We ate at Chalkboard not too long after it opened, and weren't impressed. The fried chicken was okay, the crab cakes were bland, and the service was just so-so. I was mindful of the fact that restaurants often need time to hit their stride, so I reserved judgement, waiting to see what others had to say. So far I haven't heard anything that would send me back. Like many others, we miss Tournesol, and had hoped a really good restaurant would take their place. Chalkboard, it seems, has yet to make the grade.

3-star Philly strikes again!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/dining/chi-0705010288may03,1,3011234.story?coll=chi-ent_dining-hed

There are cooks who dream of stardom, of coast-to-coast eponymous restaurants and regular appearances on "Iron Chef."

And then there's Gilbert Langlois, who says his dream, 10 years hence, is to be running a 62-seat restaurant in Lincoln Square -- which is exactly what he's doing right now.

...

It's a terrific chicken, a juicy half-bird with a crispy-crunchy exterior, served over buttermilk mashed potatoes, mild collard greens and sausage gravy. Dishes don't come much more down-home than this, or much better.

Thoughts? Anyone been there recently?

I went this week with my GF and her parents (Mr n Mrs Z) and like other posters had a decidedly mixed experience, but more extreme in the pendulum swings between good and bad.

The room has a good overall ambiance, but some touches were definitely lacking. There is a booth/reading area next to the bathrooms, which is much better than having to loiter in the hall. The hand dryers are like something from NASA, so forceful they make the skin on your hands ripple like hitting 6 Gs during reentry. At sunset, with their window facing west many of the backlit wine glasses on the preset tables were visibly dirty, including two on our table. There are also mirrors running the length of one wall that were really streaky and dirty. These details detracted from what is supposed to be an elegant room. The chilled 1.5L bottle of filtered tap water that comes gratis was a nice touch (more on that later).

The good was mostly limited to the appetizers. We ordered a couple of specials: a Kobe beef "tataki" (which we were told translates to "slapped") consisting of shaved, peppered beef slices minimally grilled in a skillet and served over pears macerated in red wine (the hit of the night, by consensus, though the worst portion-size-for-dollar item on the menu...Kobe beef ain't cheap), and a tuna sashimi salad with avacado, pancetta, blue cheese and cucumbers (my personal favorite) that our waiter called "the perfect summer salad".

When it came to entrees, we hit some rough patches. From the menu, Mr Z got the pate plate, which was unmarkable. The rest of us ordered meats that were all perfectly prepared, but there were *significant* problems with the sauces all around, mainly centered around reaching critical mass with the salt. Mrs Z's pork tenderloin came with an apple cider corn (delish) and a mayo-heavy fingerling potato/celery salad, which would work as a cold salad but tasted quite strange warmed by the pork lying on top. Deemed acceptable, but disappointing. Things really went off the rails with the specials.

My gf got the duck, which was crispy and lovely, with wild mushrooms, but either the salt on the crust got too integrated into the sauce or the sauce was overly salty to begin with. Still, she was able to eat it. However, my dish was the scallops (now served with garlic whistles, or blooms of the garlic plant and a celery root puree), and OH MAN, it was like eating solid seawater. The elements of the dish not sitting in the sauce were edible, but anything the sauce touched was ridiculously salinated.

Let's put it this way: at other get togethers with the Zs, I am the only one who needs to get my water glass refilled. This night, we went through 3+ of those aforementioned chilled 1,5L water bottles. I don't know, maybe they ran out of kosher salt, and used table salt for seasoning without adjusting the ratios.

When the waiter checked on us, he offered to switch it out for me. I haven't sent a meal back in years, but I really couldn't eat it, so I accepted. Thinking I should order something simple to not throw off the timing of the meal, I went with the mac n cheese. It took longer than I expected (but at least that means it was likely made-to-order), and everyone loved it (though I agree with other posters that the cheese sauce could have been tighter).

Desserts: the egg roll, which was meh, and we also got a raspberry/blueberry bread pudding with bubble gum ice cream. I was flashing back on my Baskin Robbins youth, where my sister and I would get Bubble Yum (TM) ice cream with an extra cup to spit the gum pieces into for later. Beleive it or not, the ice cream was the most fully realized item in the last course, a real cute idea well executed. The bread pudding was a mess, though, and the flavors did not come together.

