side. A shake or three of salt really perked up the chicken, though as Chalkboard does not keep salt on the table we had to wait for our waiter to bring it as the chicken cooled.

Where I disagree is the smoked mac-n-cheese. I disliked the, to my taste, somewhat artificial smoke flavor and thought the cheese a wee bit watery. The macaroni part of the dish was cooked perfectly though.

My wife quite liked her organic greens, soft boiled egg, roasted tomato and fennel seed sherry vinaigrette. The egg was cooked perfectly and the vinaigrette balance was perfect. I considered the salad briefly, though the lack of lardons and/or croutons convinced me otherwise.

Our table had seared scallops w/chicken confit and pea puree as well, TPA, we had the pleasure of dining with MAG, TPA and Thor, said the flavor was good, but scallops ever so slightly overcooked.

Ellen's beef stew was a real hit, nice balance, rich flavor a perfect January meal. Unfortunately mine and MAG's Wisconsin style fish and chips, made with trout was a bit of a miss. Crisp on the outside tempura batter yielded to an over abundance of doughy interior masking the fresh, if overcooked, trout. I did like the caper egg sauce, somewhat like a deconstructed gribiche.

Thor had noodle w/butter which he pronounced delectable. We ran into Petit Pois and a friend, Petit Pois had bouillabaisse, a chalkboard special.
We did not have dessert, we had been there over two hours, a long time for a three year old, who, by the way, was charming as always and on perfect behavior.

My feeling is this was an extremely busy night for Chalkboard and they, having been open only a short while, were a bit overwhelmed. For example my wife was there last week had the same waiter and said that evening, which was nowhere near as busy, service was exemplary.

I liked the overall vibe of the place, obviously a lot of thought and care had gone into the making of Chalkboard. I'm going to give them a month or so to fine tune before going back, the problems we encountered were relatively minor and it's my impression Chalkboard will develop into a solid choice in the Chicago dining landscape.

Enjoy,
Gary

Chalkboard
4343 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL
773-477-7144

Had a pleasant evening at Chalkboard last evening, which was made even more pleasant by the LTH-celebrity sighting of the Wivs. Always a pleasure!

While our food wasn't top-notch and the service wasn't perfect, my girlfriend and I still enjoyed ourselves. I did feel like I was yelling most of the time b/c the noise level was somewhat deafening. Kind of weird since I don't remember Tournesol being that loud. But the place is charming and has a very friendly vibe.

It took about 10 minutes or so before someone acknowledged our table but I'm not holding it against them. Everyone seemed a bit frazzled and it felt like they just weren't prepared for a full house. The owner, the server, the hostess, the busboy...all were cheery and helpful despite the stress level.

We shared the mac&chesse app and thought it was pretty good. Yes, it was runny and lacking a good crust. Or any crust. But I did enjoy the smoked flavor and the bits of cheese rind. Would work perfectly for a child's entree.

My friend had the fried chicken. Incredibly moist and terribly bland. Actually tasted like water to me. We finally asked for salt and that improved the taste of the chicken as well as the mashed.

I had the bouillabaisse special. I believe it included the following: mussels, scallops, salmon, monkfish and peekytoe crab. The light, tomatoey broth was, in a word, dull. I actually think it needed salt as well.

Dessert. was. weird. Ordered the famous fried egg roll concoction. It sounded great in theory but my friend took one bite of it and pronounced it inedible. For a pregnant woman to turn down dessert...well, I was shocked. I took a few more bites just to make sure it was really as bad as we thought. Yep. The egg roll wrapper was ok, but the filling was wet, raw cookie dough. And the accompanying scoop of ice cream had a gummy texture. Not sure if it's made in-house or bought.

Thumbs up for Julius Meinl coffees. And the decor as well. Absolutely lovely. They did a wonderful job of making a small room seem spacious.

I would return since it's a charming place to have a girls' night out. But I'll probably wait several months so they can iron out some of the service and menu kinks.

Had dinner at Chalkboard, and it was OK. Beautiful room, good service, but the food was fairly bland. The crab cakes were a little fishy, and one dimensional. Yes, there was not much filler, but also not much flavor. The fried chicken breast was just a bit past moist, but quite bland. The sausage gravy served with it did not have much flavor. I liked the collard greens and the smoked mac and cheese was nice.

The bigger issue I have with Chalkboard is the menu was not that enticing. I recall going to Tournesol, and having a tough time deciding what to order because it all sounded so good. With Chalkboard, I had the opposite problem, because I was not interested in many of the main courses. I wish them well, and I may try it again in a month or two to see what develops.

