Notes from a parental visit: Tweet's, Rivers, Russian Tea T.

First - this was not a chow-centric visit. Choices were made based on convenience more than anything.

Lunch at RIVERS (West Loop). This is archetypal business place. Smoothly run, somewhat pricey. Some steak, some pastas w/ trendy ingredients, some salads. Lots of competence. No surprises. I think it would be hard to get lunch (incl. a beer and a dessert/coffee) for less than $25-30 inclusive. Lots of traders and suits.

Though we came at the tail end of a busy lunch and brought a 4 yr old, we were never rushed, and special requests regarding both the child and one of the parental tummies were accomodateed with no noticeable hiccups in attitude or execution.

A ravioli with herbed chicken filling was perfectly al dente and flavorful. A bit expensive - with only 5 (I think) 1X2 inch pieces arranged nicely but priced at about $15.

A vegetable risotto was also very nicely done. Thick rather than brothy, but not gummy or overdone.

None of the breads in the bread basket (3 varieties, I think) seemed to have dried out waiting to be served. All were quite nice - a country style (chewy with large holes), another with raisins, and I forget the third.

Banana bread pudding was generous and pronounced good by my wife, bread pudding afficionada. My creme brulle was a pretty generous oval dish full with a very nicely carmelized top to crack through and a dense, rish, eggy custard beneath.

One exceptional element was our very personable waiter who - despite having just worked a busy business lunch rush, spontaneously and effortlessly charmed our 4 year old into making a choice and committing to eat it. Even when stopping back just to check on things, he took the time to squat down and address Ben individually about his meal and strike a deal that if he ate a bit more (as his mom was vainly urging,) he - the waiter - promised to bring some ice cream.

TWEET - weekend breakfast. Had 2 back-to-back breakfasts because Tweet is 1 block from home. I was interested to see how they were doing since I had read here that the orig. kitchen folks had departed. (Of course, breakfast is not exactly a true test of how things are going.)

Things were more or less on track. Service was friendly and efficient. A very nice light/cakey brownie was presented as an amuse before ordering. Dad liked his oatmeal. My omelet was a bit drier than ideal, but large and still flavorful with decently browned hash browns (shredded style, not chunked). The fruit cup was full of fresh flavorful fruit. Not, by any means just an afterthought.

Coffee refills and busing of used dishes was timely. (A pet peeve of mine, when it's really slow.)

One oddity: the menu lists a children's breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes. On arrival this proved to be an order of regular pancakes with large choc. chips simple scattered across the plate. Pointless. Of course, he ate the chips for breakfast and proceeded to ignore the pancakes underneath.

Two demerits: a side of sausage links seemed to be of lesser quality than in the past. Less flavorful and with higher incidence of gristle and bits that could not be chewed. Possibly just a statistical anomalie. No way of knowing if they have actually switched suppliers or not.

My wife ordered scrambled eggs with goat cheese and found the goat cheese component minimal at best.

Business note: until quite recently, weekend mornings at Tweet meant a line spilling out onto the sidewalk by 10AM or earlier. This weekend, both Sat. and Sun. the room was never more than half full.

RUSSIAN TEA TIME (Lunch): Very pleasant. I had a daily special of sauteed chicken livers. They came as described (w/ onions) and wine used in the pan. One the one hand they were very good. One the other hand they were not any different than one might have had in a deli or coffee shop decades ago. That is to say, nothing specifically "Russian" about the treatment.

Dad had an app. assortment which he liked a lot. There was a sort of baba ghanooj, kasha, carrot salad, beets, and I forget what else. The the carrots and kasha and beets were also sides with some of the other dishes. Quite nice, though not standouts in any way. (After a Thai carrot salad, there isn't much left to say in that department, IMO.)

Blinis - I had expected something like Jewish blintzes, i.e. thin. What came was a rich, thick yellow/browned pancake almost like a yorkshire pudding. Very tasty, but surprising.

Marvellous dark bread in the basked. Come from Skokie, I believe, but I can't remember from where.

I only wish they made an effort to Russianize their wine list. It's a typical restaurant list. A chianti, a merlot, a pinot noir, etc. But given the exciting, exotic things I've seen on the shelf at Devon Market - from Georgia, Ukraine, Romania, etc. - they could have some fun here if they made the effort.

REZA's - Dinner - no revelations for anyone who has ever been there. It's the Leona's of Persian dining. (Though, actually, I'd say a cut above both in ambitiohn and execution.)

Good service. Lamb kebabs were ordered med. rare but came fully med. Still tasty. Baba was fine. Felafel were just OK. Broiled mushrooms were large and very tasty. Also the potato slabs. Mom was very pleased that here chicken skewers were not at all dry. Dad liked everything on his veggie combo platter.

Very decent, dense carrot cake for dessert. Just like you'd get at any coffee/tea shop like Taste of Heaven, Kopi, et al.

Good, efficient service. No surprises pro or con.

I visited Russian Tea Time last month and wanted to mention the Russian Herring (Seliedka)... sliced pickled and chilled, really delicious. The vodka flights really skewed my eating at this dinner, as the shots are no joke and after a few flights, any reasonable eating experience is shot. I thouroughly enjoyed the experience and would return. They also have half-price caviar and champagne on Wednesday nights.

ab wrote:I visited Russian Tea Time last month and wanted to mention the Russian Herring (Seliedka)... sliced pickled and chilled, really delicious. The vodka flights really skewed my eating at this dinner, as the shots are no joke and after a few flights, any reasonable eating experience is shot. I thouroughly enjoyed the experience and would return. They also have half-price caviar and champagne on Wednesday nights.

That sounds like worthy of an outing.

Rivers is decent, lost count of how many times I've had lunch there. BUT, do NOT order the crabcakes - got to be the worst I've had anywhere, and I've had some bad ones (but keep ordering them whenever I see it on a menu, when they're good they're sublime). I think they deep fry them, terrible, I shudder at the memory. The tortilla soup is always very good.

mrbarolo wrote:Blinis - I had expected something like Jewish blintzes, i.e. thin. What came was a rich, thick yellow/browned pancake almost like a yorkshire pudding. Very tasty, but surprising.

Blini are yeast-risen cakes typically made from buckwheat.

mrbarolo wrote:I only wish they made an effort to Russianize their wine list. It's a typical restaurant list. A chianti, a merlot, a pinot noir, etc. But given the exciting, exotic things I've seen on the shelf at Devon Market - from Georgia, Ukraine, Romania, etc. - they could have some fun here if they made the effort.

They don't expect you to drink wine. They expect you to drink vodka!

Vital Information wrote:That sounds like worthy of an outing.

If you're speaking of the Wednesday half-price night, I totally agree. They have premier caviar and it may be the only place in the city where I can afford to try the cream of the crop. Now that its getting colder the vodka seems to fit as well. I'm worthless as an organizer, however, count me in if this gains momentum.