We were not charged for the scallops, but were charged for the MnC. No other adjustments to the bill (not that I expected that, but it's worth noting).

In sum, I definitely like the idea of Chalkboard more than the reality. I don't think I will be back unless I hear that things have improved.

Just a short note on my recent experience there, as it pretty much dovetails with what others have said:

I went this past Monday night with my SO and four family members. Service was good, but VERY slow (our dinner took two and a half hours, mostly because it looked like there was only one busboy, and plate clearing took a long time). We had an assortment of dishes:

Appetizers: mac & cheese; Michigan aspargus; house salad; quail dish; tomato bisque and brioche grilled cheese (which was by far the best, and one of the highlights of the dinner). Most were ok, but nothing spectacular - the quail was dry, the mac & cheese was creamy but didn't hit the spot...

Dinner: iron skillet porkchop; Australian hanger steak; halibut, mussels, and crawfish; curry vegetable pie. The veggie pie was probably the best - very flavorful, and lots of good veggies (including patty pan squash). The halibut was dry and the mussels not so fresh. The steak and porkchop were good, but again, nothing outstanding.

Dessert: organic berries over lavender yogurt; chocolate pot au creme. The berry dessert was our favorite - lots of lavender taste, gorgeous berries.

I was really looking forward to the meal, even after reading the reviews here. And the place was full even on a Monday night, so I don't know what the deal is. But honestly, I doubt I'll be back - for that money, I can get much better elsewhere.

Just visited Chalkboard for the first time and was overall impressed with the experience. I did find it odd that the wines by the glass weren't on a menu, just listed on the chalkboard behind the bar.

We started with the crab cake and kobe beef appetizer. The cake was full of crab and the flavor was good, but I like a lumpier texture. The kobe tataki was perfectly cooked with port poached pears (good flavor, a little underripe) and truffle oil. It was a very good dish.

We planned on sharing an entree, but they didn't have our first choice - the boilabbaise (the chef sent back the mussels b/c they "weren't up to par" according to the server). My fellow diner doesn't like halibut (the other fish entree) so we ended up getting a fried chicken that wasn't even on the menu (or the board). It was served with greens (kale) and mashed potatoes, plus the server sold us on the mac n' cheese. The chicken was crisp and delicious. There was fennel/anise in each element of the entree (I believe fennel pollen in the potatoes, anise in the coating of the chicken and something in the greens as well). It actually worked well. The smoked gouda mac was creamy and did pair nicely with the theme (even though there was no fennel).

Then we had cherry pie with vanilla ice cream for dessert. As with most cherry pies (IMO), the filling was too sweet. The crust on the top was nice, but the bottom was doughy. Oh well, next time I'll stick with chocolate.

Well, I dined last nght at Chalkboard with a friend. It was fairly quiet for a thursday night. I know there has been a very luke warm opinion of this place that I enjoy so much.

I will start with disclosing that, while not aquainted on a personal level with Gilbert, he does know me from the several times I've dined there, knows I'm a food geek who enjoys not only eating but talking about great ingredients and technique, and he always shows my buddy and I a bit of extra attention when we're there. That being said, I'm almost certain my opinions are free of influence.


Before we ordered we started out with a very nice Saphire martini. I didn't even know they had any gin and was pleased to hear they did.

Gil came by and told us that he was in the midst of putting together a new menu that he's really excited about. He said that the current menu was a bit "spring like" and wanted to start doing more fall flavors. He mentioned a braised short rib with celery root puree. He also mentioned more than once that he's tired of being known as the "Fried chicken and mac and cheese guy" and that he's looking to cook a bit more refined going forward. I'm glad to hear this.

After a leisurly martini we ordered apps. I started with the cauliflower soup and my friend started with the always great crab cake. The cauliflower soup had hints of cinnamon and nutmeg as well as being garnished with some pink peppercorns. A beautiful roasted shallot finished the dish. The flavors had a good bit of depth but I have to say that the soup would have been made better had it been put through a chinois. It was a bit rustic in texture for my likeing. Still the flavors were great. The crabcake here is enormous with giant lumps of crab meat. It is topped with a beautiful organic egg yolk. Really nice.

We ordered a nice bottle of Mogan, Double L, Pinot Noir although I'd have rather had the Gary Farrell Russian River Pinot.