On an unrelated side note, has anyone noticed how many restaurants have closed in a relatively small stretch of Lincoln Avenue? The list includes Tournesol, Cork, Aqualina, Block 44, Charlie's on Leavitt, Square Kitchen, She She, and Soiree all within about the past two to three years. Lincoln Square is a dining destination, and would appear to have the demographics to support some fine restaurants.

On an unrelated side note, has anyone noticed how many restaurants have closed in a relatively small stretch of Lincoln Avenue? The list includes Tournesol, Cork, Aqualina, Block 44, Charlie's on Leavitt, Square Kitchen, She She, and Soiree all within about the past two to three years. Lincoln Square is a dining destination, and would appear to have the demographics to support some fine restaurants.

The turnover rate of restos in the North Center/Lincoln Square area is amazing. I lived at Cullom and Wolcott from '97 til '02, and I'd estimate that close to 75-80% of the eating places that were there in '97 have turned over at least once, some twice or more (the Tournesol and Aqualina spaces being the leaders in the clubhouse, I think, as well as what used to be that good French bakery on Montrose, just west of the El).

BTW, does anyone have any idea of where Eric Aubriot (of Tournesol, among many, many othe places) disappeared to? He abruptly left the now-shuttered Narra in Evanston in the fall of 05, and POOF - gone without a trace.

Anybody? Bueller?

I was very much looking forward to Chalkboard especially when I read this in Dish:

6 Reasons We’re Intrigued by Chalkboard, a 55-seat contemporary American spot opening next month in the former Tournesol space (4343 N. Lincoln Ave.; 773-477-7144)
1. The chef-owner, Gilbert Langlois (SushiSamba Rio, Rushmore), will rotate the budget-friendly chalkboard menu around “whatever is fresh and available.”
2. His mom will make the pasta.
3. The menu will include personal notes. “I’m sick of menus that are just ingredient lists,” Langlois says. “It’s chicken, it’s green beans, blah, blah, blah. On my menu, there’s a story behind each dish and the reason it’s on the menu.”
4. The children’s menu will go beyond hamburgers, hot dogs, and pizza. Langlois: “I’m coming up with an idea of healthy options that the children will still enjoy. If my kid will eat it, I assume every kid will eat it.”
5. It will not look like every other restaurant in Chicago. “Every restaurant looks the same to me,” says Langlois. Angelo Adamo, the designer, plans to make it antique-y, comfortable, and elegant.
6. Langlois is no absentee landlord. “I moved into the apartment above it,” he says. “I’m going to eat here. My wife is going to eat here. My baby is going to eat here.”

So when GWiv and I made dinner plans for our respective families, I certainly felt that this would be a good place to go given that my 2.75 year old would be joining us.

Problem 1, the menu. The only two remotely kid-friendly items, at least my kid, were the smoked mac & cheese and the grilled cheese. Now I admit that Thor is, much to my chagrin, in a picky eating phase, so I knew he wouldn't eat the mac & cheese, he's a pasta, no sauce kid. So, we asked the waiter if we could get a grilled cheese, but with a cheese other than blue, not a particularly kid friendly cheese. Smoked gouda was our only option, we ordered it. It arrived with our apps but the waiter had forgotten to make the change. As we suspected, he wouldn't touch it. We then asked for an order of plain pasta, which they obliged and he consumed.

Problem 2, Thor's a pretty good restaurant kid, but a 2.5 hour meal makes me antsy, so by the end he was jonesing to leave, it was WAY past his bedtime, which then makes the experience less than ideal for us. I will admit that the chef did notice his discomfort and took him for a tour of the kitchen, a move that bought us 15 more minutes.

Gary's description of the meal is consistent with my impression of the meal so I won't rehash the details.

It's a lovely space, and I very much mourned Tournesol, so I would be very happy to see something good takes its place. I admire Chef Langlois' vision and I do hope that he achieves it. I just won't be back with my son until they make a greater effort to fulfill their family friendly billing.