Just after we started in on the apps our server brought out something Gil wanted us to try. Its a new app he's working on. A very nice thin peice of Toro cheek (about 3" square) topped with an amazingly yellow, almost orange, organic egg yolk. Some small disks of blanched yet crunchy green beans and a bit of yuzu drizzled around. Next to the toro was an uni custard topped with a bit of ostera caviar. The custard was perfectly smooth although a bit sweet on its own. However when tasted with the saltiness of the caviar, WOW! What great flavor combinations. The toro cheek was delecate and wonderful, the beans added a nice textural contrast and the yuzu added just enough acid. The egg yolk was mild in flavor and added just that extra bit of fattiness to make this dish pretty decadent. If this is the way he's looking to become more refined I think the nail has been hit on the head.

As out entrees were brought out, yet another something from the chef was broght out as well. This time two perfectly seared diver scallops accompanied by bits of walnut, a sweet, almost carmel like sauce and some calamata olives. The flavors here reminded me of the sweet/savory style used in many of the dishes at Schwa. This dish again showed a very refined style. The only thing that would have helped here is maybe just a bit of salt. Perhaps a pink Hawaiin or Sel Gris. Something with big crystals to spike the flavors of an alread good dish up just a bit.

Entrees were a duck breast cassoulet (not really a cassoulet though) and a very nice peice of hallibut garnished with chunks of lobster and a lobster bique. The cassoulet was really a duck breast, cooked perfectly on top of a stew of white beans, bits of pork and a really nice chorisso. The flavors were right on but when I hear cassoulet I think heartier, even heavier. This was not. Not that thats a bad thing I just think another name might be appropriate. This dish as well as the hallibut was garnished with the pink peppercorns. I think it would do some good to back off on these as each dish we ordered was garnished with them . The hallibut was wonderful and matched very nicely with the lobster bisque. The lobster chunks garnishing the dish, while generous in portion, were slightly over cooked. I'm not talking about rubber ball over cooked but just slightly. Again the pink peppercorns could have been left off.

We shared a dessert of an individual apple pie with a nice carmel sauce,dots of a honey vinager and a scoop of perfect cinnamon/vanilla . The honey vinegar was a really wonderful contrast and I'd love to find some of this somewhere. When I ordered pie I expected a flakey crust and it even looked like it would be when the dish was presented. However the crust was almost like a croissant. It was very good, just unexpected.

All in all a very good meal with a couple of minor misteps. I can't wait to see the new menu, particularly if the sneak previews we received are a sign of things to come.

I know a good number of you don't think so highly of Chalkboard but I'm a fan and think you ought to give it a shot in a month or so when the menu changes. I'll be sure to let you know if I see it before you do.

John

drug my hubby and daughter to chalkboard tonight because i had heard good things about the fried chicken and really wanted to try this place. what a joke. there is no way they can justify charging 23 bucks for fried chicken. this place is way over priced. the wine list has about 5 choices under 50 bucks and extends up to 200 bucks. this is lincoln square for god sakes. this place has an idenity crisis. i guess they think they are on the gold coast. how i long for the old lawry's on diversy for great fried chicken.

$23 FOR FRIED CHICKEN??

That Miller High Life guy is gonna be there to pick up his beer soon.

YourPalWill wrote:$23 FOR FRIED CHICKEN??

That Miller High Life guy is gonna be there to pick up his beer soon.

Agreed. Abolt - can you tell us a little more about this $23 fried chicken? Is it stuffed with foie gras? Fried in the fat rendered from 100 baby ducks? I'm trying to wrap my head around how anybody can put fried chicken on a menu and attach a $23 price tag to it - surely they must be doing something that at least they think justifies that lofty price?

Kman wrote:

YourPalWill wrote:$23 FOR FRIED CHICKEN??

That Miller High Life guy is gonna be there to pick up his beer soon.

Agreed. Abolt - can you tell us a little more about this $23 fried chicken? Is it stuffed with foie gras? Fried in the fat rendered from 100 baby ducks? I'm trying to wrap my head around how anybody can put fried chicken on a menu and attach a $23 price tag to it - surely they must be doing something that at least they think justifies that lofty price?

IIRC, it is breast only, with no tasty dark meat to be had.

stevez wrote:IIRC, it is breast only, with no tasty dark meat to be had.

Steve,

I've had Chalkboards fried chicken and, if it's still the same, it what some refer to as Airline chicken, a full breast with the wing drumette still attached.

I've been back once since my original visit, posted about upthread, and find Chalkboard one of those places I will go if someone else really wants, but would not suggest it for dinner myself.

Enjoy,
Gary

My gf and I went last night. We got the duck cassoulet and a risotto special with kobe beef and coarsely shaved parmesan. We got a bottle of Ganache to drink, and had a chocolate pot au crème with vanilla ice cream for dessert.

We loved the atmosphere, as it was very nice lighting, dim but you could still see, the kind of lighting that flatters everything and everyone. And the handwritten board specials are cool. We also liked the dedicated wine table in the middle of the room. We had a nice booth seat in the corner that didn't catch too much noise or outside cold.

Our server was really nice and enthusiastic about the food, although in more of a professional way than a warmly human way, if that makes sense. He helped us pick our wine and both he and the water person were right on the ball the whole time. We had perfect service.

The food, we felt more mixed about. I thought the cassoulet was a neat twist on American baked beans, and the duck meat was tasty and cooked to a nicely rare degree. The risotto, however, was too salty -- which became more apparent the more I ate it -- and literally every bite of meat I had in it was half fat. That made it extremely creamy, so the texture was awesome, but the fat made my stomach feel queer after a while, and if I'd spit or cut it all out, there would have been maybe two or three bites of meat left total. I dunno if they chose a cut like that to make the dish richer, or if I just got ripped off on my meat. All in all, we thought our food was tasty but maybe not worth what we paid for it, compared to the food we've gotten for that much from other restaurants (for instance, Merlo). We did really enjoy our wine, and felt like our server knew his way well around both the wine list and menu, in terms of having tasted and thought about a lot of it. The dessert was alright -- the pot au crème was so thick it was almost like eating toffee, which wouldn't have been such a pleasant texture except for being able to mix it with the ice cream, which tasted much better than any vanilla ice cream I've had in a while.


Now I'm wondering if I should have tried the chicken and mac&cheese after all. This was more of a special occasion dinner for us; if I were richer I'd probably come back and give some other dish a shot, but if I'm gonna spend what I did in the future, I'm more likely to go somewhere else instead.

if I were richer I'd probably come back and give some other dish a shot, but if I'm gonna spend what I did in the future, I'm more likely to go somewhere else instead.

I'll gladly fry you some chicken for $23.

We went to Chalkboard for the first time one weeknight recently, and really loved it. Thought the food and service both very good, and not overpriced for what they were.

I mention the "not overpriced" because there was some caviling here about the $23 fried chicken. Neither of us ordered that, but I will say it was described to us as a "half chicken," so it must have changed since the "breast only" that stevez recalls, and the "breast plus wing drumette" that Gary recalls. (Unless Chalkboard means something different by "half chicken" than is usually meant.)

I felt bad for the place because it was only about a quarter full. They probably do better on weekends, but, measured by how happy we were with our food, we both felt "this is a place that ought to be doing more business than this."

I visited Chalkboard this weekend and it was fine, but certainly not great. Perhaps one reason they aren't full is they are having reservation issues. I called last week to make a reservation. I spoke with a very nice person who took my reservation and even offered to call me if they could fit me in at my earlier preferred time. On the day of my reservation, I received a call from the restaurant, but not the same person I talked to when making the reservation. This person said that she had received my name and said she could "fit me in" at my reservation time and asked if I wanted the reservation. I informed her that I was looking forward to the evening and had already confirmed for the reservation time. She then stated that she and the owner were the only ones who could take a reservation and unless I talked to either of them, I was only leaving a message to ATTEMPT to reserve a space. In an effort to get off the phone and not engage in some sort of obvious strangeness going on, I said, "Great, we'll take the 8:00, thanks."

Very weird.

The dinner was fine. We had a baramundi, a risotto, pork loin and short ribs. The crab cake was a good appetizer, but it was topped by an uncooked egg yolk that wasn't great for me. Others at my table liked it. No one had the fried chicken, so can't comment on its value.

This was only my second visit to Chalkboard. The service was good, food acceptable, but I won't rush to head back.