I wanted to post to let everyone know of the great experience I had a Chalkboard this weekend. I was a little scared to go, knowing that people thought the food was so-so and the service was iffy. For the record, our server was amazing and attentive. It was just the right pace for us, and though some people may have thought that she was a bit slow, it was fine with us. We went on Saturday and had 8:30pm reservations. We arrived a bit early and were seated at a lovely bar area and got a glass of wine from Chef Langlois himself. He was very kind and patient and gave a great wine recommendation. We were seated about 15 minutes after we arrived in a great booth and our server took our wine/appetizer order after about 5 minutes. The menu was printed and on the blackboard as well. We ordered the appetizer of the bleu cheese grilled sandwiches and tomato bisque. The sandwiches were small and luscious. The bread was light, fluffy and hardly greasy. The bisque was so good we found ourselves asking for spoons to eat the rest of it. The only question was whether or not this appetizer was meant to be shared. It was easy to dip the bread in the bisque but then when you wanted to have the soup, we found ourselves kind of digging in the bowl together which may put some people off. It was also not served with spoons! So I am not sure if we were supposed to eat it that way or not but we didn’t care too much about that. I’ve had grilled bleu cheese sandwiches and tomato bisque before. And I was expecting that the food would be good but was greatly surprised at how luscious everything was. I don’t know what made the difference but the appetizer was completely satisfying and delicious.
After that we split a salad of mixed greens which came with a wonderful, rich, soft boiled egg and roasted tomato. Though there is nothing truly new with this dish, it was really great, fresh and perfectly seasoned/dressed. I loved the soft boiled egg which came out at just the right temperature and whatever dressing was on the salad was perfect and really addictive.
My friend had the bouillabaisse for an entrée and I had the farm-raised duck with pasta and kale. Her soup was garlicky and came out with all this amazing fish. It was a huge portion and we could not get enough of the flavors. My duck was the best I’ve ever had, and I order duck a lot at different places. It’s usually really nicely done but this one stood out. It had a crackly crust of fat and something else (honey?) that caramelized the outside nicely so the pieces of duck were crisp and sweet. Then the meat was rich and soft inside and just melted in my mouth. It was served on a bed of homemade pasta that seemed whole wheat with peppercorns in it. It was perfectly al dente and spicy and complimented the duck well. The kale was pretty normal, but done just right; not too chewy, not too soft. The only disappointment was that the dish came with something called ‘diablo sauce’ which turned out to be a red sauce that was on the bottom of the plate which I found didn’t really have much flavor. I was kind of looking forward to figuring out what it was and was disappointed that I wasn’t as interesting as I would have hoped. But the whole dish was perfect and really wonderful.
For dessert we had to try the chocolate chip cookie dough eggroll. It was good, just slightly crisp with just a little bit of dough in the middle. I thought it was ok but certainly not that great. I liked the caramel ice cream that came with it though! We could not get enough of that. We also had the chocolate pot that was made with cayenne pepper (??) and came with vanilla ice cream. That was amazing. The pepper gave the chocolate a really nice feel and then you were left with just the right amount of heat in the back of your throat. I love pepper in chocolate and was not disappointed by this at all. We both agreed that this was a lovely dessert and the better of the two.
The wine was a Pinot Noir from Oregon and was really well priced. I am not wealthy and I only go out to eat like this a few times a year, but found the dinner for two to be quite reasonable for a nice meal out. We felt like we’d eaten at a place 10x more expensive!
The décor was just lovely and our server was really attentive. We asked for more bread at one point and she did come back and apologized and said that we probably wouldn’t get more bread. Everyone was kind and treated us really well. We heard while we were leaving, that there had been a glitch in the computer/electronic ordering and some people’s food was messed up and the chef came out to apologize to a large table of people that seemed unhappy, but we were untouched by this chaos and had a perfect evening. We made a special effort to ask the hostess to tell the Chef how pleased we were because we figured he’d had a harrowing night. The restaurant was a bit noisy but other than that, I really don’t have any complaints. Be warned, dinner takes a long time. That isn't to say we waited for long periods of time for our food to arrive, rather, it is a big, well-paced, meal that is the highlight of your evening, not something you do before going to the theatre, etc. We left the restaurant about 10:30 and were very satisfied. I have read postings about kids coming, and maybe if there was a lunch service, but for dinner I could see how this would be difficult. I hope that Chalkboard stays in the neighborhood! I have an anniversary in April and would love to go back. You get the feeling that this is a place that the Chef and everyone involved, really cares about. And I'm happy that Chef Langlois moved into our neighborhood instead of downtown somewhere. I will definately return.


Therese O.
Chicago, IL

Hey Everyone,
Nice write-up on Chalkboard in this week's Reader. Just FYI. Therese

Link to Reader Chalkboard Review

Chalkboard
4343 N. Lincoln
773-477-7144

Okay, so we gave Chalkboard another shot and I'm sorry to say not much has improved.

This time, we went without child for brunch. We arrived a little after 11:00, opening time. I ordered the crab cake benedict and TPA the steak and eggs. Despite the fact that we were the only two patrons in the restaurant for a good half hour, it took over a half hour to get our meals. My crab cake was slightly burned on the bottom and the hollandaise a little runny for my taste. TPA's meal was cold. And, by the way, during a good portion of the time we were waiting for our meal, we noticed the chef sweeping the front sidewalk despite the fact that three waitstaff sat inside gabbing away. Personally, I think the chef would have been better served monitoring his kitchen and sending an idle server outside with the broom.

Again, I really wanted to like Chalkboard as Tournesol was one of our favorite restaurants, but I don't see us going back in the near future.