I live in the neighborhood and have really enjoyed Chalkboard the few times I've been there. I'm sad to see some of the hit or miss comments because it's definitely a restaurant I'd like to see stick around. It's as perfect for a nice family dinner as it is for a romantic dinner for 2. Though I agree it's not a place you go if you want to spend modestly.
Last time I was there I had a really delicious bouillabaisse, and all of my other companions enjoyed their entrees as well. I just appreciate how much attention is paid to the ingredients and the season. My only complaint is the chalkboard itself. Trying to look at that and remember all the specials can get confusing.
In terms of the price for the chicken, $23 definitely sounds like a lot. But it's all in execution/what comes with it. I mean pasta is one of the most inexpensive things to make out there, but I've definitely paid $20 for it. Also it's interesting to think about - if they charged $23 for roast chicken w/ elaborate sides, I'm not sure I'd bat an eye.

Just in terms of how this is presented, since I'm the resident cheapskate, I'd have a really, really difficult time finding sides that would make me willing to pay $23 for a fried chicken breast. If you're talking Braised Black Chicken and Geoduck Ceviche, I might feel you. But fried chicken breast? Unless you enjoy gold-leafed mac and cheese, I have a hard time envisioning a side that could up the ante past $15 on a pricey day.

This thread started to have a Terragusto-esque feel to it.

I just called the restaurant. The fried chicken is a half bird served with collard greens, mashed potatoes, and gravy (if I recall), and is $24. They no longer offer a carry out version.

The half-chicken is also what I remembered from a visit a while back - precisely because it was was too much for me to finish.

I wrote, yesterday:

Neither of us ordered [the fried chicken], but I will say it was described to us as a "half chicken"...

Mhays wrote, today:

I'd have a really, really difficult time finding sides that would make me willing to pay $23 for a fried chicken breast.

Darren72 wrote, today:

I just called the restaurant. The fried chicken is a half bird...

I guess when I wrote yesterday that it was a half-chicken, I was typing in invisible ink.

Can anyone confirm from their own weeknight visits whether the lack of business the night we were there was typical?

I'm a fan of Chalkboard. I've not experienced the inconsistent food that others here seem to have and I have dined there rather frequently. That being said, as much as I like the place and in general don't find their pricing out of line, I just can't bring myself to paying $23 for fried Chicken. So I don't order it and enjoy greatly the other offerings.

I can see the philosophical objection to $24 fried chicken, but personally, if I were in the mood for it that night, I would get it. I mean, I know at Chalkboard I'm going to end up with a bill of about $100 for two people before tip no matter what entrees we choose, so if I had a hankerin' for fried chicken that exceeded my hankerin' for, let's say, barramundi on that particular night, it'd seem masochistic in a shooting-myself-in the-foot way not to order it. And I'd trust it would be as flavorful as everything else the restaurant does (based on our one experience there recently). It's not like by not ordering it you're going to get out of there any cheaper.

i<3pizza wrote:We got a bottle of Ganache to drink, and had a chocolate pot au crème with vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Mhays wrote:I'm sure everybody knows this, but: ganache

I'll bet the ganache went very well with the pot au créme.

nr706 wrote:

i<3pizza wrote:We got a bottle of Ganache to drink, and had a chocolate pot au crème with vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Mhays wrote:I'm sure everybody knows this, but: ganache

I'll be hornswaggled if I can find that quote from Mhays on this thread. Is it on some other thread?

riddlemay wrote:

nr706 wrote:

i<3pizza wrote:We got a bottle of Ganache to drink, and had a chocolate pot au crème with vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Mhays wrote:I'm sure everybody knows this, but: ganache

I'll be hornswaggled if I can find that quote from Mhays on this thread. Is it on some other thread?

That quote from Mhays is over in the cake decorating thread here.

nr706 wrote:

i<3pizza wrote:We got a bottle of Ganache to drink, and had a chocolate pot au crème with vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Mhays wrote:I'm sure everybody knows this, but: ganache

I'll bet the ganache went very well with the pot au créme.

(Grenache)

I was there for dinner last night with 5 others. It was a first time for all six of us, and we had all heard about Gil's famous fried chicken. Since GF and I were both hungover from Easter dinner the night before, we had fried chicken on the brain. Anyway...

We had a few apps: one had the soup (tomato bisque) and he didn't say much until it was gone so I'm thinking he liked it. We had two of the root veg & goat cheese salads for the table. In this instance, the root veg was simply golden beets, hollowed & stuffed with goat cheese and then roasted. Served simply with some micro-greens and light balsamic dressing. Very tasty actually...as long as you like beets

Three out of six had the fried chicken, I had the Australian hanger steak, another had the pan-roasted pork tenderloin, and our soup eater had the scallop appetizer for an entree. My steak was perfectly cooked and delicious with the potatoes, chard, pearl onions a lightly truffled aioli. Soupy loved his scallops. Porkatarian loved his tenderloin as well. Now on to the chicken: everyone loved the flavor, and the mashed potatoes (with sauteed greens mixed in) were as much a hit as the chicken itself. There was a dash of white gravy, but not enough to drown anything. Yes, it's a 1/2 chicken in one big piece. My GF couldn't finish hers so I helped. Very tasty and crispy batter crust and moist inside. I really wanted to try it, very happy I did, but don't think I would pay $25 (current price) for this dish again. I am hard-pressed to pay over $20 for any chicken dish unless it is gussied up with fancy add-ons.

Dessert: we shared two desserts, the chocolate pot du creme w/vanilla ice cream, and the bread pudding which was rich, moist and delicious with a white chocolate sauce.

Service was attentive without being smothering, with Mikayla (sp?) being very communicative as to menu changes and when she should check back.

Next time back I will try either the ravioli or scallops, just to "mix it up."

wino66 wrote:I really wanted to try it, very happy I did, but don't think I would pay $25 (current price) for this dish again. I am hard-pressed to pay over $20 for any chicken dish unless it is gussied up with fancy add-ons.

$25 for fried chicken?! Wow! For that money, I can get 32 pieces of fairly decent (a little salty) fried chicken at Food4Less.

I usually only order chicken when dining out as a last resort. If a restaurant of this (expected) level has more than two chicken dishes on their menu, I'm worried that they're looking to cut costs. That kind of pricing seems way out of line for that neighborhood.

I'd eaten there not long after it opened and found it to be unmemorable as far as the food. The only thing I remember eating was the egg roll for dessert, which I didn't much care for. One thing I DO remember was the service, inattentive and S-L-O-W. I pass by the restaurant every now and then and thought about giving it another chance. Nothing I've read in this thread encourages me to do so. I'd like to thank everyone who posted for their insight. My wallet thanks you as well.

And to think, I've been bitching about paying $4.59 for 1/2 fried chicken at The Fish Keg. I may have to rethink that stance.

I'd reccomend you do give it another chance. I frequent there and always receive very good service. I enjoy the food greatly and like the selections presented in the wine list.

On my last trip there I had a scallop appatizer that was on the "Chalkboard". The sweet scallops were perfectly cooked along with some wonderful mushrooms. My main course was soy glazed Hallibut. We were also sent a wonderful appetizer that Gil was working on, a duck confit tart with a vanilla quenelle along side a small marrow bone with a bit of reduced stock. It was really good. Dessert was a bread pudding with cardamom and star anise and an amazing vanilla ice cream that comes from Michigan.

We had all of this with a really beautifully balanced Jarvis Reserve Chardonnay.

I know $25 is outrageous for fried chicken (one reason I don't order it) but really theres a good amount of skill in this kitchen and fried chicken can't bring this skill to light.

At times I can see the pace of servise as relaxed, and I can see how this might appear as slow to some. I enjoy a meal that is relaxed. And I would say there's a difference, to me at least, between slow and relaxed.

One final thing on the chicken pricing; chicken dishes at Tallulah and Bistro Campagne are priced at $23 and $21.

JLenart wrote:At times I can see the pace of service as relaxed, and I can see how this might appear as slow to some. I enjoy a meal that is relaxed. And I would say there's a difference, to me at least, between slow and relaxed.

FWIW, on our two visits there (both within the last three months), service in our opinion was just right.

I'd describe Chalboard's service the same way I describe the homemade pasta: warm and overdone. I recently gave Chalkboard a third chance and, while it's the sort of place I really want to love, I have just found too much inconsistency in the food.